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Don't blink. Those are indeed the Dallas Cowboys heading to Detroit with a 4-1 record, their best start since 1995.
Don't blink. Those are indeed the Dallas Cowboys in first place in the NFC East
-- the first time they have been there since 1999.
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Come on, don't do it. Those are the Dallas Cowboys, winners of four consecutive games for the first time since '96, fixing to play the Lions on Sunday at Ford Field.
Hard to believe.
And this is especially hard for the Lions and their faithful. The Cowboys were
one of the few teams the Lions beat the past two seasons, accounting for two
of the Lions' five victories. Yep, these are the same Cowboys who couldn't score
more than one touchdown in either of those meetings. And the same Cowboys who
have finished 5-11 in each of the past three seasons. NFL Tickets
OK, the Cowboys aren't exactly the same. They have added a half-dozen or so
veteran free agents, but no one anyone would have gotten in a bidding war to
sign. They have added a first-round draft choice. And they have traded for two
players whose previous teams were looking to unload.
So nothing dramatic.
Except for the coach -- Bill Parcells. The Cowboys did add him, and he has been
changing everything you thought you knew about this once-proud organization.
Maybe Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said it best when trying to summarize the team's
turnaround: "We had a lot of young players we had hoped would come through
for us doing that now with some really good inspiration and coaching from Bill
Parcells." NFL Tickets
Parcells, 62, came to Dallas with basically a free rein, the first coach to
do so since Jones hired Jimmy Johnson back in 1989. Parcells was heavily involved
in the draft. He was heavily involved in free-agent signings. His influence
encouraged Jones to build the team's first indoor practice facility. He has
changed the routine out at the Ranch, no longer opening practices to the media.
He no longer conducts a Tuesday news conference, something that started way
back with Tom Landry. He no longer allows his assistant coaches to be interviewed
after games; no longer allows players to eat food in the locker room or meeting
rooms; no longer allows players to play dominoes or card games in the locker
room during the noon hour; and no longer allows the training room to be the
hangout it once was. NFL Tickets
Some of those are cosmetic changes, right along with all the slogans scripted
on signs hanging around the locker room or the parables he loves to tell to
support a point he's trying to make.
But here is what's real: The guy is a teacher; he's an offensive coordinator;
and maybe most of all, he is a realist. So far, he hasn't asked -- or expected
-- his players to do something they're not capable of doing. He adjusts, and
a team that didn't respond to coaching from the head guy or offensive coordinator
in recent years suddenly is responding, partly out of respect, partly out of
fear.
"He demands accountability from his players," Jones said, knowing
the fear factor is high, too. "But that's his style, and it works, but
you have to have success, or you could lose" the players. NFL Tickets
Well, the Cowboys have enjoyed success -- unanticipated success at that. Here
was a team that finished 30th in offense and 31st in passing offense last year
in the 32-team NFL. But here are the Cowboys entering Game 6, ranked fourth
in offense and 11th in passing.
Parcells, who has two Super Bowl rings and a third appearance on his resume,
has resurrected the career of third-year quarterback Quincy Carter, who nearly
gave up on himself last year and lost the starting job.
Though Carter has not exactly awakened memories of Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach,
he has embraced Parcells' concept of just needing a bus driver to run the offense,
not a marquee star. And Carter has performed efficiently, despite throwing more
interceptions (five) than touchdown passes (four).
But it's not just Carter. Parcells and his staff also resurrected the careers
of defensive tackles Willie Blade and Daleroy Stewart, two 2001 draft choices
who hadn't played a down in their first two seasons, and offensive tackle Flozell
Adams, who's playing as he did early in his career. NFL Tickets
"To sum it all up," Jones said, "we are using our players very
wisely and our combinations of players wisely. It's just utilization of our
players -- maybe better than I've ever seen it done here. It's not a system
and saying this system works and trying to fit your players into it. This is
saying that this is what we do well -- these plays and these angles -- and doing
that. It's all been very impressive."
But no one in the organization is suggesting that the Cowboys are out of the
woods just yet. They are well aware four of the next five opponents will be
coming off bye weeks, including the Lions, meaning they will have two weeks
to prepare. They know San Diego jumped out to a 6-1 start last year, only to
lose seven of the next nine and the first five this year.
"We'll see down the road where we are," Parcells said. "I'm not
under any illusions about this.
"I talk to the team a lot about staying power. And you don't find out if
you have that until you've been beaten down a few times. You know, when the
roller-coaster is going everybody can hop on that. My idea of turning a team
around is when you've been a contender for two or three years in a row and it's
obvious to everyone you're a lot better than you started. Now five weeks into
a season, I couldn't make that statement."
Even if the Cowboys' success is provoking some double-takes around the league.