The Dallas Cowboys Shock the World!
December 21, 2009 – 10:20 am by timgunterThe Dallas Cowboys did something that a lot of the public didn’t think was possible. They were able to beat the vaunted New Orleans Saints Saturday night and hand them their first loss of the season. All of the pundits were thinking that the Saints were going to beat the Cowboys and ride off into the sunset to play Peyton Manning and the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. That is quite an accomplishment considering Tony Romo has played his worst football in the month of December during his short career. This is why I love the NFL. It is so exciting and just like the movie, Any Given Sunday, anything can happen during any game.
It was the offense-by-committee approach that helped the Cowboys get past the Saints Saturday night in Dallas. Both Felix Jones and Marion Barber were used evenly and had fifty-eight and sixty-two yards for the game and each of the wide receivers contributed. Miles Austin outshined everyone with his seven catches for one-hundred and thirty nine yards. However, it wasn’t all good for the Cowboys. With 2:19 remaining and the Cowboys leading New Orleans by seven points, Nick Folk clanked a 24-yard field goal attempt off the right upright. Folk has made only seven of his last 15 attempts and he is 18 for 28 overall for the lowest success rate among all kickers with at least 20 field goal attempts. That has got to change because that could have cost them a shot at the playoffs. The Cowboys have got to nip that in the bud before it costs them a game and possibly a shot at the Super Bowl.
Cowboys Special Teams coach, Joe DeCamillis, joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta to talk about the video of where Tony Dungy stated that the Cowboys do not have a chance and how that gave them motivation, why the video of Tony Dungy was needed to motivate the team, how DeMarcus Ware playing helped motivate the team, and the disappointing season Nick Folk has had this year.
On the video of where Tony Dungy stated that the Cowboys do not have a chance and how that gave them motivation:
“Well again my wife Tivo’s a lot of stuff so she Tivo’d that and we were watching it and plus it was in the paper the next day cause actually I didn’t watch it. She watched it the next night. I just felt that it was a good motivational tool for us…that it is a head coach that has been in the league for a long time that a lot of people have a lot of respect for and the guy said we had no chance. Which he also brought up the Minnesota game where we went up there and were eleven point underdogs and they were the greatest team in the world and there was no way where we were going to beat them and we ended up winning that game. So there was a lot of similarity between that game. They had a high-powered offense and our defense stepped up this week and we got a turnover right before the half just like we did in Minnesota. So there were a lot of similarities. I have been around a long time so I have had some good and some bad and that was one of the ones that worked out for us.”
Whether Wade Phillips decided to show it to the team during the Saturday night meeting:
“No I showed it in my special teams meeting and everybody was in there for that particular meeting. We went with it and it worked out.”
On why the video of Tony Dungy was needed to motivate the team:
“You don’t really need any extra motivation, but anytime that you can get extra motivation it is nice to have. If you could pour a little bit more on maybe it helps one or two guys in there and again that is not why we won that game. I can tell you that. We won that game because we out-executed them and our quarterback played a heck of a game and our defense played a heck of a game. So when that happens it is a pretty good way to win that game so those guys have to come out and play.”
On DeMarcus Ware playing motivating the team:
“Being in a similar situation, I won’t say it like that but he texted me a bunch during the week and talked to me a bunch during the week and he was stud. You don’t come off of that deal because that was a nasty hit. Even if you don’t have an injury that was bad off of that you would look at it like I don’t know about playing in this game and he sucked it up for his teammates and I think the guy is a stud. He has been a stud.”
On the disappointment that Nick Folk has been this year:
“I think part of it is, the reason that I didn’t go off during that time was I was thinking well if they go down and score we have got to go to overtime and are going to need him to hopefully try and get back for that part of the game. Whether that would have happened or not…but I know by me going down there and getting on him by yelling and screaming and showing the kid up is not going to help him get through that next part. You have to have some restraint but we also have to make some decisions down the road and see exactly where we stand and if he can get his confidence back for these next two games.”
Whether he can say if there are going to be a few guys trying out this week:
“Yeah we are going to work some guys out today and we are going to evaluate it and see exactly what we need to do from there. But we will just have to wait and see.”
Tags: 13-1 Saints, Cowboys vs. Saints, Dallas Cowboys, Dallas vs. New Orleans, DeMarcus Ware, Jerry Jones, Joe DeCamillis, NFC East, NFC South, NFL, Nick Folk, Nick Folk missed anohter field goal, Tony Dungy gave them motivation, Tony Romo, undefeated are no longer
