Monday, Nov 12, 2007
Posted on Sun, Nov. 11, 2007
Cowboys looked smart, but didn’t always play that way
By RANDY GALLOWAY
rgalloway@star-telegram.com
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.- When it was over here Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys had completed the East Coast exacta of emptying two large road stadiums on consecutive weekends long before the required 60 minutes had ticked off the clock.
As the Giants fandom discovered, same as the Eagles fandom a week ago, the Cowboys gave the paying customers nothing to see in the way of a competitive four quarters.
As the Giants team also discovered, same as the Eagles team a week ago, the Cowboys accepted a "prove it" challenge hurled their way, and did indeed provide necessary proof the NFC East is under new ownership. "How can you not believe in these Cowboys?" cornerback Terence Newman playfully chided a media gathering on his way into the visitors’ locker room after 31-20 victory.
"Our team did their talking on the field, which I was proud of," noted coach Wade Phillips in reference to a week of juicy comments coming out of Giants’ headquarters.
With an 8-1 record, the Cowboys can talk all they want, particularly to the rest of the division, and except for Green Bay, the entire NFC.
But no matter how accurate the end zone radar for the offense, or how much defensive improvement, particularly in the second half on Sunday afternoon, there were times in this game when the Cowboys were everything a winning team, and certainly a legitimate Super Bowl contending team, should never be.
Undisciplined and stupid are a couple of major no-nos for clubs with serious post-season aspirations. The Cowboys crossed over that line more than once, prompting linebacker Kevin Burnett to utter a post-game Big Bill-ism.
"Dumb players do dumb things, that what’s Coach Parcells used to say," said Burnett, one of those Cowboys guilty as charged when it came to a violation of discipline and wisdom.
Actually, Burnett’s major violation late in the second quarter prompted a coast-to-coast tirade by Jimmy Johnson on Fox-TV’s panel discussion at half time. Some old coaching fire kicked in for The Jimster. "I am not a dumb player, but I made a dumb mistake," said Burnett, who drew a taunting penalty when he and running back Brandon Jacobs exchanged words in the waning seconds of the first half.
It looked dumb, however, when the flag flew on Burnett after Jacobs was taking a knee to allow the clock to run out. The Giants then decided to take another snap, completed a long pass, and that set up a 40-yard field goal, allowing New York to tie the game, 17-17.
If Jimmy had been coaching, Burnett might not have been in uniform for the second half. The same can be said for linebacker Bradie James, who also took a stupid penalty in the first quarter that helped the Giants score their first touchdown.
Phillips, of course, is a different cat. He said nothing at halftime to any player about dumb plays. After the game, Wade freely admitted "bone-headed plays cost us some points in the first half," but his locker room objective at intermission was "making adjustments."
Added Phillips: "once it’s over, you can’t dwell on mistakes. We couldn’t harp on that."
For any of us who might consider that as soft coaching, see the second-half results. The Giants scored three points. The Cowboys took over the game on offense with two Romo-to-Eldo touchdown passes.
And this came after Keith Davis drew a major penalty for a blow to the head on the opening kickoff of the second half.
But the Cowboys then settled in. The funny business over flags ended at that point. After a penalty-infested first half, then the call on Davis to open the third quarter, it was basically a clean second half.
Phillips seemed much more subdued than normal in the victorious locker room. He said it was because he was "just letting down after a big win," but in reference to some of those first-half flags, Wade added, "we made some mistakes we aren’t going to make again, I will tell you that."
Burnett spoke highly of Phillips’ halftime kindness, saying, "coach knew no one felt worse than I did. I appreciate him for that. For me, it was a lesson learned the hard way.
"(Jacobs) popped off to me, and I should have let it go, but I didn’t. Then I couldn’t believe it when I saw the flag. To watch that first half end that way, because of me, that’s a real bad feeling."
Burnett said he already had an apology planned for Monday back at Valley Ranch. "I will apologize to my teammates for putting us in that spot."
Funny thing is, Burnett is not considered a "dumb" player. Just the opposite. The same can certainly be said for Bradie James, who got flagged for 15 yards after giving Jacobs (him again) a little first-quarter shove beyond the whistle.
"(Jacobs) told me he was gonna keep running over me and I told him he hadn’t run over me yet," said James. "It wasn’t much of a shove, but he went down in a hurry, didn’t he. I was kinda chuckling about his acting job, then I saw the flag. Oh, man, I felt real bad.
"But it’s the Giants, and they talk real brash the whole game, and they hit late, and sometimes you just think you have to get your shot in too. That’s not smart. I know that."
James saw one silver lining in the whole process.
"We took penalties early in the game, including some dumb penalties, and those flags cost us points," he said. "But we got it together in the second half, took over the game, and won despite not having played smart previously.
"I don’t know if any of our teams over the past few years could have done that. Actually, I doubt those teams would have survived today. But we were able to overcome self-inflicted problems."
Winning cures all. At least for this Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys had that cure.
