Gosselin: Injuries are no excuse for another mediocre Dallas Cowboys season

[Venger]

Expecting the Cowboys to become a cohesive organization is like expecting 6 different chefs to toss one ingredient in an oven and have a cake emerge.

The hierarchy of responsibility that exists in a normal organization does not exist here - everyone is beholden to Jerreh, everyone takes their cue from Jerreh, their responsibilities from Jerreh. Garrett doesn't get to choose his coordinators, decide who calls plays, or make strategic decisions for the direction of the organization. The coaches and coordinators are plugged in randomly like a special needs kid using legos. Is it any wonder what the result is?

 

[Alexander]

Injuries didn't make us lose two games we easily should have won, Detroit and GB. We do that every year.

That is where the perfect environment has to be in Dallas for the current culture to succeed. You could not ask for better circumstances like we had in both games, but there were coaching miscues that cost us those games.

All in all, that still would mean 10-6, and an early exit from the playoffs. Would make us feel better, but the same issues persist. We just will not have a sustained winner with how this team is constructed every year, poorly self-scouted, without regard to the future. It will always be something, some area we did not prepare for, etc. It always has been.

 

[Kevinicus]

Do these numbers factor in games missed by backups who had become starters (or would have been) due to injury?

 

[Alexander]

Do these numbers factor in missed by backups who had become starters (or would have been) due to injury?

And how would that matter? At the end of that road is depth--which is an ongoing problem.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Well, you have to be fair. Belichick, McCarthy and Payton are not in training and are all experienced head coaches.

Wait, that does not excuse Pagano making the playoffs the last two seasons.

Well, fiddlesticks.

The injury excuse is a hard one to use and it is shocking that anyone who thinks about things logically would.

In order for you to assume it is not Garrett, you have to then assume it is the horrible GM who did not give him the talent.

You absolutely cannot have a valid argument to support that without pointing to one, the other, or both.

Bingo!

Jerry believed, erroneously, that he was loaded at the d-line position. What he did not understand is that most of his projected starters on the d-line are ready to collect Social Security.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I'm interested in seeing how Hos will explain this about the Saints. He's been stead fast that there is no team in the league who has had to over come the amount of injuries that Dallas has and that there is no team that could have.

It sure looks like from that article, and the amount of defensive guys they missed through out the year, that the Saints did exactly that.

 

[Kevinicus]

And how would that matter? At the end of that road is depth--which is an ongoing problem.

Depth doesn't matter when the depth is injured.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

i dont think we can use this to excuse garrett's performance
even if i subscribe to your premise (which i dont) garrett knew very well what he was getting into and should have had the where with all to ask for more power or should not have taken the job under circumstances he knew were untenable

he either has power to make decisions and is an incompetent HC or he has no power and is just a yes-man, in it just for the paycheck

either case does not paint a rosy picture of who garrett is as a football coach or as a person

Some people just have to protect their egos and message board cred because they called Garrett a great coach and now they can't admit they were wrong.

I guess Garrett was responsible for those leads the last few years... But then in the fourth quarter the players remembered Jerry does two radio shows a week and collapsed. Yeah, that's it.

Here's an idea: Fire Garrett so he can coach somewhere else without Jerry's interference. Then the Garrett fanboys can see him without Jerry and the rest of us can see this team with at least a chance at a better coach.

 

[StarWiz2]

Was that Jerry standing on that field making the kind of inexperienced decisions that cost this team at least 2 games this season? That, once again for three years in a row, was the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. Was that Jerry playing offensive coordinator and calling the most moronic plays I've seen out of any team, even a 1-16 one from years past? Was that Jerry standing on the sidelines with a shell-looked to his face in the waning moments of a game with zero game management skills? Was that Jerry on the sidelines icing his own kicker a couple of years ago?

Jerry is a meddler to be sure, but he didn't lose those games. Garrett's inexperience and time mismanagement did. And Jerry didn't fire Rob Ryan. JG was on the other end of the phone line when he called Ryan. Another head-scratching move. Why suddenly revert to the 4-3 like that? Is this a football game, or a game of Risk? How could you throw the defensive players under the bus like that? Who's responsible for that decision? JG, of course. He is the HC. Far too much blame goes to Jerry, (and the assistant coaches), when the most important figure in all this mess is directing traffic on game day like Charlie Chaplin!

Jerry's main problem is (extremely poor) decision-making from the executive (faux)GM position, i.e., like, hiring a newbie to be HC of the Dallas Cowboys even though the man sports a resume that beats the heck out of white space in a novel. What competent GM would do that? Notta one. So now, Jerry is trying to excuse Garrett's performance by suggesting that JG is actually a student-in-training at the Jerry Jones Julliard School for NFL wannabe Head Coaches. Yeah, send those audition tapes in, all you ex NFL players. Maybe you too can one day be the HC of the Dallas Cowboys!!!

This team is so unbelievably mismanaged from the executive level to the coaching level, I can only laugh at this point. (When you get to be my age, you don't live and die by this team) But I still love 'em. And I can still hope that by some miracle things get turned around. Jerry can't kill that hope no matter how hard he tries. But I'm not stupid either. Until things do turn around, I will remain firmly entrenched on the couch watching this team, and pocketing my money.

 

[big dog cowboy]

At least we have a great stadium. Even if we don't have home field advantage.

 

[Miller]

Some people just have to protect their egos and message board cred because they called Garrett a great coach and now they can't admit they were wrong.

I guess Garrett was responsible for those leads the last few years... But then in the fourth quarter the players remembered Jerry does two radio shows a week and collapsed. Yeah, that's it.

Here's an idea: Fire Garrett so he can coach somewhere else without Jerry's interference. Then the Garrett fanboys can see him without Jerry and the rest of us can see this team with at least a chance at a better coach.

EXACTLY!!I'm not a Gosselin fan but glad he wrote this with detailed examples.

Jerry, no matter who was hired, didn't have headsets on controlling games for the last 3 years. So all those botched leads, etc were on Jason. Jerry said as much after this season and said they had to keep him to prove his worth after screwing up for 3 years. Garrett isn't a good coach. Good people with smart minds don't have to translate to coaching. Gary Kubiak was a great guy and players LOVED him but he made boneheaded calls weekly and they kept him 3 years too long. He was saved by a Wade Phillips D. Nothing changed about how bad a coach he was. Garrett is the same. I've seen no improvement but people think he talks well and is a good guy so let him "progress." This league changes yearly yet the Cowboys are one of a few teams that is caught treading water with their coach.

 

[DOUBLE WING]

And I think that's fair.

I am not throwing blind support to Jason Garrett. I'd like to see what he can do with the same shot those other coaches mentioned have had. He doesn't have that here.

Does anybody really believe Chuck Pagano would have this Cowboys team in the playoffs right now? He'd be emasculated just like Garrett.

I would be interested to see how Garrett would do in a better organization.

It's clear he's handcuffed here with Dumb and Dumber at the helm, but that doesn't excuse his bevy of in-game brainfarts that have directly been the difference in some wins and losses.

Then again, in a better-run organization, Garrett likely would have received better "training".

 

[khiladi]

I don't think he's a good coach but I do agree that he should have an opportunity to succeed or fail on his own.

He failed, which is why Jerry surrounded him with experience... Poor choices, but still. The only reason he is here is because of Jerry's stubborn desire to have him succeed.

 

[dreghorn2]

It's convenient to blame Jason Garrett. It's also lazy and wrong. He may in fact not be a good head coach, but he doesn't even have a chance to be in Dallas.

It is not lazy, and it's not wrong. Garrett is an enabler and a sycophant who has taken almost a decade worth of paychecks from the Jones family.

Jerry Jones acts in the manner that he does because those around him accept the way in which he does business, their fault as much as his.

For Gods sake the day after our season ended Garrett had to face a question about his owner and GM commenting that he accepts how poor he has been as a coach and that they realize he is 'in training', he answered with a lame 'we all try to get better' type comment.

I mean really who does this, this guy is supposed to be leading men?? Impossible. He should have walked away long ago. He has only himself to blame.

All of us have seen the Jason Garrett types throughout our lives, he is weak, unprofessional, and any criticism that comes his way is completely deserved.

IMHO.

 

[dreghorn2]

i dont think we can use this to excuse garrett's performance
even if i subscribe to your premise (which i dont) garrett knew very well what he was getting into and should have had the where with all to ask for more power or should not have taken the job under circumstances he knew were untenable

he either has power to make decisions and is an incompetent HC or he has no power and is just a yes-man, in it just for the paycheck

either case does not paint a rosy picture of who garrett is as a football coach or as a person

What's the saying, nail meet hammer?

 

[Bleu Star]

I absolutely love it when a beat writer validates my season long stance. I'll say it again, every single NFL player laces up his cleats in the same fashion. The problem is systemic and until we really make some improvements in the areas of properly preparing these guys for the NFL grind, we will continue to see a stranger than usual amount of injuries during each season.

Gosselin: Injuries are no excuse for another mediocre Dallas Cowboys season


RICK GOSSELIN

Columnist

rgosselin@***BANNED-URL***

Published: 07 January 2014 10:50 PM

Updated: 08 January 2014 12:07 AM

Injuries can be an explanation for the mediocrity of the Cowboys in 2013.

But not an excuse.

Injuries are part of football, and the Cowboys certainly suffered their share. Every team did, in fact. The NFL lost a record 1,600 games by starters because of injury this season, including a record 861 on offense.

The Cowboys lost 62 of the games, including the pass rush of Anthony Spencer for 15 of them. But other teams were battered by injuries — even more critical injuries — yet played on into January.

The New Orleans Saints lost 61 games by starters, including a league-high 53 on defense. Two projected starters in new coordinator Rob Ryan’s 3-4 scheme — end Will Smith and inside linebacker Jonathan Vilma — never played a down because of injuries.

Yet the Saints still finished with a top-five defense, posted an 11-5 record and won an opening-round playoff game last weekend.

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Read the rest: http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...or-another-mediocre-dallas-cowboys-season.ece

 

[noshame]

I would be interested to see how Garrett would do in a better organization.

It's clear he's handcuffed here with Dumb and Dumber at the helm, but that doesn't excuse his bevy of in-game brainfarts that have directly been the difference in some wins and losses.

Then again, in a better-run organization, Garrett likely would have received better "training".

True, but I really would have liked to see how Garrett would have done if he started off as a small college HC and learned his lessons before he got to the NFL. Instead of being potty trained by Jerry.

 

[dstovall5]

Injuries are a very good excuse for our failures, I mean you could say other teams have had significant injuries as well, but last time I checked Dallas is the only team in the NFL with a mentally ill GM/Owner. It looks like it's time to put down gramps, before anyone freaks out I'm just joking ... Or am I?

 

[BoysFan4ever]

Interesting that Munchak quit in TN rather than have his staff fired by the higher ups & I guess he'll end up coaching at PS or as an OL coach somewhere. Point is he quit rather than being meddled with.

Jason seems to not be cut from the same cloth.

They'll blame the injuries.

 

[visionary]

EVIL MEDIA strikes again

bringing up facts to counteract the fantasy narrative served up by owner/GM and HC/trainee and lapped up by gullible fans

the nerve!
dont know how these guys have a job