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Dallas owner Jerry Jones has made a lot of mistakes over the years, following the Cowboys’ Super Bowl run in the mid-1990’s, but probably none bigger than firing head coach Chan Gailey after just two seasons – 1998-99.
And Jones has admitted as much.
The Cowboys were a team in transition, with some of the Super Bowl core getting old, but nonetheless, Gailey led them to the playoffs in both seasons.
“Chan came in, and I thought he did a hell of a job,” said former Cowboys safety Darrin Woodson. “It was a total surprise to me to see him go. It was mind-boggling.”
It certainly was. So know doubt Gailey would love to pound the Cowboys.
Man, did he get screwed . . .
Another guy who I think will be highly-motivated is Greg Hardy, the Cowboys’ mercurial defensive end, after what Brandon Marshall said about him in late October.
“When I look at Greg and how he’s handled himself, on the field and in the locker room, I see a guy that is not aware,” Marshall said on the Tuesday night program, via ESPN.com. “I don’t think that he gets it. I don’t think that he learned his lesson.”
This was on “Inside the NFL.”
Don’t think for a second Hardy forgot this.
Expect him to play with his hair on fire, and for some jawing to go on between Hardy and Marshall . . .
Matt Cassel had a rough game in the Green Bay. That is an understatement. He was 13-29 for 114 yards and a 41.5 QB rating. Clearly he is reaching the end of the line as an NFL QB, but I think he will play better this week. Why? He’s clearly not a “mudder,” to borrow a horse racing term. Cassel had a very hard time handling the wet footballs in the non-stop rain in Green Bay. He won’t have to deal with that this week. So while I don’t think he’ll be great, I think he will be much better. I think the same theory applies to Dez Bryant, who dropped four passes last week in the wet conditions . . .
One of the reasons the Dallas Cowboys didn’t re-sign DeMarco Murray to a big contract after his superb season in 2014, is they were scared by his age. They did a study, and determined that running backs start to slide at 27. Murray is 27. We know all know how big analytics are in the world of sports these days. So the Cowboys took a money-ball approach, and let Murray walk, and he signed with the Eagles.
The reason I bring this up is because Chris Ivory is 27. His contract is up after this season. This is going to be a very tough negotiation for Mr. Coffee. Ivory is having an excellent season, and is one of the most physical, violent runners in the NFL. You saw how a few Titans defenders didn’t want to deal with him on Sunday. However, you can’t reward players for what they have done in the past, but instead focus on what they can do in the future. This will be a tricky negotiation.
December 16, 2015
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