Big Blue and Little D?

Reflecting on yesterday’s NFL games and results, trying to capsulize the entire Sunday, my first thought was that the now 1-4 Cowboys losing to the now 2-3 Minnesota Vikings was the highlight of a somewhat moribund schedule.

Although both the Giants and Jets played pretty close games with Detroit and Denver respectively, the outcomes seemed little in doubt and the final results weren’t that surprising. And it was probably just an anomaly that all those losing teams are from cities starting with the letter “D”. (Dallas, Denver, Detroit for the memory-challenged).

The Cowboys, Boyz, Big Dee, take your pick, were awful. And to me, the symbol (I’m big on symbols) of their loss and whole problem was the penalty called on Miles Austin for excessively celebrating after their first touchdown. When one of a team’s best players commits a very stupid penalty after a week spent apologizing for stupid penalties having been the main root of their losing ways, it is a sign (not even a sign, a big poster) that the players just aren’t getting the message, or, even worse, that the team is getting the message but isn’t afraid of the consequences of ignoring it.

Now, I like Miles Austin. He’s a Jersey guy from right down the road in good ol’ Garfield, NJ. He’s my number 1 receiver on my fantasy team. But what the hell was he thinking? If he was thinking at all, the thoughts were only of himself. In a way, he took himself out of the game with that blunder as he only had one catch on the day, and who could blame Tony Romo for ignoring him the rest of the day? The Dallas touchdowns went to other lesser receivers, Roy Williams and Dez Bryant, one refurb and one rookie.

That excessive celebration penalty wasn’t even sufficient to keep Austin from committing a second even more egregious penalty later on, when he obviously shoved the cover guy on his way to a nice long touchdown. Of course the play was called back, his second big hurt of the day.

Then, as if to make light of the entire situation, Austin made a big show of shaking hands with Bryant after his touchdown. That was the final straw for me. I’ll be looking to trade him from my team. I can’t stand stupid players and I absolutely despise “stupid” when combined with “arrogant”. Austin was both.

After the game, head coach Wade Phillips just said, “We need to celebrate after we win the game”. That seemed to leave Austin’s rectum still intact. Austin didn’t deserve the courtesy. Romo had two costly interceptions and the whole kickoff coverage team let Percy Harvin run back a touchdown on a kickoff, but the biggest mistakes were Austin’s and I’ll blame him for the loss. But he only shares the responsibility with namby-pamby Phillips.

That Bum Phillips, Wade’s Dad and one of my earlier football heroes, him and that incomparable Houston running back Earl Campbell, could produce a son so devoid of emotion is a kick in the pants to evolution. That Dallas team needs a kick in the ass. Phillips is incapable of doing it. He should be removed, and quickly, while there is still a chance for redemption, albeit a very small one now.

Dallas doesn’t need better players and it doesn’t need better game plans, both of which Wade and his staff are perfectly capable of doing. The players need to feel accountable. They need to fear pain, whether that means two-a-days or running laps or public excoriation, whatever this politically correct world and union-dominated NFL will allow.

It’s been alleged that the crazy owner Jerry Jones likes Wade Phillips, which is pretty hard to believe, even given the countless examples of complements making great partners. Phillips hasn’t lost control of his team. He never had it. He doesn’t have their attention. He never did. The best Cowboys team under Phillips was his first one, the one that won the NFC East and lost to the eventual Super Bowl winner Giants in the playoffs.

Phillips’s 2008 team collapsed spectacularly after starting the season 9-5, losing to Baltimore in the last game played in their old stadium and then getting killed by the Eagles 44-6 in a must-win game. Although his 2009 team did gain a playoff berth and even won a playoff game for the first time under Phillips, they eventually lost to the Vikings for the NFC crown.

There is a disturbing legacy of failure in Big D. It can’t be fixed by building a new stadium or hosting the Super Bowl or spending even more on players. The Cowboys need a head coach. And I don’t even like the Cowboys. How could anyone?

The Giants do have a tough coach. I don’t like him either. But Tom Coughlin did turn his team around after their miserable defensive performances in Weeks 2 and 3. It’s probably more accurate to say that defensive coordinator Fewell turned it around, but, after all, he does report to Coughlin.

Since that Week 3 game, the G-Men have reeled off 3 in a row against the Bears, Texans and Lions yesterday to share first place in the NFC East with a surprisingly tough Philadelphia Eagle team, both at 4 and 2.

But the worm can turn in a hurry in the NFL. From next week, October 25th, to November 14th, a space of 20 days, the G-Men will face the Cowboys twice, sandwiched around a trip to a very loud Seattle stadium that has given the Giants trouble before.

It’s not entirely inconceivable that the Giants could lose all three games before having to travel to Philadelphia. The Giants could be fighting for their playoff lives by then. Dallas could be right on their heels.

Let’s be real. Football is a game of emotion. The Boyz will be fired up without any coach’s help. We’ll find out how big is our Big Blue.