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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson Changes in Dallas It
happened without a lot of hoop-la and fanfare. The beleaguered coach of
“America’s Team” was shown the gate prior to the Cowboys’ game with the
New York Giants. It would be safe to say that Wade Phillips knew that
his demise was imminent. There are Dallas fans who had been calling for
the action since shortly after the current campaign began. The
Cowboys didn’t reach very far to find a viable replacement for
Phillips. As is customary, the franchise elevated one of its own. Jason
Garrett humbly accepted the new responsibility and his new title of
“interim head coach.” He had only praise for his former boss and said
he had learned a lot from Phillips. Garrett had
an almost immediate baptism by fire. His first test was to take the
Cowboys and their 1-7 record on the road to try and corral the New York
Giants and their 6-2 mark. If you were privy to the odds before that
meeting, then you know they were not very uplifting. They had the NFL
number one defense fairly crushing the Cowboys. How does the old line
go? “But a wonder came to light to show the rogues they lied.” The
Vaqueros battled through the negativity and saddled the Giants with
loss number three. Next up for the Cowboys was
this past Sunday’s contest with the Detroit Lions (after an early press
deadline for this article). And the Lions’ record? Would you believe
2-7, same as the Cowboys. Will Jon Kitna, taking over for the injury
sidelined Tony Romo, be up to pulling Dallas through again? You can bet
America will be watching its team. Dallas wasn’t
the only entity drawing a bag of attention last week. The Titans were
patting themselves on the back for claiming Randy Moss off the waivers
roster. Tennessee has had some ups and downs and before they met the
Dolphins November 14, had been on the ups, tied with the Colts for the
lead in the AFC South. But these things never quite work out as earlier
conceived. Moss’ debut with his third team this season was less than
stellar. The Titans lost to Miami and an old teammate of Moss, Chad
Pennington, QB for the Dolphins. Titan bosses stand by their decision
to acquire Moss and say he will be given the support needed to
contribute to Tennessee’s future. Last week was
week 11 in the NFL and unlike the collegiate ranks, all the unbeatens
had disappeared from the landscape. The best records in the NFL were
7-2 (N.Y. Jets, New England, Atlanta) and 7-3 (Chicago). But this is
the NFL and the landscape is subject to change on any given Sunday.
Hey, just ask my Kansas City Chiefs.
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