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

[MichaelWinicki]

I'm betting those "Games Lost by Starters" doesn't include the games Ratliff didn't play due to his hissy-fit. That's one of your starting DT's who was counted on to contribute from the get go and in turn contributed to the chain-reaction of cluster-***** along the defensive line.

 

[Idgit]

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.

CL, this sort of post is so unlike you. People can disagree with you as to whether or not the issue in Dallas is the HC or something else without it being an issue of 'ego' or 'message board cred' or anything like that. Even the term 'fanboy' is an unnecessary derogative.

I can completely respect you wanting a new head coach without resorting to schtick. On the flip side, I have a hard time understanding how anybody could have watched the team play this year and not be primarily concerned with the defensive talent and coaching and, at most, think the head coach is a secondary or tertiary issue in Dallas, but to each his own. People can disagree for perfectly legitimate reasons and not have it be a matter of ego or being entrenched in an idea for the wrong reasons.

 

[Carolina Cowboy]

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?

I think that is an insult to special needs kids.

 

[SportsGuru80]

I agree... Every team in the NFL deals with injuries, however to me it's all about finding quality depth behind your starters.

 

[Carolina Cowboy]

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.

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.

On top if changing defensive schemes to the one we discarded.

 

[visionary]

CL, this sort of post is so unlike you. People can disagree with you as to whether or not the issue in Dallas is the HC or something else without it being an issue of 'ego' or 'message board cred' or anything like that. Even the term 'fanboy' is an unnecessary derogative.

I can completely respect you wanting a new head coach without resorting to schtick. On the flip side, I have a hard time understanding how anybody could have watched the team play this year and not be primarily concerned with the defensive talent and coaching and, at most, think the head coach is a secondary or tertiary issue in Dallas, but to each his own. People can disagree for perfectly legitimate reasons and not have it be a matter of ego or being entrenched in an idea for the wrong reasons.

i am confused now.... did the HC not have input into players acquired and the coaches hired?

you know.. that places where the "primary issues" exist per your post


wait, i got it, garrett only has input when things go right

 

[Idgit]

I'm betting those "Games Lost by Starters" doesn't include the games Ratliff didn't play due to his hissy-fit. That's one of your starting DT's who was counted on to contribute from the get go and in turn contributed to the chain-reaction of cluster-***** along the defensive line.

Good point. It might well not. I also wonder how 'starter' is defined. Once you lose your starter, if his replacement goes down, did you lose another starter then? Or is that a backup that's injured for the purpose of the calculation? If the latter, at what point does the person become a starter? What if that person is benched in favor of another? Hard to say without looking closer at the team data.

In any event, we also introduced a lot of our own turmoil as we were turning over rocks to try to find some players. At the end of the day, I think it's pretty obvious that we've been hurt the last couple of years by muliple sustained injuries at specific key position groups. Three years ago (was it three years ago we had the three new/rookie starters on the OL?) it was OG/OC. Last season it was OC again, and then S. This season it was the DL.

That said, depth is part of building a good team because you need your depth and you never know going in where you're going to need it. So losing starters is not an excuse for losing games. We're not deep enough, and we've been unfortunate to get his over and over at some positions to where we're actually playing 3rd and 4th options instead of 2nd options. Depth matters in building a roster, and if you don't have it, it's because your players aren't good enough (drafting) or your coaches can't prepare them well enough (coaching). Or, you just get unlucky enough at times to have too many sustained injuries at the same position and it's just not possible to go 5 players deep, or whatever. I think Dallas' problem is probably a combination of all three, honestly, but mostly it's that we've had a top-heavy roster, drafted poorly for a period, and then had some bad luck in terms of how deep a couple of position groups have been hit. That said, we've been in the thick of things each season, so the shortfall we're trying to explain is only a game or two each year and not a matter of 4-5 games, which would be a much bigger problem to address in the long run.

 

[visionary]

I'm betting those "Games Lost by Starters" doesn't include the games Ratliff didn't play due to his hissy-fit. That's one of your starting DT's who was counted on to contribute from the get go and in turn contributed to the chain-reaction of cluster-***** along the defensive line.

i'm betting that most good teams (with real GMs) would not have counted on a player who was hurt most of the prior year, still not healthy, and had an altercation with the owner, as the foundation of their DL

 

[Idgit]

i am confused now.... did the HC not have input into players acquired and the coaches hired?

you know.. that places where the "primary issues" exist per your post

wait, i got it, garrett only has input when things go right

I'd normally not reply to a post with so much unnecessary snark, but this one is a pretty straightforward question as I've already said in multiple posts that it's Jason Garrett's job to get the defense fixed, and he's failed in that regard. And, obviously, it's not the case that anybody believes a head coach only has input when things go right, that's a weak straw man argument that doesn't even sound like anything argued on the board in the first place.

Jason's job was, in part, to fix the defense. He's dithered between a 3-4 and a 4-3, and I don't particularly like the coordinator or the system that he's brought in right now. He doesn't have time to change it, either. Whether the owner forced a change/hire on him or not is academic as it's his job to fix it. I simply think the guy has shown a track record of aggressively addressing personnel problems in the past and that it's smarter to give him another chance to address this one, now, than it would be to blow everything and bring in a new guy with a new offense and defensive scheme and introduce dozens of more variables to a roster with personnel limitations in a season where we're fairly constricted in terms of our ability to work with the cap.

 

[adamknite]

That article doesn't make much sense to me. We're not as good as the Saints, Packers, Patriots and Colts? That's a big newsflash.

In very recent memory... the Colts, one of the teams he specifically mentioned, lost one player for 16 games and ended the season with the #1 overall draft pick which almost instantly helped put them back into contention.

Now before you start crying foul... I'm not saying any injury we had is on par with losing Peyton Manning for the year, but just trying to throw some perspective out there. It's not so much how many injuries, but who they are and where they are coming from. We took a lot of hits on the same side of the field, in the same positions to some key players. We didn't do as good of a job of recovering from injury as the Packers or even Bears who lost their starting QBs... am I mad about that... yes, but I'm not making an excuse when I say injuries were a pretty big factor as to why we were 8-8. We pretty literally were pulling guys off the street to start for us. And even with all our troubles there we were facing the 2nd least injury ravaged team in the league for the division title in the final game of the season and lost the game by two points on an interception on the final drive by our backup quarterback.

That's not an excuse, we should have done better because we had a great opportunity in a pretty weak division, but it certainly would have been nice if we wouldn't have had to deal with all those injuries... who knows, the Eagles might be just as bad as we are with overcoming injury issues... the problem is we'll never know because they didn't have to do so.

 

[Idgit]

That article doesn't make much sense to me. We're not as good as the Saints, Packers, Patriots and Colts? That's a big newsflash.

In very recent memory... the Colts, one of the teams he specifically mentioned, lost one player for 16 games and ended the season with the #1 overall draft pick which almost instantly helped put them back into contention.

Now before you start crying foul... I'm not saying any injury we had is on par with losing Peyton Manning for the year, but just trying to throw some perspective out there. It's not so much how many injuries, but who they are and where they are coming from. We took a lot of hits on the same side of the field, in the same positions to some key players. We didn't do as good of a job of recovering from injury as the Packers or even Bears who lost their starting QBs... am I mad about that... yes, but I'm not making an excuse when I say injuries were a pretty big factor as to why we were 8-8. We pretty literally were pulling guys off the street to start for us. And even with all our troubles there we were facing the 2nd least injury ravaged team in the league for the division title in the final game of the season and lost the game by two points on an interception on the final drive by our backup quarterback.

That's not an excuse, we should have done better, but it certainly would have been nice if we wouldn't have had to deal with all those injuries... who knows, the Eagles might be just as bad as we are with overcoming injury issues... the problem is we'll never know because they didn't have to do so.

I think this is exactly right.

 

[Risen Star]

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.

Huh? How out of touch with reality do you have to be to believe this?

Garrett doesn't allow anything. He has no power on this team. Jerry will do what he wants, when he wants it. And if you don't like it, there's the door. It's his team. You're just the current scapegoat for fans easily distracted from the truth.

 

[dfense]

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.

<snip>
--------------------

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

Gosselin doesn't address the talent aspect though. The Cowboys defense has almost no depth. A few key injuries and they were crippled. The Saints didn't have the Dline issues Dallas had. They were signing guys from the deli to play on sunday.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Goose is right on target, no excuses for ineptness in Big D.

But...the Cowboys don't have a legit Head Coach or a legit NFL GM, that is hard to overcome ... in todays NFL it may be impossible.

 

[dreghorn2]

Huh? How out of touch with reality do you have to be to believe this?

Garrett doesn't allow anything. He has no power on this team. Jerry will do what he wants, when he wants it. And if you don't like it, there's the door. It's his team. You're just the current scapegoat for fans easily distracted from the truth.

What are you talking about? I'm not distracted from anything.

I know he has no power, enablers are simply people that continue to support poor destructive behavior. His continued existence for all these years in this obviously messed up environment shows this.

Of course he should have quit, that's my point, it certainly doesn't absolve him of accepting Jerrys' methodology for nothing more than status and a paycheck.

By continuing to accept and work in this environment he enables Jerry to keep on keeping on. If he mans up and quits, we move on to the next one. If he is the same type of coach, we fail again, and then maybe just maybe there is no longer any place for Jerry to hide and the heat and embarrassment of continually losing forces him to do the right thing, which is to get a proper management team in place.

As long as the Garretts' of the world continue to talk nonsense about process etc.. then this never happens, Jerry always has a buffer, some clown who takes a paycheck to be nothing then a mouthpiece standing on the sidelines.

And so it goes.

 

[Risen Star]

What are you talking about? I'm not distracted from anything.

I know he has no power, enablers are simply people that continue to support poor destructive behavior. His continued existence for all these years in this obviously messed up environment shows this.

Of course he should have quit, that's my point, it certainly doesn't absolve him of accepting Jerrys' methodology for nothing more than status and a paycheck.

By continuing to accept and work in this environment he enables Jerry to keep on keeping on. If he mans up and quits, we move on to the next one. If he is the same type of coach, we fail again, and then maybe just maybe there is no longer any place for Jerry to hide and the heat and embarrassment of continually losing forces him to do the right thing, which is to get a proper management team in place.

As long as the Garretts' of the world continue to talk nonsense about process etc.. then this never happens, Jerry always has a buffer, some clown who takes a paycheck to be nothing then a mouthpiece standing on the sidelines.

And so it goes.

Seems to me he's trying to make it work with the parameters put in place by the lunatic owner. He was a Cowboy. His dad was a Cowboy. He wants to be the head coach of the Cowboys. It's why he turned down a couple of other chances to wait his turn here.

Why it falls on Garrett for the act of Jerry Jones is beyond me. It's frustrated fan talk. Garrett's the current villain. The next coach will also fill that role just like every other before him.

 

[Miller]

Seems to me he's trying to make it work with the parameters put in place by the lunatic owner. He was a Cowboy. His dad was a Cowboy. He wants to be the head coach of the Cowboys. It's why he turned down a couple of other chances to wait his turn here.

Why it falls on Garrett for the act of Jerry Jones is beyond me. It's frustrated fan talk. Garrett's the current villain. The next coach will also fill that role just like every other before him.

That is such a cop out. No matter how involved and messed up Jerry Jones is...and he is....Garrett wears a headset weekly. He hears what plays are called, he prepares the team. He has full control on what happens. He can call a timeout and say "stop the audible. we need to do this." Why get a free pass for blowing games like the Cards game, the Lions game, the Packers game and many others. That is on him. I've never seen a guy get more excuses. When I said he was neutered this off season all his fans said..."he knows these guys they are bringing in. Relationships. He works with Jerry." When they don't work it is a new tune.."Jerry doesn't let him pick his staff." Add that to injuries, a process, etc, etc and the guy has a constant out vs the one thing that matters...accountability for his job...coaching. The guy isn't a good coach and has showed nothing in 3 years to show that he learned from earlier mistakes. That is the frustration...ineptness from top to bottom.

 

[dreghorn2]

Seems to me he's trying to make it work with the parameters put in place by the lunatic owner. He was a Cowboy. His dad was a Cowboy. He wants to be the head coach of the Cowboys. It's why he turned down a couple of other chances to wait his turn here.

Why it falls on Garrett for the act of Jerry Jones is beyond me. It's frustrated fan talk. Garrett's the current villain. The next coach will also fill that role just like every other before him.

The point is that he has accepted the lunacy for 7 years, he's not someone who has just had his eyes opened and is trying to make the most of a poor situation while he attempts to change things internally.

No, it's been the opposite, he has allowed Jerry to get even crazier, as hard as that is to believe, under his watch.

He has had plenty of opportunity to take a stand and demand certain 'normal' head coach privileges, he would have had backing from the media and fans as well i'm sure of it.

But no sir, it's thank you and may i have another.

As long as Jerry keeps finding these types of coaches, he will keep acting in the same fashion, if it's a never ending list and Jerry never wants to win again, so be it, we are done.

I know we have an enabler now though, that's beyond a doubt, all we can hope for is that the next one isn't, what else do we have?

 

[ShiningStar]

This part of the chapter of the Cowboys history should come to an end with a lot in the front office fired, the GM wont fire himself, his son should be on his desk screaming his head off, and lots of people made to walk away.

Id scorch this organization and start anew and id have the TURK working 24/7 on a ton of people, not just the players. As for that a ton of players would be scrapped too. And before you complain, we are NOT making the playoffs next year, so unless missing the playoffs is your reason for watching the Cowboys, get ready to be excited. This organziation needs a rehaul and new blood needs to be brought in.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Injuries undoubtedly have an impact on team performance. They may even keep you out of the playoffs. However, what some fail to understand is that injuries aren't evidence of anything. They're simply a mitigating circumstance.

The argument that "Garrett is a good coach cuz of injuries" isn't valid. Injuries don't cause you to run the ball only seven times in the second half with a 23 point lead. It's been three years and Garrett has to produce any evidence of being a good coach. Three years is a long time in the modern NFL.