NewsBot
New Member
- Messages
- 111,281
- Reaction score
- 2,947
SAN DIEGO – With his defense in tatters, Monte Kiffin was in no mood to discuss Southern California firing his son as its coach.
“I didn’t talk to Lane,” the elder Kiffin said. “I’m not even going to get into that. I’m disappointed we didn’t win this football game, OK?”
Bottom line: The 73-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator has plenty of his own problems after San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers shredded his unit in a record-setting performance.
Leading by 11 points in the second quarter after Sean Lee returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown, the Cowboys surrendered 21 unanswered points to lose 30-21 to the Chargers on Sunday.
Dallas hired Kiffin to ensure such embarrassing meltdowns wouldn’t happen this season. Afterward, he offered no excuses.
“We should have got our offense the ball more,” Kiffin said. “That’s our fault. Put that on our defense.”
The Cowboys (2-2) are back at .500 after finishing the last two seasons out of the playoffs with 8-8 records. Try as it might, Dallas just can’t seem to pull itself out of the muck of mediocrity.
“It’s terribly frustrating,” Lee said. “We want to be this consistent team that wins week in and week out. Until we win games like this, we aren’t going to be there.”
Employing a dink-and-dunk strategy that set up the long ball, Rivers established a career high for completions while throwing for 401 yards with three TDs and just one interception. Despite playing behind a line that was without three injured starters, he finished 35-of-42 for an 83-percent completion percentage that set a single-game NFL record for a quarterback throwing for 400 yards.
“He can still play, and we told our defense that,” Kiffin said of the 33-year-old Rivers, who struggled the last two seasons. “We showed them clips and clips.”
But all that preparation was for naught as Rivers took turns targeting weak-link cornerback Morris Claiborne and usually dependable linebacker Bruce Carter, who got beat by diminutive running back Danny Woodhead for TD catches of 26 and 13 yards.
Carter spent the rest of the game on the sideline after Woodhead’s second score, which cut the Cowboys’ lead to 21-20 in the third quarter.
Asked about what appeared to be a benching, Kiffin indicated Carter left the game because he got worn down because it was “hot out there.”
“Maybe he got beat, but it wasn’t like he got beat and we said, ‘Get him out of there,’ ” Kiffin said. “We don’t do that.”
Carter admitted he “could have done a lot better on some of my coverages.” He went onto explain that Rivers was masterful changing plays at the line of scrimmage.
“He made great checks and spread the ball around,” Carter said. “He’d dink and dab and then he’d go for the home run shot.”
Rivers’ longest homer came with 6:54 left, when he ignored pressure up the middle to loft a perfect pass to Antonio Gates for a 56-yard score that victimized Lee.
“It was nothing special,” Rivers said of his 200th career TD pass.
The loss wasted strong efforts from Tony Romo (244 passing yards with two TDs and no turnovers) and Dez Bryant (two TD catches). Romo tried to engineer a comeback, but rookie Terrance Williams fumbled at the goal line with 2:42 left on second-and-goal at the seven-yard line. The Chargers (2-2) recovered in the end zone.
But, in the end, it came down to defensive breakdowns, which must be fixed quickly with Peyton Manning and the undefeated Denver coming to Arlington next weekend.
“We have to bounce back,” defensive tackle Jason Hatcher said. “We got hands down the best QB in the league coming in here. This guy (Manning) is a scientist out there. We have to shake this one off quick. If not, we’re going to get embarrassed.”
Continue reading...
“I didn’t talk to Lane,” the elder Kiffin said. “I’m not even going to get into that. I’m disappointed we didn’t win this football game, OK?”
Bottom line: The 73-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator has plenty of his own problems after San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers shredded his unit in a record-setting performance.
Leading by 11 points in the second quarter after Sean Lee returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown, the Cowboys surrendered 21 unanswered points to lose 30-21 to the Chargers on Sunday.
Dallas hired Kiffin to ensure such embarrassing meltdowns wouldn’t happen this season. Afterward, he offered no excuses.
“We should have got our offense the ball more,” Kiffin said. “That’s our fault. Put that on our defense.”
The Cowboys (2-2) are back at .500 after finishing the last two seasons out of the playoffs with 8-8 records. Try as it might, Dallas just can’t seem to pull itself out of the muck of mediocrity.
“It’s terribly frustrating,” Lee said. “We want to be this consistent team that wins week in and week out. Until we win games like this, we aren’t going to be there.”
Employing a dink-and-dunk strategy that set up the long ball, Rivers established a career high for completions while throwing for 401 yards with three TDs and just one interception. Despite playing behind a line that was without three injured starters, he finished 35-of-42 for an 83-percent completion percentage that set a single-game NFL record for a quarterback throwing for 400 yards.
“He can still play, and we told our defense that,” Kiffin said of the 33-year-old Rivers, who struggled the last two seasons. “We showed them clips and clips.”
But all that preparation was for naught as Rivers took turns targeting weak-link cornerback Morris Claiborne and usually dependable linebacker Bruce Carter, who got beat by diminutive running back Danny Woodhead for TD catches of 26 and 13 yards.
Carter spent the rest of the game on the sideline after Woodhead’s second score, which cut the Cowboys’ lead to 21-20 in the third quarter.
Asked about what appeared to be a benching, Kiffin indicated Carter left the game because he got worn down because it was “hot out there.”
“Maybe he got beat, but it wasn’t like he got beat and we said, ‘Get him out of there,’ ” Kiffin said. “We don’t do that.”
Carter admitted he “could have done a lot better on some of my coverages.” He went onto explain that Rivers was masterful changing plays at the line of scrimmage.
“He made great checks and spread the ball around,” Carter said. “He’d dink and dab and then he’d go for the home run shot.”
Rivers’ longest homer came with 6:54 left, when he ignored pressure up the middle to loft a perfect pass to Antonio Gates for a 56-yard score that victimized Lee.
“It was nothing special,” Rivers said of his 200th career TD pass.
The loss wasted strong efforts from Tony Romo (244 passing yards with two TDs and no turnovers) and Dez Bryant (two TD catches). Romo tried to engineer a comeback, but rookie Terrance Williams fumbled at the goal line with 2:42 left on second-and-goal at the seven-yard line. The Chargers (2-2) recovered in the end zone.
But, in the end, it came down to defensive breakdowns, which must be fixed quickly with Peyton Manning and the undefeated Denver coming to Arlington next weekend.
“We have to bounce back,” defensive tackle Jason Hatcher said. “We got hands down the best QB in the league coming in here. This guy (Manning) is a scientist out there. We have to shake this one off quick. If not, we’re going to get embarrassed.”
Continue reading...