ESPN Mosley: "Victory Monday" Much ado about nothing... Observation Deck

[WoodysGirl]

Updated: October 27, 2009, 8:32 PM ET
Cowboys' motto: Nice, nice baby


By Matt Mosley
ESPNDallas.com
Archive

As I've said many times in the past, giving Cowboys coach Wade Phillips an extra week to prepare for an NFL game is almost unfair.

Phillips put together a defensive game plan that overwhelmed young Matt Ryan and the Falcons. And for the first time this season, the Cowboys showed signs of having a dominant defense. So let's give Phillips a little credit for once. He took the Falcons' affable-looking head coach Mike Smith behind the woodshed -- and then offered him an awkward fist bump following the game.

Tim Heitman/US PresswireCoach Wade Phillips has been more happy-go-lucky than usual as the Cowboys have won back-to-back games.

Phillips was so pleased with his players that he gave them a "Victory Monday," which means they weren't required to show up at Valley Ranch.
Left tackle Flozell Adams bolted out of the locker room with a smile on his face before tripping several autograph seekers.

Phillips is asking players to return to Valley Ranch on Wednesday -- or whenever the mood strikes them.

But honestly, there was too much hand-wringing on this topic Monday morning on local radio. One of my former colleagues even took the unusual step of counting players' cars in the parking lot to measure commitment. :bang2:

Is it breaking news that Wade's the most player-friendly head coach of the Super Bowl era? The man makes teary-eyed Dick Vermeil look like Patton.
Phillips provides plenty of opportunities for criticism without having to concoct some contrived transgression.

I will now begin the portion of the column known as Obstructed View Observation Deck. This will be an exciting area filled with quick-hitting but heartfelt observations on our local teams and other random topics:

The Observation Deck



I think Keith Brooking might be the Cowboys' best free-agent signing since Leonard Davis was rescued from the Bidwill family. It hasn't taken Brooking long to become the emotional leader of this defense and he and Bradie James give the Cowboys a formidable duo at inside linebacker.


Tim Heitman/US Presswire
Linebacker Keith Brooking was all smiles after the Cowboys beat the Atlanta Falcons -- his former employer for 11 seasons.

Brooking spent much of Sunday's game jawing with former teammates and coaches. He said Falcons management explained to him after the '08 season that the NFL was "a young man's game."

I think Sunday's win meant more to Brooking than any other player or coach on the team.

Brooking was also exceedingly gracious with a man in the locker room who was holding a flip cam and asking the linebacker what he did "for fun around the house."

As many of you know, I was the first local reporter to predict that Miles Austin would someday have back-to-back games totaling 421 yards and four touchdowns. Some folks wondered whether Austin would be a one-hit wonder following his record-breaking effort against the Chiefs, but Austin was once again the Cowboys' best weapon in the win over Atlanta. Local sportswriters dated themselves by mentioning one-hit wonders from the '60s and '70s and stayed away from Carrollton product Vanilla Ice.


For those of you unfamiliar with Austin's alma mater, Monmouth University, you're not alone. In March 2006, the school hosted one of the most intimate pro days in the nation. Only then-Cowboys scout Brian Gaine and then-Titans wide receivers coach Ray Sherman showed up to observe the 6-3, 214-pound kid with the permanent grin.

Gaine followed Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland to the Dolphins while Sherman ended up with the Cowboys.

The Cowboys wanted to select Austin in the seventh round but they needed another position at that point in the draft. I'm told that teams were lining up to sign Austin to a free-agent contract but Parcells knew Austin's neighborhood in Bergen (N.J.) County, and that helped seal the deal.

Parting shot


If any player in the league deserves $40 million guaranteed, it's DeMarcus Ware. Some people wondered if Ware would try to demand more than Albert Haynesworth's guaranteed $41 million, but that's not Ware's style. He's done a nice job of focusing on football and allowing agent Pat Dye to worry about all the details.

Ware's the most dynamic player in the game -- and now he's getting paid like it.

Matt Mosley writes weekly on the Dallas-Fort Worth sports scene for ESPNDallas.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/columns/story?columnist=mosley_matt&id=4600224

 

[Alexander]

Is it breaking news that Wade's the most player-friendly head coach of the Super Bowl era? The man makes teary-eyed Dick Vermeil look like Patton.

Obviously, Mosely doesn't know very much about Dick Vermeil then.

He ran absolutely brutal camps with the Rams when he first took over. He had to scale it back in his third year after the players nearly revolted. They responded well to the downgear and started winning thereafter.

But just because he wears his emotions on his sleeves and has cried doesn't make him a weak-wristed pushover by any means.

The Cowboys wanted to select Austin in the seventh round but they needed another position at that point in the draft. I'm told that teams were lining up to sign Austin to a free-agent contract but Parcells knew Austin's neighborhood in Bergen (N.J.) County, and that helped seal the deal.

The player/position we just had to have? C E.J. Whitley.

 

[jterrell]

Obviously, Mosely doesn't know very much about Dick Vermeil then.

He ran absolutely brutal camps with the Rams when he first took over. He had to scale it back in his third year after the players nearly revolted. They responded well to the downgear and started winning thereafter.

But just because he wears his emotions on his sleeves and has cried doesn't make him a weak-wristed pushover by any means.



The player/position we just had to have? C E.J. Whitley.

Vermeil worked his guys for sure, but so does Wade.
He has longer practices than BP and LESS off days.

It is all perception though because Wade doesn't insult guys to the media or call anyone "the player" or talk about anointing.

Wade is just who he is, the guy doesn't have any showmanship or a psych degree.

So let's hope he does what he was hired to do because his media savvy is right there with belichek who struggled mightily in that area until everyone discovered he was a genius.

 

[aikemirv]

I like Wade - but....

If he can prepare that well and confuse Ryan because he had 2 weeks of preparation then I think our coaches need to do more work on a weekly basis in prep.

Because if I had to say our caoching was the weakest in one area - I would pick analyzing opponents as the main one!

 

[Alexander]

Vermeil worked his guys for sure, but so does Wade.
He has longer practices than BP and LESS off days.

It is all perception though because Wade doesn't insult guys to the media or call anyone "the player" or talk about anointing.

Wade is just who he is, the guy doesn't have any showmanship or a psych degree.

He's also less effective than Coach Parcells career-wise and without a playoff win to his credit.

Phillips is the type of coach who will win quite a few regular season games but unfortunately comes up behind when it counts the most.

That "psych degree" might be what he's missing because what he has done thus far shows he's always a little short. That goes with the territory. That's his style. He's not going to pick someone's brain to find that one thing to motivate them and that's fine. Not everyone can. Or in many cases, should. It crosses a line that some coaches can't master. In his younger days, that is what made Parcells great. He lost that in his later years.

So let's hope he does what he was hired to do because his media savvy is right there with belichek who struggled mightily in that area until everyone discovered he was a genius.

As good of a defensive mind that Phillips is, he's not Belichick in terms of playing the mind games. Like him or not, the mumbling fellow has his teams prepared. You cannot always say that about Phillips. Now perhaps if we had a bye before each game, he might.

 

[Doomsday101]

Vermeil worked his guys for sure, but so does Wade.
He has longer practices than BP and LESS off days.

It is all perception though because Wade doesn't insult guys to the media or call anyone "the player" or talk about anointing.

Wade is just who he is, the guy doesn't have any showmanship or a psych degree.

So let's hope he does what he was hired to do because his media savvy is right there with belichek who struggled mightily in that area until everyone discovered he was a genius.

I agree. I think people take Wade good ol boy additude as some sign of weakness. All I'm interested in is the end product if he can get this team back on top that is what matters not his style

 

[theogt]

He's also less effective than Coach Parcells career-wise and without a playoff win to his credit.

And this was somehow relevant to the statement that Wade holds harder practices and less days off than Parcells.

 

[jterrell]

He's also less effective than Coach Parcells career-wise and without a playoff win to his credit.

Phillips is the type of coach who will win quite a few regular season games but unfortunately comes up behind when it counts the most.

All this would be fine Alexander except:
Phillips has a higher career winning percentage as head coach than BP.
BP .570
Wade .592

And yes BP has won titles, but his last 7 seven years as a head coach he was 1-3 in the playoffs and his last playoff win was in 1998.

BP was 0-2 here as a playoff coach, Wade is 0-1.

 

[dogberry]

Can the players go in on monday and pick up a dvd of the next team?

Also, is Valley Ranch their personal country club?

Did Phillips use psychology on the players? (75 percent came into work on the day he gave them off) They felt good about being given an off day, but realized it would be good for them and the team to come in.

 

[Doomsday101]

Can the players go in on monday and pick up a dvd of the next team?

Also, is Valley Ranch their personal country club?

Did Phillips use psychology on the players? (75 percent came into work on the day he gave them off) They felt good about being given an off day, but realized it would be good for them and the team to come in.

Players can bring film home. However giving them monday off really is not as big of a deal as some have made it out to be. It is not uncommon around the league for a coach to give their guys off a day. For the coaches there was no day off they went to work reviewing this past game and putting together the game plan for this upcoming game.

 

[jterrell]

I agree. I think people take Wade good ol boy additude as some sign of weakness. All I'm interested in is the end product if he can get this team back on top that is what matters not his style

It's all about perception.
It's almost shocking how many 'star' head coaches have pedestrian records aside from the super bowl seasons they enjoyed.

If wade were to win 2 SBs here he'd go from bumpkin to vince lombardi's country cousin as fast as Ware sacks QBs.

 

[JerryFan]

Obviously, Mosely doesn't know very much about Dick Vermeil then.

He ran absolutely brutal camps with the Rams when he first took over. He had to scale it back in his third year after the players nearly revolted. They responded well to the downgear and started winning thereafter.

But just because he wears his emotions on his sleeves and has cried doesn't make him a weak-wristed pushover by any means.



The player/position we just had to have? C E.J. Whitley.

I agree and Wade is pretty much the same coach Marv Leavy was. Big surprise since Wade is a Leavy guy.

 

[Doomsday101]

It's all about perception.
It's almost shocking how many 'star' head coaches have pedestrian records aside from the super bowl seasons they enjoyed.

If wade were to win 2 SBs here he'd go from bumpkin to vince lombardi's country cousin as fast as Ware sacks QBs.

Exactly. Wade sucks until he wins then he will be a genius. :laugh2:
Wade is a good coach but like any coach he needs to get his team over the hump.

 

[21Savage]

In March 2006, the school hosted one of the most intimate pro days in the nation. Only then-Cowboys scout Brian Gaine and then-Titans wide receivers coach Ray Sherman showed up to observe the 6-3, 214-pound kid with the permanent grin.

Except back then Miles weight 230 lbs

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Mosley just said that Brooking told them today that they had many Victory Mondays in Atlanta, and he didn't ever remember this many players showing up to work out and look at film.

Galloway is being extremely positive about the team and even Wade. I'm getting worried... This may be the Seventh Sign.

 

[bayeslife]

Gotta love Austin.

I actually went to Monmouth during my college visits and most of the staff there absolutely gushes about him when they saw him play.

 

[Doomsday101]

Gotta love Austin.

I actually went to Monmouth during my college visits and most of the staff there absolutely gushes about him when they saw him play.

Before the season started Gil Brandt predicted Austin would do good.

 

[casmith07]

Mosley conveniently left out the fact that despite "Victory Monday" about 45 of the 53 showed up to watch film and work out.

 

[Future]

I wish Jerry would've given Ware 6 yr/76 mill and given that extra two guaranteed just so he could have gotten a little bit more than Haynesworth because he's a way better guy.

 

[Eldorado]

For what it's worth, I feel like I am part of the reason Miles is a Cowboy. See, Monmouth University is walking distance from my house... a 2 minute walk tops. I watched every home collegic game Miles ever played, and he tore it up. When I heard about Miles' pro day, I nearly shed a tear. My dad pointed out Gaine, I went over and told him I was a huge 'Boys fan, and that I thought Miles Austin was going to be a superstar in the NFL. Now-- I was in 8th grade at that point, so he obviously didn't take me seriously. But I talked him up, reeled off his stats, and told him of his heroics. Miles is my hero, has been since 5th grade and will be until he retires. So to think that I MIGHT have had the littlest connection between him and the Cowboys, (which almost 100% isn't the case), I feel accomplished.