This attitude isn’t limited to the Cowboys.
14-2 Chargers lose in the playoffs? Must be Marty Schottenheimer’s fault!
Jets don’t make playoffs? Must be Eric Mangini’s fault!
Buccaneers can’t beat Eagles in playoffs? Must be Tony Dungy’s fault!
Eagles haven’t won Superbowl under Reid/McNabb? They must suck!
Cowboys don’t make playoffs? Must be Tony Romo/Wade Phillips/Jerry Jones/Terrell Owens’s fault!
I actually agree with most of those facetious claims, and would be happy to argue the particulars of any of them. I don’t know that I could make a case against Dungy, but the others, absolutely.
It isn’t anyone’s fault?
I vote “Tony Aroma”–something stinks around here.
Schottenheimer? Really?
The guy is 5-13 in the playoffs. That’s not a fluke, or a small sample size. That’s 18 games; enough to say he isn’t a good playoff coach.
The reason he isn’t a good playoff coach is because regardless of hwat he does in the regular season, he turtles in the playoffs. He goes ultra-conservative, never make a call that could be second-guessed, play to not lose. In the playoffs, you have to play to win.
Which year did he lose to the Jets in the playoffs with San Diego? 2003ish? The next week, Herm Edwards lost by employing that exact same boneheaded type style, and he defended himself by pointing to a similar call Marty had made the week before.
In case that isn’t clear, Herm defended his strategy by citing a coach he beat the previous week doing the same thing. The losing coach. Yeah, good move, Herm.
Anyway, talk radio went absolutely berserk after that one. “Marty did the same thing? Marty?! What the hell has he ever won? Look at what Belichick did in the same situation: the exact opposite. Which one has Lombardi trophies?”
I can dig up the specific details if you like. It’ll come back to me if I look at the game logs what exactly the bad calls were that Herm and Marty did, and the exact opposite one that Belichick did.
Leaving aside the question of whether 18 games is a stastistically significant sample size (and I contend that such a thing is simply not possible in the NFL), so what?
It’s not as though San Diego’s choice was between a great regular season coach and a great playoff coach; it was between a great regular season coach and a coach.
In any case, there is no rational basis for the idea of a “good playoff coach”- the skillset required to win NFL games is exactly the same in the postseason as it is in the regular season. If a coach is good in the regular season, he’s good. If he’s good in the regular season but bad in the postseason, he’s unlucky, unless he changes style in the playoffs. As far as I can tell, Schottenheimer doesn’t. Martyball year-round.
If there’s anything to blame, it was the injury bug. It wasn’t that anybody sucks.
Kindly keep your bigotry out of our sports threads.
Are you offended by the anti-gay slur or the anti-fat slur?
Just asking.
Well, both.
I think Dallas needs to find themselves a new QB, ditch Terrel Owens and fix their defense.
Kindly be a little less touchy. :rolleyes: Opposing fans tend to direct some choice language toward hated rivals. Deal with it.
Agreed. I’m a Cowboys fan (reluctantly, after living in Phoenix during the debacle that was the Cardinals move) and coming into a thread about who is to blame for the drubbing on Sunday I’m frankly amazed at the LACK of crude epithets being thrown around so far.
As to what needs to be fixed: it’s a Jerry Jones problem which is reflected in the head coach. Wade Phillips simply cannot control or instill discipline in a group of guys with huge egos, huge contracts and off-field problems. The team has talented players but several of them need a smack upside their head every so often.
The difference was clear during the game - 4th and inches and Phillips sends out the punt crew and Romo waves them back. They go back and Phillips is standing on the sideline looking like the most confused man in the world. I don’t care if it was right or wrong to go for it or not on that down - you cannot have a QB overriding the head coach, period.
Look at Andy Reid - he benched McNabb, caught a lot of shit for it but it WORKED. McNabb and the Eagles have been playing with intensity since then. Gee, I wonder why? Because even their franchise QB can ride the pine if he screws up? What a concept!
But with JJ as GM, I doubt we’ll ever see another strong head coach. He’ll get another milquetoast go-along guy who cannot handle the braying band of egoists wearing the uniforms and the Cowboys will continue to underperform.
The usual knock on Schottenhiemer is that he does change in the playoffs – he goes from conservative to ultraconservative.
If they do it here, they will get called on it. Deal with it.
That would be a fair criticism, then, but is it actually true?
Agreed.
It has been in the playoff games I’ve seen him coach.
If you think it could be just a fluke that he happens to have a 5-13 playoff record, completely at odds with his stellar regular season record, then can I convince you that Detroit was a really good team in 08? They only lost 16 games. It was a fluke!
I refute that the same skillset that wins in the regular season wins in the playoffs.
The fix?
I hear a former Texas Rangers owner will soon be moving to Dallas in January. Maybe his experience and political acumen could be put to good use in turning the team around.
As if 95% of football fans didn’t have enough reasons to hate the Cowboys…
So what skill is required to win in the playoffs that isn’t required in the regular season? Tony Dungy had a shitty playoff record until 2006, and people always said he couldn’t win the big game. Now he’s a Great Playoff Coach, etc. etc.