Garrett Addresses Clock Management On Final Scoring Drive vs. Packers

[lukin2006]

Until JG admits that he mismanaged the clock then he’ll never progress as a coach, people who become good at their jobs admit their mistakes and learn from them...but Garrett never takes fault for these epic screw ups, so how can he learn and become better? In his mind it is always someone else’s fault...Garrett is a jag as a coach, the only time his team looks good is in seasons with 4th place schedule, this year it’s a first place schedule and it shows...

Time for a complete overhaul of the coaching staff...however...that will not happen, Jones has his perfect yes man, and that says a lot about Jones...true leaders don’t want yes men, they want visionaries...I have 0 respect for Jones...

 

[Romo_To_Dez]

Remember Murray was having a great game against the Packers, the Cowboys had the lead and yet Garrett decided to get away from the run and get pass happy. We lost that game. Bottomline when the run is working, Garrett has a bad habit with his need to pass the ball.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

All that l can add is it always seems to me that Garrett has no feel for a football game and that idiotic pass is yet another good example. A good coach has a feel for the game he is in...the instincts are not there with Garrett.

Truer words have never been spoken. I have felt this way for a long time. Initially I thought the responsibilities of being a head coach AND play caller were the reason...but he has been relieved of his play calling duties and he still shows very little feel for 'situations'. The Jones family will never believe this because he has a degree from Princeton and comes from a football family. But Garrett is never going to win 3 games in a row during the postseason. He simply does not have it in him!

 

[Tommy]

I'm at point now where I'm starting to dislike Garrett personally.

That sounds like more of a problem with you and not Jason Garrett.

It may be time to reassess your priorities.

 

[MiddleStar]

I agree with most of you, just admit for ONCE in your life that you were wrong! He always thinks he is the smartest man in the room, and clearly for at least three weeks he has been out coached by "lesser" individuals.

The pass play was a horrible choice at that time. They had made up their mind that they didn't want to score quickly and turn the game into a two possession game. They decided they wanted to take as much time off the clock as possible. They needed to realize that it meant taking all the time off the clock, not leaving more than a minute left. You know what AR can do (to most teams) and you know what he was doing to this defense (why he didn't want a two possession game). Have the balls to finish the plan out. Yes that means Dak falls down at the 1. The plan was to score with as close to 0 time left as possible. If that means it is 4th and G at the 1 with 3 seconds left and still trailing by 4, then so be it. You decided at the beginning of the drive it was better odds to win it with the O than the D. You lose the game that way, so be it. Leaving AR anytime (and a timeout) is just asking for disaster. The timeout left for GB was the killer, more so than the time. By allowing them to keep that timeout it opened up the entire playbook for GB. They no longer had to worry about NOT throwing it in the middle of the field. That put even more pressure on the D because now they are defending the entire field and not just the sidelines. That pass F'ed everything up. Not to mention, the 11-yard run play was there anytime they wanted it. The GB D was keying so hard on Zeke, I was calling for it on the 3rd down (pass to Beasly) play. Once we got it to the 11, we could have scored at any point we wanted. As usual this coaching staff comes up with a plan and does a half-a$$ed job of executing and not having the balls to finish it out. In the end that great drive only did one thing, prevented us from winning. Turned it into a two possession game, except there was no time left for our 2nd possession. Brilliant coaching JG!

Now, on the final drive, how many of you thought Zeke was going to score when he got the lateral?

 

[CowboyRoy]

What is the definition of insanity again? Errr stupidity?

Hes made the same mistake now 3 times in a row with the same team and the same guy. And apparently he has learned nothing and will do it again after defending himself.


The Cowboys faced a second-and-2 on the Green Bay 11-yard line late in that drive. One Packers timeout and 1:24 remained. After running on six of the previous nine plays, after milking the clock to keep it away from Rodgers as long as possible, the Cowboys tried to hit Dez Bryant on a fade pass in the end zone.

"The objective in that situation is to go down and score a touchdown,'' Garrett said. "When you get down there close, the sole objective is to score a touchdown.

"If we can somehow score a touchdown on the last play of the game and give them no time, that's fantastic. But you have to be careful about being too cute there. You have to give yourself a chance to win the ballgame, first and foremost, by scoring a touchdown.''

 

[Boyzmamacita]

All that l can add is it always seems to me that Garrett has no feel for a football game and that idiotic pass is yet another good example. A good coach has a feel for the game he is in...the instincts are not there with Garrett.

I've been waiting for Garrett to get it, but years and years have passed and he still doesn't understand some things that a casual couch potato fan realizes. If he was better at clock management than he was 3 years ago, I would be fine with the occasional mistake, but he hasn't learned and it's frustrating as hell.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I agree with most of you, just admit for ONCE in your life that you were wrong! He always thinks he is the smartest man in the room, and clearly for at least three weeks he has been out coached by "lesser" individuals.

The pass play was a horrible choice at that time. They had made up their mind that they didn't want to score quickly and turn the game into a two possession game. They decided they wanted to take as much time off the clock as possible. They needed to realize that it meant taking all the time off the clock, not leaving more than a minute left. You know what AR can do (to most teams) and you know what he was doing to this defense (why he didn't want a two possession game). Have the balls to finish the plan out. Yes that means Dak falls down at the 1. The plan was to score with as close to 0 time left as possible. If that means it is 4th and G at the 1 with 3 seconds left and still trailing by 4, then so be it. You decided at the beginning of the drive it was better odds to win it with the O than the D. You lose the game that way, so be it. Leaving AR anytime (and a timeout) is just asking for disaster. The timeout left for GB was the killer, more so than the time. By allowing them to keep that timeout it opened up the entire playbook for GB. They no longer had to worry about NOT throwing it in the middle of the field. That put even more pressure on the D because now they are defending the entire field and not just the sidelines. That pass F'ed everything up. Not to mention, the 11-yard run play was there anytime they wanted it. The GB D was keying so hard on Zeke, I was calling for it on the 3rd down (pass to Beasly) play. Once we got it to the 11, we could have scored at any point we wanted. As usual this coaching staff comes up with a plan and does a half-a$$ed job of executing and not having the balls to finish it out. In the end that great drive only did one thing, prevented us from winning. Turned it into a two possession game, except there was no time left for our 2nd possession. Brilliant coaching JG!

Now, on the final drive, how many of you thought Zeke was going to score when he got the lateral?

He'll never admit he's wrong so he'll continue to do it again and again.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I don't you are losing by 2 or 3 I understand the approach of milking all of the clock possible....but needing a touchdown to win? I'm not taking the chance of not scoring.....you'd be a moron if you end up not being able to score because Dak kneeled at the 1 or 2.

 

[LittleD]

I get what you are saying but that is not the case with all NFL coahes. I live close to Houston and regularly listen to their main AM radio station KTRH . While I can't stand the Texans I do end up hearing their coach O'Brien regularly admit when he makes a mistake. Also remember Wade Phillips who always put the blame on his self rather than the players. Phillips was a 180 degrees from Garrett on this as he sometimes needed to put the blame where it belonged. Both Wade and Garrett are wrong for the way they handle things. One thing I really like about Bill O'Brien is he takes blame when he deserves it and gives it to others when it is deserved. O'Brien is a good coach and a real man. Garrett is not either.

You might have a point about Wade because he's been fired more that all the folks on "The Apprentice". My guess is the O'Brien will also be fired if the Texans players perform poorly for the rest of the season. You can bet money that Bellicheat will never take ownership of losses and he's not in danger of losing his job either.

 

[LittleD]

I think that most Cowboys fans knew that the 2nd down decision to throw was a bad choice, because it would give Rodgers time. Imagine the difference if they had ran the ball on 2nd, milked time off of the clock. And then Dak had gotten the TD.

Coaches rather look gutsy and risky over just sticking with the common sense play.

I don't know if Dak had an option on that play or not. You still have to fault Linehan for the play call or giving Dak an
option on that down. It was really bad game/clock management in crunch time and they had been doing so well
all 4th quarter too.

 

[Sydla]

I don't you are losing by 2 or 3 I understand the approach of milking all of the clock possible....but needing a touchdown to win? I'm not taking the chance of not scoring.....you'd be a moron if you end up not being able to score because Dak kneeled at the 1 or 2.

Well for starters, only a few people are arguing that Dak should have slid at the one yard line.

What most people have an issue with is the fade pattern on 2nd down. That was a dumb decision.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Let's deal in realities.

The reality is our defense isn't very good. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. And I bet that even the most diehard Garrett defenders swallowed hard after Prescott's touchdown and realized Rodgers had over a minute left with a timeout. In a perfect world, sure, offense scores, defense shuts him down, we go home winners that day. But that's not what happened. What happened was utterly predictable.

A fade pass, at that point in the game, from that down and distance is a peculiar call at best, idiotic at worst. And guess what? The results of the game pretty much indicate that the wrong call was made there. That's the beauty of sports. At the end of the game, we have the final results and we can see how decisions the coaching staff affected the outcome.

Actually there are a bunch of people that dont know. I have been arguing with them all off season and have continue to argue with them through 5 games. Some people dont get it. They still think "we will be fine". Or "if everything goes right with health we will come around". yada yada yada.

 

[Romo_To_Dez]

I don't you are losing by 2 or 3 I understand the approach of milking all of the clock possible....but needing a touchdown to win? I'm not taking the chance of not scoring.....you'd be a moron if you end up not being able to score because Dak kneeled at the 1 or 2.

Putting it on Dak to knell at the one to make up for Garrett's poor decision to throw the ball. That's why I disagree with any negative Dak threads. It the Cowboys can't get to the Superbowl with either Romo or Dak, then the problem clearly isn't the QB as much as it is the coaching. Common factor in Romo/Dak's prime years being wasted are Garrett and the front office.

When this is not the first time that Garrett has been bad at clock management.

 

[knightrider94]

Until JG admits that he mismanaged the clock then he’ll never progress as a coach, people who become good at their jobs admit their mistakes and learn from them...but Garrett never takes fault for these epic screw ups, so how can he learn and become better? In his mind it is always someone else’s fault...Garrett is a jag as a coach, the only time his team looks good is in seasons with 4th place schedule, this year it’s a first place schedule and it shows...

Time for a complete overhaul of the coaching staff...however...that will not happen, Jones has his perfect yes man, and that says a lot about Jones...true leaders don’t want yes men, they want visionaries...I have 0 respect for Jones...

All facts.

 

[pancakeman]

I don’t understand all the hate for the playcall.

First things first, the Cowboys are down 4 points. And you have to score. And you have a great red zone threat in Dez. Should they have ran the ball? Probably. Was throwing it up to Dez an inherently bad playcall? I don’t think so. If I was coach it would have been a running play but I understand the call that was made.

#1 Priority there is scoring a TD. Worry about big, bad, scary Aaron Rodgers next.

I agree. We have not only the hindsight that the Packers went on to score, but also the hindsight that the Cowboys got the touchdown. Sure Rodgers moving down the field with little time for a score has happened enough that you have to be concerned about it, but so has the Cowboys finding themselves unable to punch it in when in the red zone.

 

[Stash]

I don't you are losing by 2 or 3 I understand the approach of milking all of the clock possible....but needing a touchdown to win? I'm not taking the chance of not scoring.....you'd be a moron if you end up not being able to score because Dak kneeled at the 1 or 2.

So you'd rather be a proven moron by screwing up and definitively losing the game than being a hypothetical moron based on a series of what-if's?

 

[Everson24]

If you watch the video of Dak's TD, you can clearly see the DB that Witten was blocking was making zero effort to stop Dak. The Green Bay defense was apparently instructed to let Dallas score if we got the first down. We fell into their trap. If the opposition wants you to do something, we should be trying to do the opposite.

They knew if they got the ball with any reasonable time on the clock they would have a great chance at tying the game. I would have milked the clock down to under 25 seconds even if it meant we finished the game without the TD. Four shots from the 1 was still our best chance to win the game in regulation.

It's funny because I hear everyone say that you have to get the TD when you can, and yet I hear so many coaches and media now say that Dallas made the mistake of leaving too much time on the clock. They are now saying that you cannot leave that much time for an Aaron Rodgers or a Tom Brady, and I agree. That is why the right decision was to take a knee after we got the first.

Whether you lose with your defense on the field or whether you lose with your offense on the field, It is still a loss. I'll take my chances with the offense. Garrett needs to know his own team's strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Stash]

Well for starters, only a few people are arguing that Dak should have slid at the one yard line.

What most people have an issue with is the fade pattern on 2nd down. That was a dumb decision.

That's the one!

 

[knightrider94]

Still waiting to understand the call at the end of the first half. Gave up a chance for points when you should know that GB is going to make a run and we need all the points we can get especially since WE CAN'T SCORE IN THE THIRD QUARTER!!!!