(AP Photo/Andy King)
Standing quietly beside him and throwing up a Hook 'Em is not.
It's still a stupid rule and needs to be loosened up. If he'd had to play in today's league, Billy White Shoes Johnson would never have become Billy White Shoes Johnson. Oh, he still would have been a great player, but what is is most widely remembered for would have been illegal.
And you know what? Fans love that stuff. Terrell Owens, no matter how you feel about him otherwise, you gotta admit he came up with some great end zone celebrations. And yes, he was flagged or fined for nearly every one of them. But they were great fun to watch. Today's officials just need one giant enema.
Speaking of, if Tom Landry had had to coach in today's NFL with its Veruca Salt fans, he never would have become Tom Landry. After all, it took him 5 years just to have his first winning season. Eleven years to win a Super Bowl. Wade Phillips has only been head coach of the Cowboys three years, and what has he done in those three years? Just won two division championships. That third year, they missed the playoffs by one game. But they had several key players miss significant playing time due to injuries. You know, guys like Felix Jones, Mat McBriar, Kyle Kosier, oh, and some guy named Romo.
But Wade Phillips hasn't won a Super Bowl yet, and it doesn't look like he will this year either, so fans want him gone.
"Don't care how, I want it NOW!"
Wade Phillips is a good coach. He has to be, or he wouldn't have lasted 33 years as a coach. Not in this league. Jason Garrett is a good offensive coordinator. It's easy for fans to second guess when they have the luxury of hindsight. Take the Minnesota game. Marion Barber was 5 for 5 picking up first downs on short yardage situations. That last time, they passed, and Romo got picked off. Now, if it had been successful, Garrett would be brilliant, but because it didn't work, he's an idiot. Give it to Barber. It's worked before. They should have just stuck with the run. On the other hand, if he had tried to run it and Barber had gotten stuffed, Garrett is right back to being an idiot. He should have called a pass. They'd run it 5 times already. The Vikings were expecting it. He has no imagination. He's too predictable. Today's fans just need one giant enema.
Most fans don't know nearly as much as they think they do. I call it the Madden Effect.
Games like Madden give fans a false sense of competence. Fans win at Madden, so they think they know how to coach a professional football team, but they really don't. My 12 year old (back when he was 12 years old) could win at Madden. Those games are designed for success. They are programmed so that you can win them. If they weren't, nobody would want to buy them. So, fans win at Madden, and they think real coaching is that simple. But Madden is not real life, and Fantasy Football is called fantasy for a reason.
You know, as much as I'd hate to sacrifice a season, I'd love to replace the entire coaching staff with a team of these know-it-all Madden playing morons. Then I'd sit back and watch what an unmitigated disaster that season would turn out to be.
I've got my popcorn ready.
The Dallas Cowboys are the third most penalized team in the league. Notice I didn't say that they commit the most penalties. I said that they are flagged the most (except for two other teams).
The fewest penalties they've had in a game this season is 6. The most any one of their opponents has had is 5. Through week 6, the Cowboys average 9.8 penalties for 80.8 yards. Their opponents have averaged (when playing the Cowboys) 4.2 penalties for 33.8 yards. And the interesting thing is, in their games in which they weren't playing the Cowboys, their opponents have averaged 8 penalties per game. The Chicago Bears average 6 penalties per game. Against the Cowboys, they were flagged twice. The Titans average 9 penalties per game against other opponents. Against the Cowboys, they were flagged half that many times. Four, to be exact. Did they all of the sudden get that much better? And then get worse again, because against the Jaguars the next week, they were back up to 8. It's enough to make you go "hmmmm".
Don't believe me? All these stats come from NFL.com. Check them out for yourself.
Now, I'm not saying there's some sort of conspiracy or anything like that. But I do think that we may have a bit of a Pygmalion Effect going on.
That's your vocabulary word for the week. Pygmalion Effect.
Whatever the reason, there seems to be a tremendous disparity in the penalty calling, and I can't see that it is all because the Cowboys are committing so many more penalties. Call it sour grapes, but the numbers don't lie.
Just sayin...
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