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| Drew Bledsoe |
Drew Bledsoe was 12-10 as the starting quarterback for the
Dallas Cowboys.
His twenty-second and
final start in a Dallas
uniform concluded with him on the bench and Tony Romo under center.
That the time had come for a quarterbacking
change was obvious to everyone.
Bledsoe
was the captain of a train-wreck stuck on the vanilla tracks of
mediocrity.
Through 5 ½ games, Bledsoe
had seven touchdown passes, eight interceptions and was sacked 16 times.
The Cowboys, 3-3 at that point of the 2006
season, were going nowhere with him at the controls.
The reason head coach Bill Parcells made the switch
to Romo when he did is one of those little unsolved mysteries that taunts an
unintelligent public in the face. Some say Parcells’ decision was the result of
a halftime fit-to-be-tied rant that was more of an emotional resolution than
anything else. The illiterate like to
think that Parcells was simply fed-up with his old New
England cabin boy. Yeah,
well who wasn’t?
But why at halftime?
Why then? “Based on everything we thought we knew about Parcells, it
made no sense for him to yank Bledsoe, go with Romo to start the third quarter,
and then stay with Romo for the rest of the season,” observed Fort Worth Star-Telegram
columnist Randy Galloway in his column later that same week.
So what was it in Bledsoe’s performance that told Parcells
it was time to make a change? The
circumstances surrounding Bledsoe’s final pass is certainly conducive to
answering that question.
The Cowboys looked to be in business when Demarcus Ware
forced a Tiki Barber fumble that was recovered by linebacker Bradie James at
the New York
14-yard line. This came just moments
after Bledsoe dove across the goal-line to cut the Giants’ lead to 12-7. Now, the Cowboys were poised to enter
halftime on top.
But Bledsoe, like he had done too often before, threw it all
away. Dallas had reached the four-yard line, and
lined-up three receivers (Terrell Owens, Jason Witten & Anthony Fasano) to
the offense’s right side, while Terry Glenn was lone opposite them. The play was designed to go to one of the
three options to the right.
Bledsoe took the snap from center, and dropped back with
plenty of time.
The offensive line had
done their job, for once.
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| Bledsoe overwhelmed |
But, apparently, a little extra time in the pocket unnerved
Bledsoe, for he never saw a wide-open Fasano in the front of the end zone, and
didn’t even think to look for Witten
coming open
outside of him.
Owens?
He was double-covered from the start.
With only one option remaining, Bledsoe quickly turned to
his left and fired a bullet to the front-corner pylon…right into the arms of
Giants cornerback Sam Madison, ending the scoring chance, and ending his
career.
The situation, the area on the field, and the poor
decision-making shown by Bledsoe on this play are reminiscent of several others
he made during his brief stay in Dallas.
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| Bledsoe, Romo & Parcells |
It was the fourth game of the 2005 season in Oakland that Bledsoe
ignored a wide-open Jason Witten in the back of the end zone during the final
minute, opting instead for the well-covered Terry Glenn at the goal-line.
The fourth-down pass fell incomplete, and the
Raiders walked away 19-13 winners.
Three
weeks later, an errant sideline pass in the game’s waning seconds found its way
into the arms of a Seattle
defensive back, setting up the game-winning field goal for the Seahawks in a
game that the Cowboys had no business losing.
And only two weeks before Bledsoe’s final gaffe against the
Giants, the Cowboys trailed Philadelphia
by seven, when he tossed a last-minute interception by forcing a pass into
double coverage in the end-zone. Witten was the target
this time, but Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard snatched the ball out of the air
and returned it 102 yards for a score. Dallas fell to 2-2 with
that 38-24 defeat.
The Cowboys hired Bledsoe to, at the very least, manage a
game. Too often, they found themselves
watching as No. 11 threw games away. In
one form or fashion.
So for Parcells, it was really a no-brainer.
Was it better to risk a possible meltdown
with Tony Romo at quarterback, or a certain conflagration down the road
somewhere with Bledsoe at the helm?
The
unknown factor around him said that Romo could win some games for the Cowboys
where Bledsoe was definitely losing them.
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| Bledsoe landed on the bench next to Parcells |
Any gambler knows where to place his bet with those odds.
