National Football League

Blame Phillips, not Barron, for Cowboys' loss

Published Sep. 13, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

This loss is on Wade Phillips. He's the head coach. Someone has to be responsible for making the right decisions on the sidelines, preaching to his Dallas Cowboys players about how to play smart.

Everyone is talking about right tackle Alex Barron's holding call at the end of regulation, but the touchdown that beat the Cowboys came at the end of the first half when Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall helped strip Tashard Choice of the football and then raced 32 yards as the first half's final four seconds ticked off for a 10-0 Washington lead.

In a hard-fought first half, your offense is supposed to take a knee in that situation. Be content with a 3-0 deficit and regroup in the locker room. Barron had another holding call on the previous play, so that should have told Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett that it was fruitless to attempt to score from 68 yards away.

You can say that Choice should have known better and simply fallen to the ground when Tony Romo flipped him the ball. Why fight for an extra yard when you are already wrapped up? But why didn't Romo simply throw the ball away? Why didn't he didn't simply throw a harmless incompletion into the ground?

Granted, this is hindsight ... and you know what they say about hindsight. But it is also exposing how the Cowboys don't think. Someone on this team should know better than to risk disaster. Jimmy Johnson wouldn't have allowed that play to happen. Neither would Tom Landry. Wade is a great defensive coordinator and his defense played super, but his loose approach to his team is why it lost.

Finally, it is easy to rip Barron's holding penalty on the final play last night, correctly negating Tony Romo's 11-yard touchdown pass to Roy Williams. But why isn't anybody giving Redskins pass rusher Brian Orakpo some credit?

Orakpo might have been Defensive Rookie of the Year last season if most of the national writers knew that Houston's Brian Cushing had tested positive for banned substances during the season. Beside, Orakpo clearly beat Barron to his outside shoulder at the snap of the ball. If Barron didn't instinctively reach out to hold him, and then grab him around the neck, he would have raced in and sacked Romo well before the Cowboys quarterback had a chance to throw the football.

There wasn't one commentator that praised Orakpo for effectively doing his job. I mean, coaches preach constantly to their offensive linemen to hold and grab whenever they are beaten cleanly off the ball, just do anything you can to protect your high-priced quarterback from taking a shot that might injure him. That's all Barron did.

Sure, it was a bad penalty, but those plays happen all the time. It just happened at the worst possible time. But the hold allowed Romo to dodge and weave in the pocket, duck the pressure, regroup and then look downfield to find an open Williams, hardly Romo's favorite target.

After watching the play a dozen times, the bottom line is that if Barron doesn't hold, Romo is on the ground and never completes the pass .

But for all the talent in Dallas, the Cowboys will never win until they start playing smart football. We all know how talented they are. But there's more to a football game than simply having the best talent.

Coaching blunders

-- Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said he has done plenty after taking points off the board. Well, that rarely is the right call unless you are trailing in the fourth quarter. With 10:29 left in the third quarter, Shanahan opted against a 13-7 lead. He negated a 39-yard Graham Gano field goal, hoping to continue the drive and score a touchdown. Instead, the Redskins stalled once again and then a poor snap ruined a chance of returning those three points to the scoreboard. Had Shanahan played it more conservatively, his team would have been leading 16-7 late in the fourth quarter and nobody would be even talking about Romo and Barron.

-- Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo needs to brush up on his clock management. He had three timeouts available late in the fourth quarter as his young team tried to rally. But he waited until the final minute to use them instead of possibly giving his rookie quarterback, Sam Bradford, a chance to compose himself and take a deep breath in the final two minutes. Spags waited too long and almost didn't use his third timeout before time expired.

-- The truth may eventually come out, but neither Chad Ochocinco nor Terrell Owens were on the field when the Cincinnati Bengals were attempting a Hail Mary pass in the final seconds of the first half. Carson Palmer hit rookie Jordan Shipley with a 51-yarder, three yards short of the end zone. Ochocinco said he always goes into locker room early and needed an IV. No real explanation for why T.O. also left the sidelines early.

Vick might be the solution

Michael Vick looks to be closer to being the quarterback he used to be before serving time in federal prison. Vick has unique quickness and running ability, plus his throwing arm is pretty good, too. Eagles coach Andy Reid kept Vick, believing he might get the same player once the rust came off.

With the Eagles offensive line struggling, and it will only get worse with center Jamaal Jackson out with a torn bicep, Vick might be the only quarterback who can escape the constant pocket pressure. Nothing against Kevin Kolb, but Vick is simply a better escape artist. He can make so many positive plays with his feet.

It is never good to make a change after one game, but we'll see if Kolb clears the concussion tests this week. Remember, the Eagles were extra cautious (as they should be) with Brian Westbrook last season.

Final thoughts

-- Remember, Alex Smith isn't close to being the next Joe Montana. And Michael Crabtree (two receptions for 12 yards) is no Jerry Rice. There was all this preseason hype about the 49ers winning the NFC West, but today they are in last place after Seattle drilled them. San Francisco is good when they are controlling a lead, but they seem destined to fail as a comeback passing team. The worst play I saw from Smith was when he wasn't patient enough to wait for fullback Moran Norris to clear and get into position for a short touchdown throw. Norris was wide open, but his body wasn't completely turned to the backfield. And he failed to make the awkward catch.

-- For as great as Peyton Manning is, the Colts aren't returning to the Super Bowl unless they can find a better running game. And a tougher run defense. Manning passed for 433 yards against the Texans, but most of those came when the game was pretty much over. Joseph Addai managed only 44 rushing yards and the defense is geared to rushing a quarterback.

-- With the Steelers and Giants up next, Tennessee running back Chris Johnson might have a difficult time tying Barry Sanders' record of 14 consecutive games with 100 yards rushing. But so what? Johnson rushed for 142 yards yesterday, giving him 12 straight 100-yard rushing games. He keeps telling us he's better than Adrian Peterson, and he's probably right.