Post by ccboy on Dec 27, 2009 7:14:40 GMT -7
Jones wins exactly how he wants to
Buck Harvey - Buck Harvey LANDOVER, Md. —
Jerry Jones has won. Daniel Snyder is the one who caved; he hired a real general manager.
Tonight, Jones will win again. Tonight, with Snyder's Redskins coming apart, giving the Cowboys a gimme, Jones will feel even better about his coach and the path of his franchise.
Snyder?
His real general manager will eventually hire a real head coach.
For Snyder, this is some departure. He's been as stubborn as Jones in running his franchise.
He's been a shorter, meaner version, too, without Jones' understanding of the mix of media and entertainment. Snyder also had a partner, a yes-man named Vinny Cerrato, as his personnel sidekick.
Snyder's mistakes could be erased. He was faster than Jones to a modern stadium, and, with that, the Redskins brought in the league's highest yearly revenues.
But now, even after naming-rights revenue dried up, even after Jones kept borrowing money for his retractable dream in a down economy, Jones has beaten Snyder again. Jones believes Cowboys Stadium is so far beyond Snyder's FedEx Field that he uses another Washington-area landmark as a comparison.
Jones recently told the Dallas Morning News he sees Cowboys Stadium “having more visibility than any other building in the country other than maybe the White House.”
Note the word “maybe.” Jones isn't sure about the White House, either.
These stadiums matter in a league that wants to do away with revenue sharing. Snyder had almost twice the operating income as the Cowboys last season, and Jones, given the sale of a few more $8 beers, will soon be matching Snyder dollar for dollar.
Jones has made mistakes on how he spent money on players. Roy Williams is not worth the price. Still, this is undeniable: He's been better than Snyder.
Snyder has consistently started every offseason by buying the most expensive stars. Last February, he guaranteed Albert Haynesworth $41 million, and the results are what they have been before. Haynesworth doesn't fit in his coaches' system, as he painfully pointed out last week.
Jones also has a better sense of a locker room than Snyder does. Jones, having played the game at a high level in college, believes in loyalty and in taking responsibility.
Jones might have hired Jim Zorn, as Snyder did, though Zorn had never been a coordinator. Jones can be impulsive, too. But Jones never would have undercut Zorn as Snyder did this season. Then, he took away Zorn's authority to call plays.
But after a decade of chaos, Snyder finally realized it “was time for a change.” He hired Bruce Allen, son of the late, great George, to become his first general manager.
Give it time. Maybe by the middle of 2010, Snyder will be telling Allen what to do, and Cerrato will be back.
For now, the chaos continues, and last week's fake field-goal comedy routine symbolized the depth. Was Zorn trying to get fired a few weeks early — or was he exacting some revenge on Snyder?
The Redskins would have beaten the Cowboys in October had their kicker, Shaun Suisham, hit a late 50-yard field goal. Given that, the Redskins would usually be primed for a home game against a rival.
But here come the Cowboys, never feeling better, meeting a rival who has never looked worse. Zorn knows he's at the end. Haynesworth will be benched, as punishment, to start the game. Suisham has switched sides. And everyone else in Washington feels uncomfortable as Allen judges from above.
This is how Wade Phillips will look better in December.
And this is how Jones will continue to think he doesn't need a real general manager or a real head coach.