IRVING, Tex. -- Bill Parcells clearly didn't want to be 0-2. He's been there before and still succeeded, having turned an 0-2 beginning with the New York Jets in 1998 into an appearance in that season's AFC Championship game.
But only one NFL team reached the playoffs last season after starting 0-2 -- Philadelphia -- and the Dallas Cowboys' coach pulled out all the stops Sunday to beat the Cleveland Browns, 19-12, at Texas Stadium and even his club's record at 1-1 entering next Monday night's game against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field.
Parcells called for a flea flicker and a fake punt, and the gambits paid off by producing 10 points. But he wasn't necessarily ecstatic about having to resort to such measures.
"I'm trying to give my impetus, but those are gambles," Parcells said. "They're not going to work all the time. That's not smart football, to me. ... We got away with it. ... I could be sitting here 0-2 and looking at a Monday night game on the road. ... Hey, the dice came up seven for us [Sunday]."
It was a sloppy performance in which Parcells had to endure 11 penalties by his team and three second-half interceptions thrown by his quarterback, Vinny Testaverde. But his defense returned to form after being carved up in a season-opening defeat at Minnesota, surrendering only four field goals, and Parcells told his players after the game to enjoy winning.
"It was not aesthetically pleasing, but they can't shut us out," Parcells said, joking about the possibility of a winless season.
Still, Parcells hinted that the breakdowns, particularly the penalties, will produce a tough week for his players in meeting rooms and on the practice field.
"It's simple," he said. "It's concentration and good judgment. That's it. I don't coach penalties. You've got to blame the players for penalties. They're not paying attention and not using good judgment. There's not a way to coach penalties. They've got to pay attention to what's going on."
Defensive tackle La'Roi Glover said the Cowboys players, not Parcells, were the halftime catalysts Sunday for the club getting its first victory of the season.
"At halftime, the guys did the talking more than the coaches," Glover said. "We motivated ourselves. We're the guys that win and lose the games, so we're the guys that need to motivate ourselves."
Glover was unbothered by the Cowboys' mistakes Sunday. "It doesn't matter," he said. "We won the game."
The Cowboys must go 12-2 the rest of the way to keep intact Parcells's streak of having each of his teams improve by at least three victories in his second season with the club. That streak may have been done in by Parcells's instant success with the Cowboys last season, when he went 10-6 and reached the playoffs with a team coming off three consecutive 5-11 seasons under Dave Campo.
When he coached the New York Giants between 1983 and '90, Parcells went 11-6 against Gibbs's Redskins, including a victory in the NFC title game in the 1986 season. Parcells won his final six meetings with Gibbs and last lost to him in 1987.
-- Mark Maske
