Team leadership...

[Wezsh0T]

It's taken three seasons, but I think this team is starting to build an identity and leaders are starting to emerge. With a dominating coach like Parcells, I think it might have been tough for some of these leaders to bloom. They are not your typical loud guys like Ray Lewis, but they lead by actions (Witten, Ware, Barber). Add in a guy like Romo, who is probably a great leader in person, but visibly pouts (which makes him look like a loser at times) and it's not hard to see why the leadership took so long to form. When Parcells left, it created a leadership vaccuum because he was the unquestioned leader.

Wade, on the other hand, is a totally different kind of leader. He's kind of ho hum and looks like a bumpkin at times, but he believes in letting players develop as leaders. This takes time to develop and I think the process was accelerated by all the stupid mistakes that players made. In a way, Wade's deflection of mistakes onto himself has protected the players (too much) and perhaps allowed them to develop. Wade stayed patient (or is just that way) and the players finally got frustrated enough to say..."The heck with this. I'm going to do something." One could say that this isn't really leadership from Wade at all, but it must be some kind of management philosophy. It also could be a management philosophy that could stay in place despite regime changes.

Did Wade luck into what's starting to happen? Perhaps. Is what's happening happening in spite of Wade? Perhaps. Whatever the reason, I can feel that it's starting to work. The team is starting to have some kind of identity.

Getting rid of a malcontent like TO and adding a supervet like Brooking have been key. Somehow, Brooking has become the heart of this team and players are starting to rally. Maybe they just needed someone to show them the way?

Alright...I kind of rambled on. Whatever the case, the Cowboys players are really starting to grow on me. Now if we can only reduce our stupid penalties...

 

[theogt]

You win games, everyone thinks you have leadership and chemistry.

You lose games, where's the leadership and chemistry?

In the end, neither has much to do at all with winning and losing.

 

[AdamJT13]

You win games, everyone thinks you have leadership and chemistry.

You lose games, where's the leadership and chemistry?

In the end, neither has much to do at all with winning and losing.

You forgot to include "playing with emotion."

 

[MONT17]

I can see that... playing under Parcells is like a gay kid growing up in a military family. Parcells like Jimmy is what you need when you have an Owner like Jerry!

 

[Wezsh0T]

Well...it just seems like the players have a slightly different outlook than they had in previous seasons. Does that make a difference in wins and losses? Perhaps not. It just seemed like last year they made a bunch of excuses and had a faux confidence. This year, there just seems to be a determination to get things right. I dunno. I guess I just like what I'm hearing from guys like Ware, Austin, and especially Brooking. I also like that Jason Witten has been getting people's faces during games. This is not really stuff we've seen from these guys...

Also, if we start losing games, I don't forsee this team blaming each other (except they might blame Garrett), but rather I see them banding together more tightly.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

You win games, everyone thinks you have leadership and chemistry.

You lose games, where's the leadership and chemistry?

In the end, neither has much to do at all with winning and losing.

I agree. Funny how that works. Fact is, the best teams win games. The best TEAMS. Not the best coaching, not the best leaders, not the best players. THE BEST TEAMS win.

 

[RainMan]

I'm definitely in the group that cringes to talk too much about heart, body language, emotion and leadership. It's so subjective. Was Campbell a leader on the Commanders' touchdown drives tonight, fighting hostile situations and injury? And then suddenly not on every other drive? It's hard, I think, to know these things unless you're in the locker room every day seeing how guys truly lead, as cliche as that sounds.

I will say this. I completely, totally, wholeheartedly dislike the Romo head-in-hands look when things go bad, especially contrasted to the crap-eating-grinning Romo when things are going well. And I think his temperament kind of reflects the team as a whole, but I'm especially keying on him in this instance. I am of the belief that quarterbacks need to be a little "cooler" on the field. I don't mind Romo riding the highs of the high moments, but I don't think it sends the right message when he, by all practical measures, mopes in bad moments.

One other thing: Brooking's hooting and hollering, imo, was needed. We needed a sparkplug on defense. It was one reason so many people wanted Ray Lewis here. I never knew Brooking was such an emotional type guy. I really like that. He reminds me of Brian Dawkins -- somewhat.