What they're saying in Dallas

[BRH]

They're real excited about him down there.

 

One Drew too many

Parcells turns back clock again, costing team its future

 

03:22 AM CST on Wednesday, February 23, 2005

 

On Tuesday, we finally got the answer that we have been clamoring

for, at least since New England's most recent victory parade.

 

Question: How many Super Bowls does Tom Brady have to win before Bill

Parcells thinks the guy who put Brady on the bench at Michigan is

ready to be an NFL starter?

 

Answer: At least four.

 

On Tuesday, we got word that the Days of Drew are at hand at Valley

Ranch. Only it is Drew Bledsoe, the ancient one, not Drew Henson, the

forgotten one.

 

Let's say it right out. Bill Parcells wants his old guys here, end of

story, and owner Jerry Jones will do nothing to rein him in.

 

Cowboys/NFL

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Vinny Testaverde would have been a better choice for 2005. Seriously.

 

In Testaverde's case, the 57-year-old veteran (well, he's something

like that) would have willingly taken on a backup role, a tutorial

role, however the Cowboys wanted to define it. He could have helped

Henson and/or Tony Romo develop into whatever it is they are going to

become in 2005.

 

Jeff Garcia and Kurt Warner would have been better choices, too.

 

They, undoubtedly, would have sustained injuries that would have

cleared the way for Henson to play.

 

Bledsoe is none of the above. When word first began to leak out that

Buffalo was going to release him, Bledsoe said he was "beside myself"

which is normally a spot inhabited by a defensive end.

 

Bledsoe also made it clear that he wasn't interested in going

somewhere as a backup, that his 23-25 record in Buffalo where his pass

completion percentage dropped each season as he was being sacked 140

times clearly had earned him a starting spot in the NFL.

 

Parcells couldn't buy into the Bledsoe love fest fast enough.

 

Before getting to the Cowboys, let's consider Buffalo for a moment.

The Bills were the surprise team of the last three months of the

season. Following an 0-4 start, they finished 9-7, missing the

playoffs by a whisker.

 

Bledsoe started all 16 of those games. This is a team closer to

greatness than the Cowboys – it's a heck of a lot harder to go 9-7 in

the AFC than it is to finish 6-10 in the NFC – and they just did what?

 

They cut their losses with Bledsoe and turned over the starting job to

one J.P. Losman.

 

By Losman's standards, Henson is a grizzled veteran. Losman went

3-for-5 last season. Heck, Henson already has thrown for a touchdown.

He's way down the learning curve from Losman.

 

But the Bills recognized that their defense and their special teams

and Willis McGahee got them to the brink of the playoffs last year.

Not the 20 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and 37 sacks that Bledsoe

delivered.

 

Bledsoe playing behind the Dallas line? Jevon Kearse and Michael

Strahan can almost feel their sack bonuses kicking in.

 

When you first started to hear the Bledsoe-to-Dallas stories, you

hoped it was like that talk about Sylvester Stallone shooting another

Rambo film or a Jefferson Starship reunion tour.

 

Just an ugly rumor that might go away on its own.

 

But Parcells can't get away from his past, perhaps because he has so

little going for him in the present. So we get Vinny and we get

Keyshawn and we get Richie Anderson, all past their prime, and now we

get a quarterback who just might lose a footrace to Testaverde.

 

I would not bet against it.

 

Bledsoe has a strong arm (so did Vinny) and he's considered a great

guy (like Vinny), good in the community (like Vinny) and most

significant of all, Parcells achieved some degree of success with him.

 

Parcells and Bledsoe went to the Super Bowl together. The fact that

that was nine years ago and that Bledsoe has been sacked 311 times

since then apparently is inconsequential.

 

Bledsoe has picked up a Super Bowl ring, too. He did it while sitting

on the bench and watching Brady, who, have we mentioned, lost playing

time at Michigan to the guy the Cowboys...

 

Guess we already did.

 

The Cowboys may have stumbled into a pot of gold when they got Henson

from Houston last March. Might be a pot of something else, too. We

certainly aren't going to find out anytime soon.

 

Parcells wanted a quarterback with more stature. That's stature, by

the way, not statue.

 

He got both. Get ready for 2005 and another awkward stroll down memory lane.

 

Season tickets available.

[CoachChuckDickerson]

For a team that has Bill Parcells as their head coach, they sure complain a lot. I'm sorry but Drew is an upgrade to Vinny, and Drew did play is best ball under Bill. Its not like they traded a #1 for Drew. They got him for nothing.

[aussiew]

Great article. I'm having soooooooo much fun with my Cowboy fan boss this week.

[Arkady Renko]

You remember that game in 2003 when we played the Cowboys and we lost like 13-10 or something. I remember thinking there's no way that Parcells is being serious about respecting Bledsoe's ability to play QB. It was just blitz after blitz. They were not disguising them either and Bledsoe simply could do nothing to counter it.

 

Apparently, I was wrong and Parcells really believes in Bledsoe.

[Puhonix]

Drew won't play all four years, he knows it and we know it. I bet he plays two, decent years, then gets bumped by his namesake.

[plenzmd1]

You remember that game in 2003 when we played the Cowboys and we lost like 13-10 or something. I remember thinking there's no way that Parcells is being serious about respecting Bledsoe's ability to play QB. It was just blitz after blitz. They were not disguising them either and Bledsoe simply could do nothing to counter it.

 

Apparently, I was wrong and Parcells really believes in Bledsoe.

249595[/snapback]

Can you imagine what Greeg Williams is going to do Drew two times every year. Now, I am not saying Williams is the second coming of Belicheck, but that D in DC was awful damn aggresive and good this past year. Add that to the blitzing of Johnsons Phoilly defence and poor Drew has got to be in the worst possible division.

[Astrobot]

Best Line: "When word first began to leak out that

Buffalo was going to release him, Bledsoe said he was "beside myself"

which is normally a spot inhabited by a defensive end."

[Rubes]

Best Line: "When word first began to leak out that

Buffalo was going to release him, Bledsoe said he was "beside myself"

which is normally a spot inhabited by a defensive end."

249703[/snapback]

 

I was just about to post the same thing...

[Rubes]

You remember that game in 2003 when we played the Cowboys and we lost like 13-10 or something. I remember thinking there's no way that Parcells is being serious about respecting Bledsoe's ability to play QB. It was just blitz after blitz. They were not disguising them either and Bledsoe simply could do nothing to counter it.

 

Apparently, I was wrong and Parcells really believes in Bledsoe.

249595[/snapback]

 

To be fair, I think it was overall his disrespect for our entire offense's ability to handle the blitz. Drew was certainly part of that equation, but let's be honest, nobody on that offense knew what to do when one or more extra defenders came across the line.

[Puhonix]

From the ESPN Daily Quickie

 

Bledsoe to Dallas

So much for "moving forward": Instead, the Cowboys and Parcells will continue to mortgage the future with an over-the-hill QB ...

 

... And a coach perhaps so obsessed by being displaced on the "All-Time" list by that other Bill that Parcells can't think straight.

 

Henson vs. Bledsoe: Don't think this ends the Cowboys QB controversy; it's just "Drew-Drew," instead of "Drew-Vinny."

[Rico]

Best Line: "When word first began to leak out that

Buffalo was going to release him, Bledsoe said he was "beside myself"

which is normally a spot inhabited by a defensive end."

249703[/snapback]

That is a great line.

But I like the headline the best:

Bledsoe? Is this a joke?

Cowlishaw nailed that article. I don't usually watch Around the Horn,

but I will tonight, hoping he's on the panel to B word even more.

[jarthur31]

To be fair, I think it was overall his disrespect for our entire offense's ability to handle the blitz. Drew was certainly part of that equation, but let's be honest, nobody on that offense knew what to do when one or more extra defenders came across the line.

249728[/snapback]

 

Peeps only post Henry's inability to handle the pass rush when it suits their personal agendas.