He plays best when he does not practice.
Giants at Cowboys Analysis: Jerry Jones came down to the Cowboys' sideline for the final drive and was shouting at the coaches and officials. That must have been helpful! On the final possession, Dallas had the ball in Jersey/A territory with an excellent chance to win. Owner Jones, who has long considered his personal genius the essence of the Cowboys' success -- never mind that his personal genius hadn't won a playoff game in 11 years -- shows up and starts shouting at people. Already, the week before, he'd made a point of lending only a lukewarm endorsement to coach Wade Phillips, who had just rung up the best Dallas regular season in a decade but to whom Jones would not give unqualified backing. The best regular season in a decade must have been because of Jones' personal genius! Now Jones is down on the sideline next to Phillips as the coach tries to make decisions on the final drive. Ever see Robert Kraft standing near Belichick in the closing moments as Belichick tries to make critical decisions? When the double whistle sounded, it still had been 11 years since Dallas won a postseason contest, and Phillips had became a career 0-4 in the playoffs. Bonus anti-Jerry Jones note: As pointed out by many readers -- including Gary Toth of Stephentown, N.Y.
-- several days before Sunday's game, Jones grandly handed each Cowboys player a pair of tickets to give to friends -- tickets to the NFC Championship Game at Texas Stadium, a game the Cowboys had not yet earned. The football gods surely took notice of that hubris.
You won't see many first-seeded 13-3 teams lose in the postseason at home to a team that gains only 230 offensive yards, but then, you won't see many first-seeded 13-3 teams whose coach is being distracted by the owner in the closing seconds as it goes down to the wire. The Giants' win was a testament to the role of special teams, but also was a meltdown by Dallas. For instance -- in the second quarter, the Cowboys staged a 20-play touchdown drive that lasted 10:28 and put them ahead 14-7 with 47 seconds till intermission. Ahead by a touchdown at the half at home, what's not to like? Except the defense allowed Jersey/A to counter with a 40-second, 71-yard touchdown drive that left it tied at 14 at halftime. The Giants' drive didn't even have any big plays, just several quick, intermediate passes aided by a careless personal foul by the Cowboys. As Jersey/A staged this quick drive for an amazingly easy seven points, several Dallas players were dancing and celebrating on the sideline as if they'd already won. They hadn't even gotten to halftime! Maybe they were looking at those NFC Championship Game tickets from Jones!