I was for Jason Garrett becoming the HC back in 2011. After the 2012 season I was very down on him being the coach, but then I happened to play golf with Moose Johnston during that offseason and he gave me detailed reasons as to why he thought Garrett was going to be a good, if not great coach in Dallas. One of the specifics he cited was that Garrett knew how to handle the media and how to handle the players that started to shine. And that he knew how to coach and develop players as Wade was more of a guy that allotted a certain amount of time of practice on the football field and even if the team didn't practice well, he would send them to watch film, whereas Garrett would keep practicing on the field until the team started practicing right. And that, according to Moose, is the better way to develop talent.
I have referred to that story before, but never mentioned that it was Moose that told me that because I never got Moose's permission to discuss that (I only met him once) and mainly I didn't want him to take flak for stating his belief when the team didn't succeed.
So, going into 2013 I was feeling good about Garrett, but then I soured on Garrett because it was simple that he was allergic to running the ball and I thought while he did a good job of developing the other positions on the team, I think he missed some key things on Romo.
Going into this season, I started to hear all of the excuses, but I truly believed that we had the makings for an elite offense. And the best kind of offense...a high scoring offense that runs the ball extremely well. And we could use that running game and scoring to keep our defense off the field and put them in favorable situations.
I felt there was no reason why we couldn't go 10-6, but I just didn't think we would actually do it. I didn't think Garrett would stick to a running game. I didn't think we would get Romo away from audibling out of running plays. I thought we would still blow games that we should have won.
To me, this season was the perfect litmus test for Garrett. If we went 8-8, then we have an average coach that can't win the Super Bowl and we need to move on. Even if we had a rash of injuries...then it was certain that Garrett couldn't prevent injuries and that would hamstring him (no pun intended) from taking us to the zenith of pro football.
If we went 6-10, then we knew he was a bad coach and that Moose was dead wrong. And if we went 10-6, then we did have a good coach and we needed to keep him around.
Instead, they far exceeded my expectations. In fact, if you think about it, the fact that we beat Seattle in Seattle and had the same record but don't get a bye is...a bit ridiculous.
But, the team did exactly what I felt they needed to do this year:
- We ran the ball far more often
- We audibled less
- The offense played at a quicker pace.
- We went for it on 4th down more often
- Yes, less is more with Romo
And in the meantime we had a team that showed up each week to play hard, were disciplined, went 8-0 on the road, won the division and did it with a very young team.
While it sucks that they lost in the fashion they did...I think this is the best way to lose as a fan.
We had a 4th and 2, on the road and we took that shot with our star QB and our star WR and we executed the play. I don't want Dez or any other player ever apologizing for trying to make a play. If the league can't get it right, then that's on them...not on the player.
It was a fun year and I have a lot of hope for next season. I could not ask for more from the players, the staff and the front office. And I want to thank them for the enjoyable year. Now onto next season and learning from our mistakes.
YR
