I haven't been this excited

[StanleySpadowski]

about the Cowboys since the mid-90s.


I know that a good many had that feeling when Parcells signed on, but I never cared for him so this is time when I get that warm, fuzzy feeling.


From a fan perspective, I really only enjoy two types of football; technically sound, this is what we do, you stop us football like the Cowboys of the early 90s or the aggressive, all out, who blinks first of the 70s Cowboys.

Parcells tried to implement the technically sound formula but that requires superior talent, an impossibility in the salary cap era. Poetry in motion when all the parts are working together, a thing of beauty to watch. Like Tiger Woods when he's on his game. A two iron off the tee while others fold around him. Great when you have that aura around you and are simply better than anyone else.

I believe that Phillips will attempt the aggressive variety. To further the golf analogy, Phil Mickelson flopping one over the trap from the rough to a short-sided pin.

As I said, I don't believe the technically sound, limit mistakes variety works with today's NFL parity and I don't know if the aggressive approach will work for these Cowboys either but one thing I do know for sure is that I'm really going to enjoy watching the Cowboys again because whether or not they win it all, they aren't going to be predictible and they aren't going to be playing for field position when they're up in the second half. I see a mentality already developing from players' quotes that this team is primed to go for the knockout instead of putting it in the hands of the judges.

 

[Cbz40]

Preach on Stanley...I'm right there with you.

 

[Silverstar]

I really can't find any weaknesses with this team now. All the positions look solid to me and with quality depth. A hard thing to achieve in the salary cap era. Thanks to good cap management and improved drafts, the Cowboys look primed to win it all finally.

It's Romo time!

 

[Doomsday101]

No doubt Dallas will have high expectation placed on them this team and this team is going to have to learn how to play down the stretch. I know the popular stance right now is to blame all problems on Parcells but players also have to execute and it seemed every time the team would pull off a great game and Bill would pat them on the back for it they would turn around and pull a stinker of a game. Hopefully with the younger guys gaining more experience they will start executing late in the season.

 

[Sandyf]

Based on the reports from mini camp, we all should be excited and have high expectations. We have looked much better as a team, more speed, more agression, and definitely more up tempo.

I really don't blame Parcells to much because he did some very good things. He upgrade our talent base greatly, switch us to a 3-4 defense, and improved the offensive talent base. He does know good players and what to do with supposedly washed out players such as Colombo.

His conservative 3-4 defense last year was definitely not the Parcells defenses from years past. I wonder if it was the non trust he had in Zimmer or what. Jerry and Bill might of disagreed on signing Owens but my bet there was also the disagreement with keeping Zimmer from the start. Usually a coach wants to bring his own coordinators with him or hire the guys he wants and with Jerry it definitely wasn't the same way.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

No doubt Dallas will have high expectation placed on them this team and this team is going to have to learn how to play down the stretch. I know the popular stance right now is to blame all problems on Parcells but players also have to execute and it seemed every time the team would pull off a great game and Bill would pat them on the back for it they would turn around and pull a stinker of a game. Hopefully with the younger guys gaining more experience they will start executing late in the season.

I will blame Parcells now, but then again I always have so that's no different.



I saw the Seattle playoff game as a microcosm of everything that was wrong with him. His whole mentality was to play close games to give yourself a chance late in the fourth quarter. Great in theory when the other team is better than you but terrible in execution when a bobbled hold costs you the season. But that's my point, Parcells coached every game like the other team had more talent. A great way to beat a stacked Bills team in the Super Bowl, poor the rest of the time.

Teams dictated what Dallas did all the time, not the other way around. We saw how easy it was for Seattle to pull Ware out of the rush into coverage, we saw Dallas not attack corners signed off the street because Seattle suckered them into taking the easy four yard runs so they could keep it close.

Whether Phillips wins or not remains to be seen but we will see Dallas make other teams do things they don't want to do.

 

[Doomsday101]

I will blame Parcells now, but then again I always have so that's no different.



I saw the Seattle playoff game as a microcosm of everything that was wrong with him. His whole mentality was to play close games to give yourself a chance late in the fourth quarter. Great in theory when the other team is better than you but terrible in execution when a bobbled hold costs you the season. But that's my point, Parcells coached every game like the other team had more talent. A great way to beat a stacked Bills team in the Super Bowl, poor the rest of the time.

Teams dictated what Dallas did all the time, not the other way around. We saw how easy it was for Seattle to pull Ware out of the rush into coverage, we saw Dallas not attack corners signed off the street because Seattle suckered them into taking the easy four yard runs so they could keep it close.

Whether Phillips wins or not remains to be seen but we will see Dallas make other teams do things they don't want to do.

I'm not saying Parcells could not have done things differently or changed some things up but I also know that it still comes down to players executing and when I see guy’s flat out busting assignments that is on the player. I'm excited about Phillips and a new attitude from the team thus far but in the end the players are the one who must make the plays. The coach can do a lot of things but the coach does not play the game that is on the players.

 

[Stash]

I think Parcells will be appreciated this season for the talent he helped to assemble.

I also think Parcells will be criticized for not getting the most out of the talent he helped to assemble.

I expect BSPN to play up the Parcells/Owens situations as much as they can.

And I expect the players complaining about Parcells' conservative coaching to put up or shut up.

I think scheme is a two-way street. I think you can minimize players' weaknesses by scheme.

I also think you can minimize their strengths with scheme as well.

I think schemes and coaching can make players both better and worse.

And I expect the 2007 season to show that the Cowboys have even more talent than what they showed in 2006.

 

[lcharles]

It's a mini-camp folks. No Pads, going against our own players.



I think I will keep my excitement in check til I see how we do against a real team in pads.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

I'm not saying Parcells could not have done things differently or changed some things up but I also know that it still comes down to players executing and when I see guy’s flat out busting assignments that is on the player. I'm excited about Phillips and a new attitude from the team thus far but in the end the players are the one who must make the plays. The coach can do a lot of things but the coach does not play the game that is on the players.

I'm not discounting execution, I'm saying that's part of the problem. Parcells' players went out there not looking to make a mistake and when they did because all players do, the other team was in a situation where they could take advantage of it.

Phillips is going to put players in a position where when they make a mistake, someone else may pressure the opponent into not taking advantage of it.


Parcells style worked well when they were the vastly superior team like the '86 Giants or were vastly inferior like the '90 Giants. It doesn't work when the talent level is roughly the same like almost every team in the salary cap era.

 

[Hostile]

I gotta agree with you SS. I was excited when we got Parcells but that excitement was short lived. I just didn't like the conservative way he tried to control the game. That wasn't the same as the steady team of the 90's, he tried to run this team like the Giants team he had in the 80's and we simply did not have the personnel for that. I never could figure out how the coach who had LT at his heyday, could play his best pass rusher 20 yards deep. That just didn't jive with me.

Then the interminable "we should have taken Merriman" threads only made it worse. I couldn't understand why anyone with eyes couldn't look at our defense and see that we were not blitzing or running stunts or going after the QB.

Now, we have players who are excited to go for the throat. I honestly believe this team has under achieved the last 2 years. Every year after Thanksgiving we have gone 2-3 and given up more points each year. I do blame Parcells for that, but I have been for the last 3 years. So this is nothing new.

I can't wait to see this team on the field. Some people think that without the iron hand of fear above them they will lack discipline and falter even worse. I just don't agree. Tell me Dick Vermeil was just like Parcells. Yet his players responded to him and played hard for him. There is no one right way to get it done, but I believe we have long had players who needed to be turned loose.

Thank heavens that day has arrived.

 

[Doomsday101]

I'm not discounting execution, I'm saying that's part of the problem. Parcells' players went out there not looking to make a mistake and when they did because all players do, the other team was in a situation where they could take advantage of it.

Phillips is going to put players in a position where when they make a mistake, someone else may pressure the opponent into not taking advantage of it.


Parcells style worked well when they were the vastly superior team like the '86 Giants or were vastly inferior like the '90 Giants. It doesn't work when the talent level is roughly the same like almost every team in the salary cap era.

I'm just saying the players themselves need to step up and execute no matter what you run or how aggressive your planning on being it still comes down to players making the plays. To say it was all BP I disagree it was not all him the players have a major role in what takes place on the field.

 

[THUMPER]

His conservative 3-4 defense last year was definitely not the Parcells defenses from years past. I wonder if it was the non trust he had in Zimmer or what. Jerry and Bill might of disagreed on signing Owens but my bet there was also the disagreement with keeping Zimmer from the start. Usually a coach wants to bring his own coordinators with him or hire the guys he wants and with Jerry it definitely wasn't the same way.

Parcells wanted Zimmer all along because Zimrod has a similar style and approach to the game. Parcells is cautious by nature and has always employed a system that limits mistakes and controls the clock. That fits Zimrod's style to a tee.

Zimmer likes to blitz a lot but hasn't got the first clue how to design an effective blitz package. Parcells limited the blitzing and put us in an even more conservative scheme where we went all out to limit what the offense could do.

It really boils down to two philosophies:

1. An aggressive, atacking style where you dictate to the offense what they can do.

2. A bend-but-don't-break, read-and-react style where you try to limit what the offense can do.

Wade Phillips has always employed the first one, which is why I am so excited about his hiring because that is what I like as well.

Parcells (and Zimmer) use the latter and has had a lot of success with it over the years. The problem is that the 2nd style requires superior players at every position which is nearly impossible in the salary cap/FA era. None of the teams that use this style currently have had much success over the last 12 years while teams that use the more aggressive style have won most of the SBs during that period.

Parcells did a good job of bringing in talent on the defensive side of the ball and now Phillips will reap the benefit of that and will produce a top-5 defense this year on our way to the SB.

 

[ethiostar]

I can't wait to see this team on the field. Some people think that without the iron hand of fear above them they will lack discipline and falter even worse. I just don't agree. Tell me Dick Vermeil was just like Parcells. Yet his players responded to him and played hard for him. There is no one right way to get it done, but I believe we have long had players who needed to be turned loose.

Thank heavens that day has arrived.

I agree with you on that one Hos. All we have to do is look at the two teams that played in the last superbowl to know 'tough love' is not the only way to motivate players. Very different types of coaches have been successful in the NFL over the years.

I do believe that BP has laid down a great foundation. He has drafted talented players with good character and work ethic. We are now loaded with a very young, smart, talented, and hungry players. I also believe those players are ready to be let loose and do what they are good at and have some fun doing it.

it's going to be a long summer folks... i'm always excited about this time of the year and the past few years haven't been so kind to us folks. And every year i tell myself to keep my excitement in check but no dice. This year is worse, i just can't wait to see this team in a meaningful game.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

I'm just saying the players themselves need to step up and execute no matter what you run or how aggressive your planning on being it still comes down to players making the plays. To say it was all BP I disagree it was not all him the players have a major role in what takes place on the field.

Again, I agree with you for the most part that the players need to make plays. I just think that Parcells didn't put the players in position to make those plays and I'm not just talking about the defense.

I realize that Jones isn't the best receiver in the league but attempting to get him the ball in space almost disappeared last year. The ball rarely went to Witten when he had upfield momentum. He can't drag people for a few extra yards when he's sitting down in a zone. How many times did we see the whistle blow last year because his forward momentum was stopped but a gaggle of players still couldn't drag him to the turf?


I guess my biggest complaint is the lack of times that Dallas scored an easy TD due to a busted coverage over the Parcells era. That's very telling in my book because Dallas wasn't forcing others into mistakes.

Look at professionals in any sport. Even the finest athletes in the world make mistakes under pressure. I want to see the benefits of that again.

 

[Stash]

I realize that Jones isn't the best receiver in the league but attempting to get him the ball in space almost disappeared last year.

This was a key point for me as well. I think Jones was vastly underutilized in the passing game. I remember one play in particular in Week 1 vs Jacksonville.

Jones ran a sideline route and was wide open - and Bledsoe overthrew him.

I remembered how excited I was at what could have been.

And I never saw it again.

I'm hoping that Garrett's schemes will bring the running backs and fullback into the passing game.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

I can't wait to see this team on the field. Some people think that without the iron hand of fear above them they will lack discipline and falter even worse. I just don't agree. Tell me Dick Vermeil was just like Parcells. Yet his players responded to him and played hard for him. There is no one right way to get it done, but I believe we have long had players who needed to be turned loose.
.

The discipline will come from within. Laid back coaches work well when the team is composed of true professionals and I really believe that Dallas is that.


I don't think there's a single player on this defense who'll freelance too much. It's just not in their personalities. Henry may jump a few too many routes but that's not always a bad thing.

Romo's going to throw a few stupid interception but he's also going to make enough plays to compensate. Think a young Favre.

Even the two problem children, the starting WRs, shouldn't be a problem. Glenn's matured greatly since his last problem and say what you will but even the harshest Owens critic will admit that he gives 100% on the field.

 

[Doomsday101]

Again, I agree with you for the most part that the players need to make plays. I just think that Parcells didn't put the players in position to make those plays and I'm not just talking about the defense.

I realize that Jones isn't the best receiver in the league but attempting to get him the ball in space almost disappeared last year. The ball rarely went to Witten when he had upfield momentum. He can't drag people for a few extra yards when he's sitting down in a zone. How many times did we see the whistle blow last year because his forward momentum was stopped but a gaggle of players still couldn't drag him to the turf?


I guess my biggest complaint is the lack of times that Dallas scored an easy TD due to a busted coverage over the Parcells era. That's very telling in my book because Dallas wasn't forcing others into mistakes.

Look at professionals in any sport. Even the finest athletes in the world make mistakes under pressure. I want to see the benefits of that again.

Look I just don't think Wade is some magic bullet that will cure all, players need to step up and the more aggressive you are the more important it is to execute. When teams (Players) start screwing up is when coaches start backing off. I do look forward to this season but there are some players who need to step up and prove themselfs.

 

[Sasquatch]

about the Cowboys since the mid-90s.


I know that a good many had that feeling when Parcells signed on, but I never cared for him so this is time when I get that warm, fuzzy feeling.


From a fan perspective, I really only enjoy two types of football; technically sound, this is what we do, you stop us football like the Cowboys of the early 90s or the aggressive, all out, who blinks first of the 70s Cowboys.

Parcells tried to implement the technically sound formula but that requires superior talent, an impossibility in the salary cap era. Poetry in motion when all the parts are working together, a thing of beauty to watch. Like Tiger Woods when he's on his game. A two iron off the tee while others fold around him. Great when you have that aura around you and are simply better than anyone else.

I believe that Phillips will attempt the aggressive variety. To further the golf analogy, Phil Mickelson flopping one over the trap from the rough to a short-sided pin.

As I said, I don't believe the technically sound, limit mistakes variety works with today's NFL parity and I don't know if the aggressive approach will work for these Cowboys either but one thing I do know for sure is that I'm really going to enjoy watching the Cowboys again because whether or not they win it all, they aren't going to be predictible and they aren't going to be playing for field position when they're up in the second half. I see a mentality already developing from players' quotes that this team is primed to go for the knockout instead of putting it in the hands of the judges.

So I take it you weren't among those who were predicting Super Bowl during last year's TC only to clamor for everyone's head at the end of the season because the entire organization sucked?

Good post. It will be interesting to see what differences we will see this year on the defensive side of the ball. Of course, given that's what we're all expecting, we'll probably see the most differences with the offense.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

Look I just don't think Wade is some magic bullet that will cure all, players need to step up and the more aggressive you are the more important it is to execute. When teams (Players) start screwing up is when coaches start backing off. I do look forward to this season but there are some players who need to step up and prove themselfs.

I don't think that Phillips is some "magic bullet". I've been pretty consistent from the start that I don't know if he's the answer or not but I've been just as consistent in saying that Parcells wasn't the answer from the start.

In the end, I'm hoping that Phillips learned from his huge mistake in Nashville and am incredibly excited to find out.