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By Tom Orsborn on Dec 8, 09 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Save & Share
IRVING - The Cowboys have been criticized for not making enough big plays in December. A case in point came in the second quarter of Sunday's 31-24 loss to the Giants.
On first-and-5 at the Dallas 21, Dallas CB Terence Newman took a chance and tried to intercept a pass from Eli Manning to Hakeem Nicks. But instead of making the play, Newman missed the ball, allowing Nicks to score the touchdown that sparked New York's rally from a 10-0 deficit.
"I though I had a chance, and I went for it," Newman said.
I'm not knocking Newman for taking the chance. But it just seems like the Cowboys fail to come up with big plays down the stretch while other teams make them. That was certainly the case Sunday when the Giants got a 74-yard catch-and-run TD from RB Brandon Jacobs and a 79-yard punt return for a score from Domenik Hixon.
Had Newman played it safe, Nicks probably would have had a 10-yard gain. Wade Phillips was asked Monday if he likes players to gamble for interceptions.
"It's where you are on the field and where they are and when the guy's throwing the ball, the timing of the route, all those things," Phillips said. "And what the strengths and weaknesses of the coverages are sometimes. Sometimes you have outside, sometimes you have inside, sometimes you have help. All those things determine it."
So was Newman justified in going for the pick?
"It didn't turn out that way, no," Phillips said. "Now when you go for it, you've got to make the play."
Unfortunately for Dallas, that never seems to happen in December.
IRVING - The Cowboys have been criticized for not making enough big plays in December. A case in point came in the second quarter of Sunday's 31-24 loss to the Giants.
On first-and-5 at the Dallas 21, Dallas CB Terence Newman took a chance and tried to intercept a pass from Eli Manning to Hakeem Nicks. But instead of making the play, Newman missed the ball, allowing Nicks to score the touchdown that sparked New York's rally from a 10-0 deficit.
"I though I had a chance, and I went for it," Newman said.
I'm not knocking Newman for taking the chance. But it just seems like the Cowboys fail to come up with big plays down the stretch while other teams make them. That was certainly the case Sunday when the Giants got a 74-yard catch-and-run TD from RB Brandon Jacobs and a 79-yard punt return for a score from Domenik Hixon.
Had Newman played it safe, Nicks probably would have had a 10-yard gain. Wade Phillips was asked Monday if he likes players to gamble for interceptions.
"It's where you are on the field and where they are and when the guy's throwing the ball, the timing of the route, all those things," Phillips said. "And what the strengths and weaknesses of the coverages are sometimes. Sometimes you have outside, sometimes you have inside, sometimes you have help. All those things determine it."
So was Newman justified in going for the pick?
"It didn't turn out that way, no," Phillips said. "Now when you go for it, you've got to make the play."
Unfortunately for Dallas, that never seems to happen in December.
