Calvin Watkins makes up for a weak Q&A session earlier this week with a great look at how both Dallas and New York have changed since their first meeting. The conventional wisdom in the media this week is that the Giants defense is not the same unit that played in the first game and this could change the outcome this time around. What they fail to mention is that the Dallas defense is significantly improved too, having gotten their best cover corner back in Terence Newman, our 2nd-best pass rusher in Greg Ellis, and now we have the Tank to add to the mix. Watkins does a great job of laying all of this out for the reader.
I think this is one of the seven signs of the apocalypse because I’m linking to a Randy Galloway article a couple of days after linking to a JFE article. Galloway’s article is partially tongue-in-cheek mixed with enough truth to make it work. It’s all about Romo making Jerry Jones look like a true football guy. I’ve always said Jerry is one of the best owners in sports with one of the worst GM’s working for him. But ever since Parcells was hired, Jerry has really absorbed the lessons of player personnel and is doing a great job as GM.
Speaking of Parcells, he has some interesting quotes in this article about how he views the Cowboys now and his days as the coach. I’m not posting this to revive a Parcells good or bad debate, but I think most people would agree that he did a great job of rebuilding the roster and instilling a winner’s expectation in Big D, even though his teams never reached those expectations. But this year’s bunch, with Wade Phillips tweaking the 3-4 defense and Jason Garrett dialing up all the right plays, is taking the Cowboys towards those winning expectations.
Back to the article, here’s what Parcells says about Dallas now.
"I give the players and coaches credit for what they are doing now," Parcells told the Daily News. "I'm not sure I could have done as well."
A bit of humility from Parcells? "Just give them the credit," he said. "They deserve it. I don't want any credit for what is going on. I don't deserve it. I did what I could do. I'm glad things have worked out. If (Tony) Romo wasn't playing good, it wouldn't be working out."
Parcells signed Romo as a rookie free agent in 2003 and made him the starter seven games into last season. Is Parcells happy for the team he built? "Sure I am," he said. "Why wouldn't I be? I have a lot of blood there."
Also in the article is a Giants’ counterpart to Parcells, Tiki Barber. He was the man in New York, but they seem to be a better and happier team without him. Sounds familiar.
Hat tip to the DMN blog for pointing me towards the article.