Yahoo Sports: Familiar December dud (player texted " SOS" from team bus)

[canters]

I wonder how credible this report is?

I've been listening to 3 major sports stations here in Dallas and it hasn't been mentioned yet.

s

I agree,,sounds made up to me.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Boo Wade

 

[RainMan]

Not wade's fault.

Don't believe me? The cowboys haven't had a winning december in over a decade. It's something else about this team, no idea what. Different players, different coaches, different everything.

you can't blame jerry because it's literally impossible to find the exact right combination of this unique type of failure out there, other than just sheer blind luck. that's all i can think it is.

I do think part of these December woes is an element of simply needing the worm to turn our way and, if it ever does, that might help correct some things. That's not to absolve the team for their failures -- plenty of it is self inflicted and could be corrected by becoming a less error-prone team. But I can't help but wonder if there's some of that self-fulfilling prophecy going on.

As for the comment, what's troubling is that one game into December a player already senses we're doomed.

 

[superpunk]

s

I agree,,sounds made up to me.

I think we *hope* it's made up, more than anything.

 

[Ren]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-phillipsswoon120609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

The sense of defeat was evident even via text message.

As one Dallas Cowboys player sat on the bus going from Giants Stadium to the airport for the latest ugly December flight home, he kept his comments brief when asked about the general state of the team after the ugly 31-24 loss to the archrival New York Giants on Sunday.

“SOS” is all the message read.

When pressed with a simple “?”, the player responded with “Same old [stuff].” Not that the SOS part needed much translation, but the second part of the message told the story.

“Wade: Don’t worry guys, it’s alright,” the player wrote.

For all the things that players love about Phillips (and there are plenty of players throughout his 33-year NFL career who will vouch for him), there is one thing he doesn’t know how to do: Close.

As in close the deal, close a season, finish the race, hit the throttle; whatever it is that has to happen late in a season to separate the good from great.

The loss Sunday was the latest exhibition of Phillips’ inability to have his team ready. Up 17-14 in the third quarter, the Cowboys let this one slip away the same way they let the Baltimore Ravens beat them last season in the final game at Texas Stadium. They allowed a screen pass to Brandon Jacobs(notes) turn into a 74-yard touchdown. In the fourth quarter, they let punt returner Domenik Hixon(notes) escape at least four tacklers on the way to a 79-yard score.

Brutal. But this is what Phillips has let his career become: good early, bad late.

From September through November, Phillips has been an excellent coach, leading Dallas to a 27-8 record in his three seasons. That’s a 77.1 winning percentage, which is Hall of Fame stuff.

The problem, as it always has been with Phillips, is that December and January escape him as if he were trying to grab a cold wind with his hands. Tack on the loss to the Giants and Phillips is now 3-7 in December and January since inheriting a supremely talented team from Bill Parcells in 2007. That includes a playoff loss to the Giants two seasons ago and four consecutive road losses.

That trend was the same in Phillips’ previous head-coaching stops in Denver (two years) and Buffalo (three). At those two places, Phillips was a combined 35-25 before December, 10-12 afterward. That includes two previous playoff losses in Buffalo, most notably the Music City Miracle loss when Phillips inexplicably started backup quarterback Rob Johnson(notes) instead of Doug Flutie.

It’s as if Phillips is like a great starting pitcher in the closing years of a career, when six or seven innings is as much as he can muster before turning the game over to the pen. Sadly, you can’t call in Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher the way the Yankees used to have Mariano Rivera finish up for Roger Clemens.

Phillips is what he is, an amiable man who happens to be the classic coaching tweener. He’s a great defensive coordinator, so good that it shouldn’t be that big a step to successful head coach. And for the most part, Phillips is a good head coach. At least for 10 months a year.

In a sport where players have to perform as if they are being shot from a cannon, Phillips is a calming influence. He keeps people moving in the right direction, never overreacts and rarely does something that leaves you wondering “Huh?”

But December is a different beast in the NFL. It is the time when great coaches know how to expose nerves and push players beyond their norm. Parcells, who failed to win a playoff game with the Cowboys, did it with pride-wrenching insults. Marv Levy did it with speeches. Jimmy Johnson did it with fear.

Phillips?

“Wade is just a really good guy,” former Buffalo wide receiver Andre Reed said two years ago.
The interesting part is that this is the great opportunity for Phillips. With a good December and an NFC championship game appearance, Phillips could put a lot of pressure on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to give him a contract extension. Another two or three years at $3 million or so a year should be plenty of incentive for Phillips on a personal level.

Likewise, the Cowboys, whose last playoff victory was in 1996, would be wise to pick up the pace for Phillips. Either that or they could be looking at a new coach come late January (Mike Shanahan or Mike Holmgren could easily be interested). The problem with that is that new coaches tend to clean house. That could mean plenty of guys with lost jobs.

All good stuff that a great coach might remind his players of at this time of the year.
Instead, Phillips tells his guys not to worry.

Jason Cole is a national NFL writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Jason a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated 12 hours, 12 minutes ago

________________



The dam is starting to leak..

and people wonder why so many of us don't like the guy

 

[DallasEast]

Instead of everyone worrying about who the player is....we should be worried about the message Wade is sending to the team. This is a loser mentality and message...and it helps to explain why the Cowboys don't respond in December.

I still get sick to my stomach thinking about how Philthy beat us to end last year. With this management / coaching style, we will see more of this again this year. This just blows my mind...how can a professional coach have this weak minded attitude toward losing at the most important part of the season...wow!!!!!

We have been questioning and debating Phillips' message to the team for a very long time. That's nothing new. Whether this latest article based on an old topic was initiated by a Dallas Cowboys player is. It's not worry. It's suspicion.

 

[BehindEnemyLinez]

Who let Brad Johnson on the team bus?! Didn't they know he's no longer on the roster!!!

 

[chinch]

bingo.

"SOS"

“Wade: Don’t worry guys, it’s alright,” the player wrote.

Instead of everyone worrying about who the player is....we should be worried about the message Wade is sending to the team. This is a loser mentality and message...and it helps to explain why the Cowboys don't respond in December.

I still get sick to my stomach thinking about how Philthy beat us to end last year. With this management / coaching style, we will see more of this again this year. This just blows my mind...how can a professional coach have this weak minded attitude toward losing at the most important part of the season...wow!!!!!

 

[NextGenBoys]

“SOS” is all the message read.

When pressed with a simple “?”, the player responded with “Same old [stuff].” Not that the SOS part needed much translation, but the second part of the message told the story.

“Wade: Don’t worry guys, it’s alright,” the player wrote.

It's official. Wade has lost the team.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

It's official. Wade has lost the team.

:laugh2:

 

[utrunner07]

It's official. Wade has lost the team.

Thanks sherlock. Your only about a year and a half late.

 

[miamicowboy21]

We can blame Wade all we want, but if we have all of this new leadership it's up to them to overcome the coach. These players have an opportunity to right this ship. It's up to them to determine their destiny.

 

[Alexander]

Instead of everyone worrying about who the player is....we should be worried about the message Wade is sending to the team. This is a loser mentality and message...and it helps to explain why the Cowboys don't respond in December.

Nonsense. It is much better to just discount the source, ridicule the writer for not naming them and continue to ignore what could be very relevent.

The same thing happened last year with the fallout after Philadelphia. It was all evil Werder. BSPN. And so on, complete with the dog urinating on the logo smiley.

At this point, I believe everything I read like this. There's got to be an explanation and a lack of faith could be the reason.

I think we have team that has players on it who don't have faith in Phillips' approach. I think as much as they have learned how to say the right things, they still feel differently amongst themselves. They are defeatist. There is a "woe is us" mentality that pops up at this time of year. We don't have guts and we have no idea how to finish. We don't have that extra gear that teams that win championships have. It is fairly evident. There is no fear. This team doesn't play at a high level because they are scared of losing. Ever. Fear is a motivator. When you read about how the locker room was a sullen depressed morgue, that says it all.

The head coach should be providing that lift, not simply doing what he's always done all along. Phillips obviously isn't equipped and our players can't do it themselves because they haven't learned how to win and aren't guided by a winner.

 

[ddh33]

Just so we're clear, that wasn't a dstress signal from a player...

"SOS" was referring to the "same old stuff". This was a frustrated player. Nothing more.

 

[Rampage]

It's official. Wade has lost the team.

he never had this "team". they're a bunch of losers and now they're using Wade as the excuse. I see a handful of guys who wanna win and the rest are quiters.

 

[Alexander]

It's official. Wade has lost the team.

He never had it to begin with.

 

[WV Cowboy]

One twit or tweet or one text, or whatever it was, .. and with that some of you know the entire emotional state of every player on the team and of the team itself.

Some of you amaze me with your knowledge.

We battled a divison rival, on the road, with their backs to the wall, and if only one play here or there had gone differently, the outcome might have been different.

It's not like the score was 38-10.

I'm not a big Wade fan, but the guy is not as bad as some of you seem to imply he is.

How can you blame him for the 75 yard BJ run or the punt return?

He puts them in to position, but the rest is up the the players.

 

[Cowboy4ever]

What do you want him to tell them? Wow, you guys suck.. you won't win again this year??

If I was the coach, I would have said pretty much the same thing. We lost, but its ok, still 4 games to go, we are still in 1st place. We have to get things corrected and win the remaining games, but we are ok.

I don't understand why what he said is bothering people.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

My first thot was the player was Bradie james.
But then I thot: "naw he's not that smart."

 

[WV Cowboy]

What do you want him to tell them? Wow, you guys suck.. you won't win again this year??

If I was the coach, I would have said pretty much the same thing. We lost, but its ok, still 4 games to go, we are still in 1st place. We have to get things corrected and win the remaining games, but we are ok.

I don't understand why what he said is bothering people.

I can only guess that they have never been around sports teams, have never coached, or have never been in a lockerroom after a loss.