(Sept. 9, 2003) -- Some pretty good NFL teams have started the 2003 season with 0-1 records. The Eagles, Dolphins, Patriots and Raiders are among the Super Bowl contenders who suffered tough losses in Week 1. So what are these teams to do?
There's one thing they can't do, and that's panic. There's a lot of football left to play, and the teams that panic are the ones that will encounter problems down the road.
Take the Eagles, for instance. That was a tough game for them to lose -- opening up their new stadium against a Tampa Bay team that knocked them off in the conference championship last year. They were pointing toward that game and probably spent a lot of time in the preseason preparing.
But that game is over now. You have to learn from it. Take anything that was positive out of the game, look at the negative to see exactly what you did wrong and why you did these things. Because the next team on the schedule will be studying the things that Tampa Bay did to beat Philadelphia. And they'll try to take advantage of what they perceive to be weaknesses.
This is not the time to panic, and the good coaches understand that. They'll get their teams back in sync. By the time midweek rolls around, those teams that suffered tough losses last week will be ready to go in Week 2. They've got to move forward.
And the coaches can't just tell their players what I'm saying here. They have to believe it. Players react to the coach. If the coach looks like he's down and out of sorts, the players will react to that.
Bill Parcells, for instance, made a statement after the Cowboys' loss to Atlanta that some of the things his team did on the field were a "recipe for disaster." But I'm sure he'll find some things that happened in that game that were positive. Then he'll get his players to understand that there are specific things that need to be corrected -- and he'll reinforce to them that if they get those things corrected, then they'll be okay.
You can't put a positive spin on everything, but you've got to put a positive spin on some things so you don't lose your players. If you react in a panic mode, your players will panic. And I certainly don't expect guys like Parcells or Philadelphia's Andy Reid to go into panic mode. They'll get after their players -- deservedly so, because they expected better execution and it didn't happen.
Now, Week 2 has the Eagles playing the Patriots -- two teams that are trying to bounce back from tough starts. New England's loss to Buffalo last week is really a bigger loss than Philadelphia's, because the Patriots' loss was against a division rival.
Some people in the media might call this a "desperation game." But I don't think there's a desperation factor. A sense of urgency? Definitely, because nobody wants to start the season 0-2. It's hard to pull yourself out of that hole. But desperation is not the way to look at it if you are a player or coach.
The team that takes a look at the Week 1 film, then puts it on the shelf and starts preparing for the next game and making adjustments to get themselves going, that's the team that will get it done.
The teams that are still dwelling on last week's loss come late in the week, those are the teams that will struggle. Because that's a recipe for disaster.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6627184
There's one thing they can't do, and that's panic. There's a lot of football left to play, and the teams that panic are the ones that will encounter problems down the road.
Take the Eagles, for instance. That was a tough game for them to lose -- opening up their new stadium against a Tampa Bay team that knocked them off in the conference championship last year. They were pointing toward that game and probably spent a lot of time in the preseason preparing.
But that game is over now. You have to learn from it. Take anything that was positive out of the game, look at the negative to see exactly what you did wrong and why you did these things. Because the next team on the schedule will be studying the things that Tampa Bay did to beat Philadelphia. And they'll try to take advantage of what they perceive to be weaknesses.
This is not the time to panic, and the good coaches understand that. They'll get their teams back in sync. By the time midweek rolls around, those teams that suffered tough losses last week will be ready to go in Week 2. They've got to move forward.
And the coaches can't just tell their players what I'm saying here. They have to believe it. Players react to the coach. If the coach looks like he's down and out of sorts, the players will react to that.
Bill Parcells, for instance, made a statement after the Cowboys' loss to Atlanta that some of the things his team did on the field were a "recipe for disaster." But I'm sure he'll find some things that happened in that game that were positive. Then he'll get his players to understand that there are specific things that need to be corrected -- and he'll reinforce to them that if they get those things corrected, then they'll be okay.
You can't put a positive spin on everything, but you've got to put a positive spin on some things so you don't lose your players. If you react in a panic mode, your players will panic. And I certainly don't expect guys like Parcells or Philadelphia's Andy Reid to go into panic mode. They'll get after their players -- deservedly so, because they expected better execution and it didn't happen.
Now, Week 2 has the Eagles playing the Patriots -- two teams that are trying to bounce back from tough starts. New England's loss to Buffalo last week is really a bigger loss than Philadelphia's, because the Patriots' loss was against a division rival.
Some people in the media might call this a "desperation game." But I don't think there's a desperation factor. A sense of urgency? Definitely, because nobody wants to start the season 0-2. It's hard to pull yourself out of that hole. But desperation is not the way to look at it if you are a player or coach.
The team that takes a look at the Week 1 film, then puts it on the shelf and starts preparing for the next game and making adjustments to get themselves going, that's the team that will get it done.
The teams that are still dwelling on last week's loss come late in the week, those are the teams that will struggle. Because that's a recipe for disaster.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6627184
