A Touch of Hostility...Week 7

[casmith07]

It's hard to see how he'd be better if he had to do both jobs, so I'm assuming you think he'd bring in someone to help.

I think Garrett would demand excellence in practice and make sure that "good enough" is not good enough.

 

[BehindEnemyLinez]

Hos, you were not alone in your optimism and reading your weekly posts I kinda felt we were "kindred spirits" (not in any weird kinda way, though )! Previously, I've never beat down on the coaches as I feel they know way more about the game than I will ever know. However, last night has opened my eyes to a fact that i think I was missing...this team lacks fire & heart! Are they talented? Yep. Good enough to win a championship? I thought so. But I think they're too many "nice guys" on the roster & the coaching staff. Simply put, we need an ***-kicking coach to light a fire because our players haven't been able to ignite that spark themselves...and Wade is the direct opposite of that. I'm not saying we need another taskmaster like BP but someone who can bring some emotion the the team. They consistently look flat & when things are going downhill they never seem to pick themselves up. Nothing made me sicker than seeing our defense crawling into their collective shells as the Giants were hanging foot after foot up their rear ends. The crow isn't tasty & its hard as hell to chew on but you are not alone at the dinner table...

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Sorry to hear about your mom Hos.

No crow necessary, we all have our own ideas and views on how we would address whats wrong with the Boys. We can put this at Phillips feet (and I have since day one ) but the real problem is our GM/Owner.

If he ever gets a quality coach again he simply has to stay away from the players and let the coach coach. we all know he won't but we can hope.

Phillips was the right guy after Parcells but the wrong guy for the long haul.
That is why Jerry hired Garrett first, he knew it. I don't doubt that Garrett is our next HC but I hate it. I don't see Garrett being able to change the culture the way Parcells did. No one hired from with in can.

I fear it will just be the same ole same ole. Oh well, Jerry can't live for ever.

 

[Stash]

Okay, enough about my worries. I have been dead wrong about this football team and I will take all of the abuse I am due for defending them that you want to give me. However, I will not apologize for my optimism. We have players who are talented enough to be one of the best teams in the NFL. There is no excuse for this. I lay it right at the door of coaching.

Most definitely - Phillips, Garrett, and Houck have all done poor jobs this year. Jones has wasted his money on overpaying this group.

There will be weekly threads replacing Wade. This is a fact that we should all get used to. Wade is done in Dallas, but he probably is going to ride the season out. Jerry is not going to fire him mid season. He is simply too loyal. There are good and bad things about that.

There will be plenty of calls for Gruden, Cowher, and a plethora of ideas. I still believe the job is Jason Garrett's and I am thrilled about it. People will ask me why. I will repeat what I have said dozens of times. I have wanted him to be our Head Coach since he was our 3rd string QB. I believe he has the "it" factor of coaching. Some guys are better Coordinators than they are Head Coaches. I believe he is the opposite. Like Sean Payton, he will be a better Head Coach than Coordinator.

Again I vehemently disagree. Nothing but wishful thinking for Garrett. I firmly believe that Bill Cowher is the only coach who can turn things around while this window of opportunity is still open.

Continuing along coaching angles for now. I was not happy when we hired Dave Campo back. Last night I wanted to punch him on the Hicks TD over Sensabaugh. There is no excuse for that alignment. We finally get takeaways and it got wasted on soft coverage.

Honestly, it seems like the guy is only good coaching Cover-2 stuff in the secondary. Another Jerry comfort hire along with Houck, and another mistake.

When you talk about the importance of blocking one play stands out. I feel really bad for Chris "The Gronka Truck" Gronkowski today. He's never going to hear the end of that missed block. One reason teams avoid playing rookies is because rookies get lost. Unfortunately for Gronk, he got lost at the worst possible time. I honestly believe that with Romo we could have won that game. Losing him was deflating to the entire team.

And our lamenting over the team not placing a bigger emphasis on the fullback position only increases...

I want to end on a high note. There is really only one. His name is Dez Bryant. Imagine what he can do once he fully understands the playbook. What he did last night folks was on raw ability. That is how unbelievably talented this kid is. We got to see the tip of the iceberg. There's still a lot more underneath the surface waiting to see the light of day.

Dez was definitely the 'highlight of the night' and looked to be one of the few players who didn't pack it in. Hopefully the Wade Phillips malaise won't infect him like it has the rest of the team.

 

[panchucko]

Sorry to hear about your mom, hope she recovers quickly.

No crow from me, as I also thought this game was going to be our spring board to better things.

Let's give Kitna a chance, I think he can drive for a while.
I also hope we do a lot of quick slants to DEZ, just to get the pressure off of Kitna.

 

[STSINAZ]

good post...sorry for your mom...hope she gets better...this whole thing is shocking to tell you the truth, thought we were better than this...

have to get a good coach in here---we have some talent...just need a few new o linemen and a safety...another backup corner...it will get better...has to be a coach who gets the best out of our players and holds them accountable...

 

[Mansta54]

I think Garrett would demand excellence in practice and make sure that "good enough" is not good enough.

I couldn't agree more with you on this. I keep saying, JG practiced played and won under the Jimmy Johnson coached teams. He knows how things should be done in the meeting rooms, on the practice field, and on game day. He probably gringes at the crap WP allows this team to do. I think JG would do a awesome job as HC. I'd rather have him over the old retreads out there...

 

[percyhoward]

I think Garrett would demand excellence in practice and make sure that "good enough" is not good enough.

The thing about thinking that Garrett would do a better job as HC than OC, though, is that we'd still have the same OC, only with more on his plate.

Unless he were to bring in help.

 

[Bigdog]

best wishes to a speedy recovery to your mother. It has been very stressful for my family the past few weeks especially my wife who lost her younger brother a week ago. It put these football losses in perspective. There is more to life than just football. Disappointing that the Cowboys lose but definitely more to life. Hope she gets better.

 

[Arik2]

I'll say a prayer for your mom, Hos.

 

[pancakeman]

Good post as always; and best to your mom.

 

[juck]

I am worried more about the defense then the offense. A good Oline and this team is lethal on offense. The defense is putrid. So.. Although i do not really want Garrett I wonder who he would choose as DC. Thats the biggy there.

 

[Dhragon]

I believe Jerry would get murdered in the press and by most fans if he hired Garrett for HC after the abyssmal job he's done as our coordinator. Rightfully so.

Maybe Hos is right and Garrett will make a fine HC even though he lacks at OC. Even so, I don't want him anymore. Get someone else. I just don't like him anymore now that he has wasted several of our years "learning on the job". Our window of opportunity is much smaller now and he STILL hasn't improved. He appears to have maybe even regressed.

He deserves NO chance to do the same as our head coach. He will just waste another few years of Romo's career learning to be a HC.

Get a proven head coach with a little fire and discipline in here and give him the authority to let go any player who will not buy into a new, more structured and accountable environment.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

I am worried more about the defense then the offense. A good Oline and this team is lethal on offense. The defense is putrid. So.. Although i do not really want Garrett I wonder who he would choose as DC. Thats the biggy there.

Who ever Jerry hires, that's easy to figure out.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

I couldn't agree more with you on this. I keep saying, JG practiced played and won under the Jimmy Johnson coached teams. He knows how things should be done in the meeting rooms, on the practice field, and on game day. He probably gringes at the crap WP allows this team to do. I think JG would do a awesome job as HC. I'd rather have him over the old retreads out there...

I don’t think it is that simple. Wade has no power to discipline the team. He is not the head coach, only by name. Garrett has full control over the offense. Yet we lead the league in penalties on offense. Players have come out and showed their frustration with Garrett. They do not respond to him. Why would the defense now all of a sudden respond to him? When do you see Garrett celebrate or inspire? Plus his family is creepy. His dad thought that scrub WR was something special and his brother has failed with Bennett.

Now with Kitna (an upgrade over Brad Johnson who won 1 out of 3 games) we will see how great of an OC Garrett is. There are still tons of weapons he can still use. A future Superstar in Bryant. Pro Bowl WRs in Austin and Roy. A 3 headed monster (oopps, 2 headed-because Garrett refuses to include Choice). No reason why this offense shouldn’t score points.

 

[UnoDallas]

Every time I bet on the Cowboys it turns out bad.

I lost my shirt in the Danny White years - lol

 

[CIWhitefish]

I will echo great post and prayers for your Mom.

 

[Longboysfan]

They played the kind of football I love. They overcame early mistakes and took command.

It was kind of nice to see us swipe the ball for a change. We kept the penalties to 5. All the things we have been pissing and moaning about wnt our way except the end result. Sucks to be us.

First off - Hope Mom gets well fast.

Second the Giants stuck with their plan even being down 20 - 7.

They exposed every weakness we had.

Penalties and bad calls for me were ones not called on the Giants.
The out of bounds call - hey the Giant pushed us Out of Bounds - then followed with contact out of bounde. This led to the running down the sideline out of bounds - To me that is illegal contact - first Penalty on the Giants - not flagged.....

Second the posession call on the foot tap. If anyone has been on a field like the Cowboys have with the rubber pelletts. If your foot drags even a microscopic bit in the thrf those thing are flying up. In this instance I did not see any.

Third on one of the Giant passes where Brookings blitzed and the TE picked him up - held the outside of the sholder pads - to me that's holding.

This was just the major things I saw in the first half.

Also the Giants spiking Romo was driven to the ground penalty.

This leads me back to the need for professional referees. These guys work only a few games a year. And as you get older the speed of the game is past you in terms of recognition. They are still reffing the same level when player were about 260 and running a 4.9 40 was considered fast. Well all the players are much larger and faster. I do not care what tape you watch - being there is not the same. The player size and speed has advanced but the reffing has not. They do not even move their feet. Just stand there like a statue. No angle adjustment. So they are missing large amounts of playing area as they are screened.

Every other major professional sport (baseball, hockey, basketball, european soccer) has professional referees. But the one with the largest income and fan appeal does not.

 

[Mansta54]

I don’t think it is that simple. Wade has no power to discipline the team. He is not the head coach, only by name. Garrett has full control over the offense. Yet we lead the league in penalties on offense. Players have come out and showed their frustration with Garrett. They do not respond to him. Why would the defense now all of a sudden respond to him? When do you see Garrett celebrate or inspire? Plus his family is creepy. His dad thought that scrub WR was something special and his brother has failed with Bennett.

Now with Kitna (an upgrade over Brad Johnson who won 1 out of 3 games) we will see how great of an OC Garrett is. There are still tons of weapons he can still use. A future Superstar in Bryant. Pro Bowl WRs in Austin and Roy. A 3 headed monster (oopps, 2 headed-because Garrett refuses to include Choice). No reason why this offense shouldn’t score points.

The HC sets the tempo for the entire team. JG as OC can't be judged as how he would do as the HC. Those penalties come from the HC NOT the OC and that also goes for the focus and discipline of the team. It starts with the HC and JG hasn't had HC responsibilities yet...

 

[UnoDallas]

Doesn't Wade call the defense and therefore the defensive alignments? Why would Campo be the goat here?

because he sux as a secondary coach before and still has not lost his touch