Alan Truex: Cowboys rising, Patriots shaky, believe in the Saints
LLANO, Texas — Funny how one week in the NFL can turn around an entire season, how perception can change 180 degrees.
A week ago, Bill Belichick is a genius and Tom Brady is not only the GOAT but the greatest of this time, having just brought down his challenger, Aaron Rodgers.
A week ago Marcus Mariota is a bust, Drew Brees can’t play in the cold outdoors, and the Dallas Cowboys can’t play outdoors, warm or cold.
All of those suppositions seem highly suspect now.
Brees completed 88%, for 265 yards, in chilly Cincinnati, and the Saints won 51-14, and maybe we should reconsider this GOAT designation.
As for the mastermind Belichick, he made one of the most boneheaded calls a football coach has ever made. As it’s all too often pointed out, Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.”
Until his game Sunday in Tennessee, the most embarrassing moment in Brady’s career was trying to catch a pass in a Super Bowl. You had to chuckle as he trudged laboriously down the field and saw the ball slip through his fingers.
So here was Belichick in Tennessee, trying the same idea that blew up before. Does he think Brady is gaining speed at 41? This time the most statuary pocket quarterback managed to clutch the ball, but he proceeded to run as if in walking boots.
He stumbled to the ground short of the first-down pike. On fourth down Brady’s pass fell incomplete.
So the Titans took over on downs, and they showed how to use a quarterback as a receiver. Darius Jennings threw 21 yards complete to Mariota, setting up a touchdown and a 31-10 victory. The Patriots, who dispatched the Green Bay Packers so easily, got routed by a team that split its first eight games.
Call it the Vrabel effect. The Titans’ rookie head coach, Mike Vrabel, will make you regret you ever hired him. Recall what he did to his head coach of last season, Bill O’Brien. He took advantage of some flawed schemes by the Houston Texans’ head coach to spring his first major upset in Nashville—20-17 over his former mentor and the Texans.
Vrabel played linebacker (and occasional tight end) for the Patriots and absorbed the wisdom of Belichick without being blind to his few weaknesses. Most significantly, Vrabel knew how Belichick thought and acted, his tendencies. It was as if he were in the Patriots’ huddle.
When he prepared for the Texans and Patriots, Vrabel went into overtime. He and his assistants tripled the film-viewing. They pumped up air mattresses and laid them out in the facility to allow maximum time for preparation.
Nobody outworks Belichick. But Vrabel did. He’s charismatic, as rough-edged as a Marine sergeant. He’s not a giant intellect –- didn’t distinguish himself scheming the Texans’ defense last season. But he can seize a moment.
He knows when he has an advantage and then he works harder than anybody else. His players are so swept up in his passion that they can produce an extraordinary effort to match his. Of NFL coaches I’ve seen, he reminds me most of Mike Ditka – an excellent and dedicated player who automatically won the respect of those he would coach.
But now let’s look at the Cowboys. They were a train wreck a week ago, head coach Jason Garrett just hoping to salvage some dignity on his way out the door. They were 3-5 and about to venture onto the home field of the Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.
The analytics mavens calculated that if they lost Sunday – and they were 7 ½-point underdogs — they would stand just a 3% chance of reaching the playoffs. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Garrett is gone.
But the Cowboys were not giving up. They spoke of the game in Philly as a “must win,” and they played their best game of the season and won it 27-20. They presented a multi-offense that utilized Dak Prescott’s mobility – nobody is better at throwing on the run.
Rich Gannon, who has become the oracle of quarterbacking, gave a positive review on NBCSN: “gritty performance by Dak Prescott. He made some big plays outside the pocket.”
But even when he stood in the pocket, this was a rare day when the Dallas line held firm. An injury to rookie left guard Connor Williams was in a sense a benefit. Xavier Su’a-Filo, a draft bust and turnstile pass protector for the Texans, showed he’s developed his craft. He and Tyron Smith and Zack Martin shielded Prescott and opened gaps for Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed for 151 yards.
With first-rounder Leighton Vander Eschen intercepting and defending passes and making 11 tackles, Dallas turned the NFC East into turmoil. The Washington Redskins lead it at 6-3 but are so ravaged by injuries that it’s hardly inconceivable Dallas or Philadelphia, both 4-5, could close. Jason Garrett can breathe another day, and nobody can have much of a guess as to what happens next week.
