Wade Phillips Is Looking For His First Post Season Win In The Post Season
The Cowboys may have reached their initial goals, but now there is a new target of gathering more wins in the playoffs. But there is an interesting story about Wade Phillips who has never won a game in the post season as a Head Coach.
Phillips dismisses the notion and says he isn’t bother by the past, claiming his teams weren’t that good.
“The only time I’ve been in the playoffs as a Head Coach, was on the road as an underdog,” Phillips says. “This is a stronger team and we’re playing a home. I’ve taken some pride in the teams that didn’t make it because we coached them well, and the ones that barely made it, that didn’t end up going anywhere, I thought we did a heck of a job.”
His three playoff chances as a Head Coach were all Wild Card games. In 1993, Phillips was coaching the Denver Broncos and lost to the LA Raiders 42-24. Five years later in 1998, he was coaching at Buffalo and lost to Miami 24-to-17. Then the following year, it was a heart breaking loss to Tennessee in the Music City Miracle game, 22-to-16.
Now he hopes to take a 13-and-3 team to the Super Bowl despite a lackluster month of December.
“Our momentum was basically winning, getting in the playoffs, win our division, getting a bye and getting home field,” he says. “We have accomplished every single one of our goals.”
But as a team, the Cowboys have precious little playoff experience to draw from. Only six players, five who are active, have ever been on a team that has actually won a playoff game.
“I didn’t know that stat,” says Linebacker Akin Ayodele. “I’ve never won a playoff game, so I’m looking forward to winning my first one.”
Safety Ken Hamlin was part of a Seattle team that went the Super Bowl and lost. “I'm hoping everyone is ready for a win,” he says. “I'm definitely ready for a win and that's what I'm getting prepared for. I can’t look at somebody’s past. I mean, you can look at my past and say we only won a certain amount. We didn’t win a super and that doesn’t mean anything.”
Tight End Jason Witten is also looking for his first win the playoffs. “This is a first time for everything,” he says. “It’s the first time we won a division, so we're just glad to be playing at home.”
Al Walker, who takes care of the facilities at valley ranch, already has what the players want. He has three Super Bowl rings from the 90’s. Says Walker, “I’ve been around a while.”
Dallas has a long history of reaching the playoffs and winning in the playoffs. Five Super Bowl Championships speak for themselves, but that hasn’t been the case for more than a decade. Phillips hopes his timing is perfect.
