Peter King's Take On The Cowboy Disaster...

[Real1st]

Roy Williams is horrible in pass coverage but very helpful with stopping the run. Had he been in the game against Baltimore I feel certain that those 2 big runs dont happen. King IMO pretty much nails it for me but it aint going to happen. The problem with this team is the same as the big 3 automakers, look at the very top to find the problem.

So we are paying him all this money to be a run stopper???

Neat.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I hate to admit it because I have supported Owens, but sadly I think King might be right. T.O needs to go or this team won't move forward.

Like Dilfer was saying on Cowherd this morning when discussing Romo (I was waiting for Mick Green to post this! ), Elway and other great QBs who mentored him told him that the QB had to be The Man on offense, and everyone must know it. When you have a wide receiver who is equal or above the QB in the pecking order, it simply won't work. The QB has to be the unquestioned leader on offense and everyone must know it.

In our particular case, he said Romo needs to be able to tell his WRs that they have to run routes correctly. They have to get their hot routes right. They have to beat one-on-one coverage EVERY TIME. And if the WR refuses or can't do that or cries about it, he has to go. Even if it's TO.

And that's where we are. TO is more the star than Romo is, and that won't work.

And guess what... It's even worse when the owner/GM promotes the kind of dysfunction Dilfer is talking about.

 

[tyke1doe]

I'm sure that injury didn't play a part in Williams' invisibility...

I noted that too. :laugh1:

 

[chinch]

bullseye.

too bad jerry is the dumbest football guy in the NFL.

 

[DallasEast]

Anyone here have any faith that Jones can turn this around? I mean, it's been how many years? 15 since we last reached the promised land and 10+ since we've won a playoff game.

I don't think Jerry has it in him. He's still trying to buy championships, which is almost impossible in today's NFL. We were embarrassed yesterday, utterly embarrassed. Thank you Mr. Jones.

In two full seasons since Bill Parcells' resignation, Jerry Jones has morphed more into a Daniel Snyder clone than ever before. While he should be commended for drafting players such as Felix Jones, Martellus Bennett, Tashard Choice, etc., he should also be criticized for going after free agents such as Tank Johnson and Adam Jones.

A general manager must adopted and maintain a roster philosophy which reflects a pro-chemistry mandate. Some of his roster choices has had the opposite affect. No matter who the players are, each have to identify themselves as team members and not as individual "superstars". When your roster is populated by players who do not act as a unit both on and off the field, the team itself will not achieve its goals. In the end, intangibles are just as important to a team's success as the tangibles.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I thought it was a good piece, and pretty accurate but it was definately hurt, in credibility, by not realising that Roy Williams has been out for the majority of the year. He got hurt, the first time, in the second game of the season and then came back and didn't even make it through the entire game he returned in before being hurt again. So, that said, the guy played a total, if you take the Eagles game and the game he got hurt in the second time, and add them together he played in about 2 games of the 16. Pretty hard not to be invisible when that is the case.

As for TO this is an interesting piece he speaks on and something I've been battling with in my head. I like TO, I really do. I think he's a great playmaker and he still makes a lot of plays for us. But I have wondered this year, and continue to wonder, if Romo wouldn't be better QB without TO to have to try and keep happy. I do wonder if he had Williams and Witten and then a combination of Crayton and Austin if he wouldn't just play better. If it wouldn't just allow him to play a little more stress free.

But that is always Monday Morning QBing on my part cause you can never be sure how good he'd be without Owens.

 

[tyke1doe]

Like Dilfer was saying on Cowherd this morning when discussing Romo (I was waiting for Mick Green to post this! ), Elway and other great QBs who mentored him told him that the QB had to be The Man on offense, and everyone must know it. When you have a wide receiver who is equal or above the QB in the pecking order, it simply won't work. The QB has to be the unquestioned leader on offense and everyone must know it.

In our particular case, he said Romo needs to be able to tell his WRs that they have to run routes correctly. They have to get their hot routes right. They have to beat one-on-one coverage EVERY TIME. And if the WR refuses or can't do that or cries about it, he has to go. Even if it's TO.

And that's where we are. TO is more the star than Romo is, and that won't work.

And guess what... It's even worse when the owner/GM promotes the kind of dysfunction Dilfer is talking about.

And now everyone is starting to understand the whole issue in Philadelphia between McNabb and T.O.

McNabb tells T.O. to shut up in the huddle, and T.O. pouts and hits the self-destruct button.

T.O. is the leader of this team, not Romo, which is why T.O. is always giving press conferences talking about how he should have gotten the ball, why the offense isn't working etc.

Everyone knows the quarterback is the man - for good or bad. But T.O. couldn't handle the fact that that was the case in Philly, or should have been the case. And so he tosses McNabb under the bus, and then McNabb gets criticized for not being able to "handle" T.O.

Same mess. Different uniforms.

 

[tyke1doe]

But that is always Monday Morning QBing on my part cause you can never be sure how good he'd be without Owens.

We'll more than likely find out because barring major catastrophe of a personal crisis or accident, Romo will be with the Cowboys longer than T.O.

T.O. probably has one more year with this franchise.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

And now everyone is starting to understand the whole issue in Philadelphia between McNabb and T.O.

McNabb tells T.O. to shut up in the huddle, and T.O. pouts and hits the self-destruct button.

T.O. is the leader of this team, not Romo, which is why T.O. is always giving press conferences talking about how he should have gotten the ball, why the offense isn't working etc.

Everyone knows the quarterback is the man - for good or bad. But T.O. couldn't handle the fact that that was the case in Philly, or should have been the case. And so he tosses McNabb under the bus, and then McNabb gets criticized for not being able to "handle" T.O.

Same mess. Different uniforms.

Exactly.

 

[TwoSteppinJJ]

"Dallas has acquired the most famous talent in all of football since 1997 and not won a playoff game. Twelve years, and counting."

Thats just wrong... Only in the past 2-3 seasons have we really went all out at bringing in big names. But before that we weren't the team overpaying for talent and giving huge contracts to bums like Archuleta or Lloyd or bunch of other bummy names we've forgotten about. I think hes referring the Deadskins... They make the huge Bailey trade and all the other dumb moves.

 

[chinch]

I thought it was a good piece, and pretty accurate but it was definately hurt, in credibility, by not realising that Roy Williams has been out for the majority of the year.

Maybe he was referring to in the locker room, wherever. I mean you can be injured and still participate in meetings, teach rookies, help coaches, etc.

Well unless you are a Dallas Cowboy.

 

[Shotgun Dave]

I wouldn't go that far, but it does hurt his overall commentary (which does include good observations in my opinion) when he unknowingly blames a player's productivity on injury. That was very poor research on his part.

As I read that, I thought he was referring to Roy's play BEFORE he went on IR. He was as invisible then.

Roy 31/38 is done in Dallas. It can't be any other way.
Roy 11 needs a good face-slapping if he doesn't start running routes as if the ball was coming to him or not. Why we would have brought on another *star* who gives up if he's not constantly involved is a freaking mystery to me. There are LOTS of stars on this team and only so many balls to go around.

I hate to say it because I was optimistic about signing him, but it's NOT looking good at this point AT ALL.

That said, for him to rip Roy 11 and then suggest we make him our *go to* WR makes next to ZERO sense in my book.

 

[CoCo]

I mostly agree with King's take as well.

And I actually feel bad for TO taking that position. And I do think he's worked as hard as he is capable to be a good teammate. But in the same way this team was tired of walking on eggshells with Parcells, the same applies to TO IMO.

I just think TO is too big a gamble. Maybe I'm wrong. The scary thing for me is that I am not a Roy Williams fan. He just looks like he has dog tendencies to me. I do not like the choices at WR. One, either or both, but realize we'll have to go with one or the other at minimum.

 

[Big D]

Let's fix this team. One: Jerry's got to stop taking draft picks and throwing them at stars. First- and third-round picks seemed a bargain to get Williams, but now Dallas has a massive need at left tackle (Flozell Adams looks 53, not 33), guard, safety (Roy Williams was utterly invisible in 2008) and wide receiver. (We'll get to that in a minute.) Jones had a very good personnel man in Jeff Ireland, who left to go with Parcells. He's got another one now in Tom Ciskowski. Let the talent-miners mine for talent instead of hamstringing them.

Two: Cut the 34-year-old baby, Terrell Owens. With T.O. gone, Romo could drop back to pass and look for an open receiver -- not an open receiver with the number 81. You simply can't play football that way, and no matter what Romo says, I know he does it often enough so he makes sure Owens doesn't freak out on the sidelines or during the week. Build a receiving corps around Williams, Witten and Patrick Crayton (who's a decent player if he accepts being a third receiver). The cancerous Owens simply must go for the team to heal.

Three: Order the players to please, please stop saying they're the most talented team in football. Terence Newman, who played like a Bowling Green walk-on trying to cover LeBron James in Philadelphia, said it again Sunday.

1. We've been drafting really well the past few years I hardly think thats the problem. I agree we need to shore up the O-line but to say we've been ruining our drafts is crazy.

2. So RW is the one acts like baby and we should cut TO? I don't care how the media depicts TO if you actually listen to HIM you'd know that he isn't the problem.

3. It was various media outlets proclaiming the cowboys the most talented team assembled and superbowl favorites not the players themselves.

It's funny how he mentions football basics and completely leaves Garrett out of the article. How do you carve teams up with the running game only to get into the redzone, have a 3rd and 1 situation, and go into a shotgun formation? How do you go into games knowing you have a qb with a gunslinger mentality and not protect both him and the ball with the running game? How do you go into games with one of the most powerful O-lines in the game along with 3 stud rbs only to call plays which accentuates their weakness, pass blocking?

It's obvious that everyones scapegoat is TO but what I see is a HC made the adjustments he could. The defense was struggling , he took over and it flourished. The offense was struggling but he couldn't do anything because the OC is the 'head coach in training'. You cannot have coordinators with more power than the HC.

The solution is simple, either you give Wade the power to be HC and yank Garretts chain or you get rid of Garrett.

 

[CoCo]

As I read that, I thought he was referring to Roy's play BEFORE he went on IR. He was as invisible then.

Roy 31/38 is done in Dallas. It can't be any other way.
Roy 11 needs a good face-slapping if he doesn't start running routes as if the ball was coming to him or not. Why we would have brought on another *star* who gives up if he's not constantly involved is a freaking mystery to me. There are LOTS of stars on this team and only so many balls to go around.

I hate to say it because I was optimistic about signing him, but it's NOT looking good at this point AT ALL.

That said, for him to rip Roy 11 and then suggest we make him our *go to* WR makes next to ZERO sense in my book.

It makes sense only in the sense that we are between a rock and a hardplace knowing that we cannot eliminate both. And I think he sees Roy 11 as the more coachable/reclaimable of the two.

 

[Kaika]

...you might not like King, but he has some interesting observations about team chemistry, Roy 11 Williams, etc...
*******************************************************


Sunday was one of the five worst days in the 49-year history of the Dallas Cowboys.

A buddy visiting some Cowboys friends at the team hotel Saturday night came away thinking how divided the team is, and how bad team chemistry is. End result: Philadelphia 44, Dallas 6. And it was every bit as bad, or worse.

I came to this conclusion: The Cowboys are the Yankees, in so many ways. New York has spent more money than every other team in baseball for the past eight years and not won a World Series. Dallas has acquired the most famous talent in all of football since 1997 and not won a playoff game. Twelve years, and counting.

The Cowboys do none of the very basics of football well. It's because they've concentrated on buying players like Terrell Owens, thinking this is fantasy football. Terrell Owens and Roy Williams at receiver and Jason Witten at tight end? Best in football! We'll crush everyone! But that isn't how football works. Dallas should have known when it acquired Williams in midseason that he takes a lot of care and feeding; as one Lions official who worked with Williams for several years told me Sunday, if you ignore Williams, he's going to give up. He takes after Owens in that way. Looked like Williams gave up on a route that resulted in a Tony Romo interception Sunday.

The larger lesson: In football, you can have a few stars, but they'd better be selfless on Sundays. Dallas' stars are consistently stroked by Jones, when sometimes he needs to either stay the heck out of the player-relation business or give the doggish player a boot in the rear.

Let's fix this team. One: Jerry's got to stop taking draft picks and throwing them at stars. First- and third-round picks seemed a bargain to get Williams, but now Dallas has a massive need at left tackle (Flozell Adams looks 53, not 33), guard, safety (Roy Williams was utterly invisible in 2008) and wide receiver. (We'll get to that in a minute.) Jones had a very good personnel man in Jeff Ireland, who left to go with Parcells. He's got another one now in Tom Ciskowski. Let the talent-miners mine for talent instead of hamstringing them.

Two: Cut the 34-year-old baby, Terrell Owens. With T.O. gone, Romo could drop back to pass and look for an open receiver -- not an open receiver with the number 81. You simply can't play football that way, and no matter what Romo says, I know he does it often enough so he makes sure Owens doesn't freak out on the sidelines or during the week. Build a receiving corps around Williams, Witten and Patrick Crayton (who's a decent player if he accepts being a third receiver). The cancerous Owens simply must go for the team to heal.

Three: Order the players to please, please stop saying they're the most talented team in football. Terence Newman, who played like a Bowling Green walk-on trying to cover LeBron James in Philadelphia, said it again Sunday.

Says who? Says the idiotic process of "voting'' for the Pro Bowl? It's an illusion. The most talented team in football doesn't lose a playoff-type game at home to Baltimore, then lose a playoff-type game by 38 to anyone. Perpetuating this myth only drags a team down. Tell the team: "If we were the most talented team in football, we'd be better than 0-6 in the playoffs in the last 10 years.''

Four: Jones is simply being stubborn in not firing Wade Phillips, or at least not hiring someone else and making Phillips the defensive coordinator. "Are we going to change coaches? The answer is no,'' Jones said Sunday night after this debacle. Suit yourself. How, Jerry, can you possibly ask your fans to have confidence in your staff going forward if you bring back a coach who let this team go to seed so quickly?

It won't be easy to fix this team, but Jones is the only one who can make it happen.

Good Post

 

[Chocolate Lab]

It makes sense only in the sense that we are between a rock and a hardplace knowing that we cannot eliminate both. And I think he sees Roy 11 as the more coachable/reclaimable of the two.

Not to mention that TO is 35 years old. Thirty-five!

Who in their right mind makes important organizational decisions based on a 35 year old wide receiver?

 

[Maikeru-sama]

I think Peter King is spot on, especially when talking about how Tony Romo tries to appease Terrell Owens.

What Peter King states, sounds like a plan, too bad it won't happen.

And of course when the 2009 Season starts, fans that don't trust Jerry Jones will be told to shutup and that the past failings of this team doesn't matter.

Book it!

 

[tunahelper]

...you might not like King, but he has some interesting observations about team chemistry, Roy 11 Williams, etc...
*******************************************************


Sunday was one of the five worst days in the 49-year history of the Dallas Cowboys.

A buddy visiting some Cowboys friends at the team hotel Saturday night came away thinking how divided the team is, and how bad team chemistry is. End result: Philadelphia 44, Dallas 6. And it was every bit as bad, or worse.

I came to this conclusion: The Cowboys are the Yankees, in so many ways. New York has spent more money than every other team in baseball for the past eight years and not won a World Series. Dallas has acquired the most famous talent in all of football since 1997 and not won a playoff game. Twelve years, and counting.

The Cowboys do none of the very basics of football well. It's because they've concentrated on buying players like Terrell Owens, thinking this is fantasy football. Terrell Owens and Roy Williams at receiver and Jason Witten at tight end? Best in football! We'll crush everyone! But that isn't how football works. Dallas should have known when it acquired Williams in midseason that he takes a lot of care and feeding; as one Lions official who worked with Williams for several years told me Sunday, if you ignore Williams, he's going to give up. He takes after Owens in that way. Looked like Williams gave up on a route that resulted in a Tony Romo interception Sunday.

The larger lesson: In football, you can have a few stars, but they'd better be selfless on Sundays. Dallas' stars are consistently stroked by Jones, when sometimes he needs to either stay the heck out of the player-relation business or give the doggish player a boot in the rear.

Let's fix this team. One: Jerry's got to stop taking draft picks and throwing them at stars. First- and third-round picks seemed a bargain to get Williams, but now Dallas has a massive need at left tackle (Flozell Adams looks 53, not 33), guard, safety (Roy Williams was utterly invisible in 2008) and wide receiver. (We'll get to that in a minute.) Jones had a very good personnel man in Jeff Ireland, who left to go with Parcells. He's got another one now in Tom Ciskowski. Let the talent-miners mine for talent instead of hamstringing them.

Two: Cut the 34-year-old baby, Terrell Owens. With T.O. gone, Romo could drop back to pass and look for an open receiver -- not an open receiver with the number 81. You simply can't play football that way, and no matter what Romo says, I know he does it often enough so he makes sure Owens doesn't freak out on the sidelines or during the week. Build a receiving corps around Williams, Witten and Patrick Crayton (who's a decent player if he accepts being a third receiver). The cancerous Owens simply must go for the team to heal.

Three: Order the players to please, please stop saying they're the most talented team in football. Terence Newman, who played like a Bowling Green walk-on trying to cover LeBron James in Philadelphia, said it again Sunday.

Says who? Says the idiotic process of "voting'' for the Pro Bowl? It's an illusion. The most talented team in football doesn't lose a playoff-type game at home to Baltimore, then lose a playoff-type game by 38 to anyone. Perpetuating this myth only drags a team down. Tell the team: "If we were the most talented team in football, we'd be better than 0-6 in the playoffs in the last 10 years.''

Four: Jones is simply being stubborn in not firing Wade Phillips, or at least not hiring someone else and making Phillips the defensive coordinator. "Are we going to change coaches? The answer is no,'' Jones said Sunday night after this debacle. Suit yourself. How, Jerry, can you possibly ask your fans to have confidence in your staff going forward if you bring back a coach who let this team go to seed so quickly?

It won't be easy to fix this team, but Jones is the only one who can make it happen.

Peter King is spot on. TO must now be cut no matter his talent and make this team a run first, play action driven offense.

 

[Shotgun Dave]

Not to mention that TO is 35 years old. Thirty-five!

Who in their right mind makes important organizational decisions based on a 35 year old wide receiver?

If you look at production on the field, TO has played and continues to play CIRCLES around Roy 11. TO has the body of a 25 year old WR - a RIPPED 25 year old WR at that.

There is NO WAY - repeat - NO WAY I make a guy whose routes and effort are as sloppy as Roy 11's have been the #1 WR on my team. For that matter, if he goes through our camp next year and doesn't show DRAMATIC improvement, I cut my losses and trade him for whatever we can get for him. As far as WR's on this team go, he's probably #4 or #5 in my opinion. TO, Crayton, Austin, and Hurd have ALL played better than he has.

And as far as *coaching him up*, who exactly is going to do that? You can't teach effort, and that's his problem. It's ALWAYS been his problem.