Jones Says Record Won't Be Deciding Factor For Garrett

[Alexander]

Dick Jauron was always lauded as an intelligent guy and good coordinator to this day. A good HC he has not proven to be. My point, Jason has as much chance of being Jauron Jr as Landry Jr. as a HC. Jauron is a proven DC too

Impressive analogy.

 

[Hostile]

No, not saying he isn't smart. Look, there are vast degrees and tapestries of intelligence. The key is how you apply them and how effective your intelligence can translate to value in a job. There is also intuition and creativity. If I am going into battle Id be just as happy with Alvin York as Bill Gates - probably moreso since there is a record and trend with one in battle. I wouldn't call Barry Switzer as smart as Garrett, but he was effective at OU.

Okay, I'm going to again make a comparison, because I absolutely agree with the substance of this. Tom Landry was smart from the word go. It took his team several years to catch up to his visions When they did, it was magical. The best time of my life as a football fan was knowing every year we were in the hunt. That simply isn't easy to do, and in this day and age of football, it is even harder to do IMO because there is a salary cap, and tangible (make that fungible) efforts to keep parity. Landry did not apply them well at first. Do you know when it sank in for the players? According to Bob Lilly it happened when Landry stood before them and wept because he had not been able to convey his concepts well enough for them to be accepted.

Now, I'm not saying Garrett needs to cry in front of his team so that they want to go to war for him, but I am saying that it is entirely possible that the team, being young, and in transition has not yet caught up to his vision of the team yet. I absolutely think the key veterans have. I absolutely think the coaches have. The key is when will the rest of the team? I actually think it happened 2 years ago for the most part when the last of the malcontents were removed, but as I continue to say we've been too injured the last 2 years to do anything about it, particularly on Defense.

that's fine, But I dont see the relevance that because person A achieved x on certain path, person B will do the same following a similar path. Here is a counter example.

The man graduated from Yale in 1973. Drafted by the Lions he played 8 years in the NFL with a decent career. He was the Buffalo Bills DB coach for 1 season in 1985, followed by eight years a db coach at GB.. He became Def Coord of Jax in 1995 after 4 seasons and 3 playoff appearances he became the HC of Chicago. In the first 3 years he went 6-10,5-11,13-3. So this smart, Ivy league, decorated NFL guy looks to be on a roll. Well, the next 2 years he goes 4-12 and 7-9. Fired. After a DC job and interim HC stint in Detroit going 1-4, proceeded to take Buffalo to 3 consecutive 7-9 seasons fired in year 4 after a 3-6 start

Dick Jauron was always lauded as an intelligent guy and good coordinator to this day. A good HC he has not proven to be. My point, Jason has as much chance of being Jauron Jr as Landry Jr. as a HC. Jauron is a proven DC too

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2007/7/3/93214/59886

Love Dick Jauron personally. You don't see the relevance. I call those parallels. I do. I don't see the relevance of a belief in a trend in football. You do. It doesn't make either of us wrong, it just makes us different in approach. Personally I'm okay with that. In truth I do not see Garrett as a Noll in the making. I don't see him as anyone in particular in the making. That is why I for the most part do not compare him to other coaches. I did in this thread make a consolation about intelligence.

as a stat guy by trade, I get quesy when people use stats without context, significance testing, etc just to cherry pick a point.

Well, I could promise to never use a stat again in a conversation we are having but I'd probably forget and do it anyway, so no promises.

I'll agree with principle you dont build a team through FA, but you can sure as hell supplement. Kyle Kosier was a great signing and made up for the whiff on Jacob Rogers. .If you "moneyball" and sign for roles and depth, you'll see that it is a valuable tool - no argument that in the wrong hands it can be lethal - like $50M on a CB and #1,#2 pick on a CB in the same year.

Now, I'm going to make a comparison because I agree. Rolando McClain, Henry Melton, Brandon Weeden, Ryan Williams, Uche Nwaneri, Amobi Okoye, Justin Durant, and Terrell McClain. I am probably forgetting someone. All are examples to me of that kind of Free Agent signing. Veteran guys with starting experience, who can come in and get your team through until they draft someone great to take over. Like we hopefully have done with Zack Martin.

I think we're seeing smart deals, combined with solid drafting now, and with a focus on improvement and creating tradition. I'm not really sure what there is to be pissed about beyond 8-8, and as I've mentioned repeatedly, injuries played a huge factor in the last 2 years of that.

I thought Ryan could weather the Julio injury and I think I over estimated his game a little, it reminded me of when Dallas lost Irvin, the team deflated. I never saw Julio as a big part of that chemistry but maybe he was.

That's a good comparison to me. I think the waiver of John Abraham was a huge negative factor for them too. He was a true leader on their Defense and they lacked that last year. My biggest fear is the loss of Ware for similar reasons. I hope Lawrence can pick up some of the slack his leaving makes. I hope we can offset the loss of Lee with the arrival of McClain, whom I still have a lot of faith in.

Carolina is interesting, it all rests on Cam. I like the defense Rivera has built, but that offense just doesn't seem to have the horses to make a deep run. If Cam regresses, that is a 6-10 team for sure, but I see them in the 9-10 win area. But Rivera has shown progress

And I think we are the opposite. Put our Offense with that Defense and I will guarantee you a Super Bowl. I think either team could have their strength carry them a long way, but the weaker side is going to have to be the difference for each team at some point. That is why I like the youth movement we are making. Put as many hungry dogs on the field as you can at one time, and turn them loose. It isn't perfect, but if it supplements this Offense, which I think can be great, I'll take it.

Here is where the debate gets tangential. So far I have replied with accepting your position that Garrett is the architect here and whatever is or isn't being built is from his hand. Maybe we need to stake positions on when where and how Garrett was given carte blanche to build. For Switzer, he was hired to manage the talent he was bequeathed. Maybe you have a different view, but I believe that Jerry was out to prove he was the architect of the early 1990s dynasty and he could do it "his way" I dont think Switzer was hired to change or build anything. I am not defending switzer the coach here, but I dont want to assign failure solely to a mercenary drunk coach who wasn't tasked in the building role.

Switzer didn't hire himself. The day he was hired I predicted the Cowboys would have a downward spiral that would take years to dig out of. Great college coach. A disaster in the NFL when the talent quit being hungry enough to carry this team.

All Head Coaches are the architects, but some of them aren't as good as others at building. Barry Switzer was, by all accounts, a great guy to be around. There's no denying he is a football legend. But at the college level. He wasn't an architect like Jimmy Johnson, who I think was a visionary coach in some ways. The talent carried that team, whereas the talent in conjunction with the Head Coach built it. That's what I want to see again.

So maybe to encapsulate the entire point, and I've said it before, I think since there is a lack of tangible football success, you can't assign all good things to garrett and bad things to happenstance/Jones/tidal flow or whatever. He wears the badge for 2012 as brightly as the any good in the 2014 offseason

I'm not among the lynch Jerry crowd. I have my issues with him, but I also happen to think he is a top notch, caring individual, and I respect that. I think he's a hell of a lot smarter about football than his harshest critics are if you want to be truthful. Who would you rather talk football with, Jerry Jones, or Dale Hansen? I'll take Jerry all day, every day.

Did you hear the podcast I did with Ted Sundquist, former GM of the Broncos? If not, PM me and I'll get you the link. His praise of Jerry might surprise you. He basically ratified what I have been saying about the management of this football team and how all teams operate. Namely as a consortium of opinions designed to come to a solid conclusion rather than some lone gun playing fantasy football with a real team.

Again we can branch off on another debate topic if you wish, I think dan Reeves was a good/decent coach, and has had more tangible success than garret at similar career points. Reeves had Elway and Elway was a stud.When Reeves went to NYG his teams got progressively worse every year and ended up at 31-33 with wins in order from 11,9,5,6. In 7 years in Atlanta he had one great 14 win season surrounded by seasons of 7,5,4,7,9,3. So I dont really see him as an architect/builder either.

Frog will always be one of my favorites. Did you know his team nickname was Frog? If not, you do now.

Well, yeah, "you play to win the game." But its not as easy as just saying 1 game. You have to win the Detroit and GB games, you have to win the KC game, That makes the final game irrelevant. 2011, You dont blow the AZ game (detailed in this thread). when I look at how down the NFC East was last year, it was almost like the stars aligned. I look at these last 3 years and then remember that Parcells took Quincy Carter and Troy Hambrick to a playoff game and it is a horse pill to swallow.

Part of me agrees with this. Part of me disagrees vehemently. I am going to address that part with one question. Coaches you admire don't "blow" games? I personally have never seen that Coach at any level of football.

I respect someone who has convictions, but at some point results (wins) are the final arbiter

I've never expected my validation on my convictions to come from any other place.

Well I dont need to worry Lombardi (7-7,8-6,11-3 1st 3 years), Noll, Reid, Walsh (2-14, 6-10, 13-3 1st 3yrs) because they all had pretty rapid velocity in producing wins and playoffs. I was asking that since Jason is smart, is that intelligence manifesting in innovation since it doesn't in the other metrics we have hashed through. Again I don't know why we are putting these men in the same breath as Garrett as a foregone conclusion.

So, what you are saying is if he created a run and shoot that was hard to deal with for one year, maybe a year and half it would impress you more than teaching sound football principles does?

It won't me.

I agree with you on Kelly, this is an interesting year there. If he gets better, Im gonna be ill mainly because the one thing Philly can do since Lurie took over is hire coaches. As of now, jury is out.

The Parcells situation with the 4-3 vs Garrett's is different. Parcells took the job and had a 4-3 team (cue the small Coakley jokes). He made no secret he wanted a 3-4. Garrett was fine with a 3-4 for 2 years and never mentioned a switch until Jerry said "2013 offseason will see changes and uncomfortable ones."

Forgive me, but I just don't see the relevance of worrying about why any coach makes a switch.

No, but there is a remarkable regularity that the Cowboys seem not to live up to the hype. At this point I wish Jerry would have just hired garrett as HC we would have all the proof we need now. Maybe Garrett would be the next wade, cut out to be an OC not a HC - maybe he is the next great HC the jury is getting closer to a verdict and doesn't need 4 more years to decide.

I'll make a prediction for you right now that is no doubt about it going to stir up trouble here. I apologize for that now. If we have another good, Defensive Line focused draft in 2015 we're going to win the Super Bowl, maybe a couple of them, with this team and staff. After that, we're going to be in a rebuilding mode to replace Romo possibly. But, I think we're a lot more ready for that than we were when we lost Troy. Not because we've drafted our Steve Young or Danny White to replace a legend (I realize calling Tony that is risky) but because we'll have a veteran team capable of leading a rookie Draft pick when we need to go that route. I think we're going to grab out future QB in 2015 personally and this will be moot. My point is, this team is grooming.

I'll have no problem eating crow if you are right, but I expect reciprosity if you are not. You have an intuition, you're at a disadvantage and burden for proof. I have alot of Cowboy history to harken back to. The real culture change came in 2003 - and left in 2007. Now I will stipulate that this last offseason could very well be the epiphany for Jones/Garrett era. That given, I expect fast results, because others have demonstrated it CAN be done. Football lives and windows are finite and way too dependent on a QB and ours is closer to the end than the beginning

I don't want you or anyone else to eat crow. Well, maybe a few people it would be funny as hell, but I probably put those jerks on Ignore anyway. You want me to eat crow if this goes down in flames, fine. I will. I did with Drew Henson. I'm not afraid of being wrong. We're all wrong from time to time.

I'm not wrong about this guy. If me saying that upsets people, oh well. Either they will get over it, or they won't. I'm way past the point of caring what some people think. I don't want you to eat crow. I want you to open your eyes beyond 8-8 to see what is being built. if that doesn't thrill you, then I don't know what can. The fact of the matter is greatness is built steadily so it can be sustained. It is not a one year up, next year down, take a lot of risks for another year up type of "trend." We all want sustained greatness. That comes with a price that we are paying. There will be a pay off. Book it.

 

[cml750]

I have no idea how you state you aren't comparing Garrett to these guys and talk around it here and then use this later on "I pay attention to that because I studied a Head Coach named Tom Landry who was a decent player, but was noted not for his playing skills but for his brains for the game. Just like Dan Reeves. Just like Jason Garrett." You even included the Simile

I feel you are trying to obfuscate the issue, though. You seem fixated on summary records of coaches and downplay trends.

That aside, to support your argument for Garrett you have to draw parallels that show he is "like" a great. So lets not belabor that anymore.

I think I have asserted or alluded to twice that I think building a team today is and should be faster "process" because of FA, prior you can only build through the draft. This claim seems to be proven out with some glaring regularities. So I can't just take all eras as equal in this regard.

As to the McCoy, Kelly, Trestman, Philbin strawman - No one stating they are the next great legends, mehs or failures after 1 season (2 for Philbin) - but again you know that. However, Chip Kelly took a 4-12 team to 9-7 and a playoff birth in year 1. I would like to know why that accomplishment should be discard or when juxtaposed against a garrett season, not be look at with raised eyebrows and a nod of approval. That aside, I stated in my last post that SD, Philly (though I ommitted them, the math implied them) may not make it back. Chip could be a fraud and get figured out. However, his coaching job last year was pretty darn good. He had Vick - taylor made for the spread read/option - and moved to Foles mid year. He changed his gaming and Foles had a magnificent season. He demonstrated an ability to be decisive and make changes quickly.

As to Rivera, he took a 2-14 team to 6-10 in year 1, 7-9 in year 2. That is tangible process and progress. At the end of 2012, they were playing as good a ball as anyone. I am more surprised Atl folded than Carolina continuing upward.



And why would they fire him after 3 years? the trajectory was going up. coming out of year 3 with improvements every year, Im sure Commander fans were very positive. then it stalled and got worse.Though he did get the shaft being the only coach with a winning record to get canned mid-season, after a 1-4 stretch after a 6-2 start. Turner built a competitive team quickly



Well they should look at the eagle years as just as big of a resume failure. He took over a perennial 10-11 win team under buddy ryan and carried that talent over the next 2 years to 10 and 11 wins, respectively. Then his stamp began to show ink.he won 8 games and then 7 games the next 2 years.

But lets delve into that last year , he started 7-2 and then went 0-7. With the Jets, and i remember he being instrumental in the infamous Kyle Brady over Warren Sapp decision, he went 3-13 and 1-15. So in the last 39 games of his coaching career he was 4-35.



Well that 21-20 record in first 3 years is a little skewed since the throw away strike year was 2-7 was sandwiched between 10-6 and 9-7 - both over 500 ball.



Not enough, you pick summary records and then negated the trend component within. But Im still playing

I assume all of these examples are to somehow support the garret claim to be a great HC.

Holmgren
I'll take 9-7 - its a winning record. He made the playoffs in the last two 9-7 records - ironically losing to dallas both times. So you can argue that his first 3 years of 9-7s were really 10-6s had it not been for the Dallas Dynasty. Also Before Holmgren got there, GB won 6 and 4 games the prior 2 years. Again tangible progress and process.

Reid
Philly - Year 1 - 5-11, Year 2 - 11-5 (playoffs) , Year 3 - 11-5 Playoffs. The record the year Before he got there 3-13
KC Year 1 - 11-5 - Playoffs. The record the year Before he got there 4-12
Playoffs in 10-15 years coaching

So both of these coaches inherited much worse teams and made the playoffs in year 2. This supports my assertion that it doesn't take 5-15 years to build a team. To compare Garrets potential using these 2 really is a disservice to their accomplishments.



All of that is warm and fuzzy, but not every person a HC wants on a staff is going to be a "great HC" Maybe they are better suited to be a Coordinator (Turner, LeBeau, Fangio, Phillips) Maybe a GM. Just because there is an INITIAL clamoring for someone, when they get the job you get to see if they really have clothes. The NFL is littered with The Romeo Crennels, Charlie Weisz,



Its great if he is smart, but I work in an industry where being the smartest plays little into if you are a good leader or a manger. I think he works in an industry where he can use his education to create deflection and redirect very easily. I work with many Ivy league MBAs and Phds as well as tier II college grads. On average are the Ivy league guys more talented, probably. But BY NO MEANS IS IT A FOREGONE FACT.

As far as this Ozzie Newsome quote, I wish we could get off that as some proof, What if Barack Obama told Hillary he thought she could be a great NFL head coach? It was a compliment from a good football guy after an interview.

But speaking of all of this Garrett intelligence. Can you point to me what innovative gameplan, system he has implemented? I see no Landry Flex, Shotgun, Chip Kelly rapid fire read/option - It seems to be out of a text book with a couple of minor tweaks. On top of this, he has no real set philosophy on defense. Why not change to the 4-3 on Day 1? Why not move to a Zone blocking scheme year 1 instead of tasking Houck with teaching a new system to scrubs in year 1 and then throwing him away? Why draft to emulate the patriots offense 12 package and then have TEs who cant block?

And what he inherited, was a franchise QB and a team who made the playoffs in 2-4 years (missing the 2008 season due in part - (my opinion mind you) - his legendary horrific call to keep Brad checkdown Johnson as a backup when the entire preseason showed he had nothing. I have posted his line in those 3 games. A 20 point loss to a 2-14 Rams team.

2010. That team, if you remember and I have posted links, was supposed to be in the hunt for the Home SB. Season starts off with a 13-7 loss to Wash. Wash's TD, if you remember, came on a :04 before halftime fumble recovery on a screen pass at their own 40 (D. Hall / T Choice). I put 98% of that on Garrett. Down 0-3 with :04 seconds left you kneel on the ball. Romo doesn't have a 65 yard arm, no time for a FG on a completion. All risk no reward. .

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2010091212/2010/REG1/cowboys@Commanders#menu=gameinfo|contentId:09000d5d81a91002&tab=recap

Then Romo went on to have abysmal games against Chicago, Tenn and Minn. They were spanking NY until romo got collarboned. THat great 5-3 finish included a record setting pace of turnovers by the defense and a win with stephen McGee over The Eagles JV the last week team since they were already in the playoffs.

And to the last part. I refuse to compare Landry and Noll eras. But Reeves and Holmgrens records were on the surface better and trajectory a lot better. As for Kotite, after year 3, I dont think the Philly fans were happy - and they were right.



He traded an Expensive OLine FAs for an expensive CB FA (then applied the cherry by using the first 2 picks in the 2012 draft on another CB). And Kyle Kosier was a great value FA pick as was Columbo. Both were cheap in comparison to Davis.

Wow!!!! Excellent post!!!!

 

[Chocolate Lab]

For the zillionth time, I'd like to see any studies showing any correlation between perceived academic quality of university attended and NFL head coaching success. You won't find it because it doesn't exist.

So far Garrett is much more like the guy next to him in my sig. That guy was a football lifer also, his dad had a jillion times the success of Garrett's dad, and he went to an even more acclaimed Ivy league university.

He also absolutely sucked as a coach.

 

[Alexander]

So far Garrett is much more like the guy next to him in my sig. That guy was a football lifer also, his dad had a jillion times the success of Garrett's dad, and he went to an even more acclaimed Ivy league university.

He also absolutely sucked as a coach.

Well, Shula did not play the media like a fiddle using bland coachspeak. So there's that.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Let that sink in for a while. This franchise has hit all kinds of "lows" so Jerry can be feel comfortable and continue to be the ugly face of this franchise.

Yea, its amazing that Garrett is the 10th longest tenured head coach in the NFL and has yet to even post a winning record.

And folks wonder why so many think Garrett is here, not because of merit, but because he lets Jerry pseudo run the team.

Just saying.

 

[Dodger12]

Yea, its amazing that Garrett is the 10th longest tenured head coach in the NFL and has yet to even post a winning record.

And folks wonder why so many think Garrett is here, not because of merit, but because he lets Jerry pseudo run the team.

Just saying.

We're building something special here. And while we're building, our franchise QB is a year older with some health concerns. Just wait until Romo is longer here to save Garrett's ***.

 

[Wolfpack]

Yea, its amazing that Garrett is the 10th longest tenured head coach in the NFL and has yet to even post a winning record.

And folks wonder why so many think Garrett is here, not because of merit, but because he lets Jerry pseudo run the team.

Just saying.

Family portrait for 400 alex.

 

[birdwells1]

I see "icing the kicker" as the catchphrase to a horrifically managed ending to a game. Him "Icing his kicker" wasn't the blunder,but it is the game that might be the single handedly worse series of coaching in my memory. I just rewatched on the the Game Rewind. The fact that there were 2 TOs and the only one used was right after clocking the ball to set up for a FG says alot (i.e. why even clock the ball? Just call the TO w/ 7 seconds left)

1:06 left - 1st and 10 on the Cardinal 44 - False start
1:06 left - 1st and 15 - incomplete pass 12 yards on a sideline route
1:01 left - 2nd and 15 - Delay of game (a staple of the Garrett Romo "snap the ball w/ 0:00001 on the clock" that provides 0 benefit - See Brady and Manning, Brees, et al)
1:01 left - 2nd and 20 - now at the 50 - Dez catches a 9 yrd pass in bounds with 0:54 remaining (No TO and 3rd down conversion likely needed for a good FG attempt)
0:32 left (18 seconds to snap the ball). Romo and Dez bail out the issue of not taking a TO on the previous play with a great throw and catch over the middle for a first down.(TO could have been called at 0:24 seconds)
0:07 - Ball clocked to settle for a 49yd FG.
0:07 - TO called right beffore the snap - Missed FG, take a TO in the pocket to end regulation - lose in OT.

I am sure some other coach has made a similar dumb series at one point - but I could never imgine a Parcells caliber coach (or any attention to detail/scenario coach doing the same)

I agree, I was screaming to call time out after the Dez completion. You are so right about the "icing the kicker" catchphrase because it takes the light off of the real game mismanagement which was not calling a timeout immediately after the Dez reception.

 

[Hostile]

Yea, its amazing that Garrett is the 10th longest tenured head coach in the NFL and has yet to even post a winning record.

And folks wonder why so many think Garrett is here, not because of merit, but because he lets Jerry pseudo run the team.

Just saying.

Yet all indications are Jerry gives Jason more control than Wade had. Go figure. Nice foil hat Beast.

 

[daveferr33]

I agree, I was screaming to call time out after the Dez completion. You are so right about the "icing the kicker" catchphrase because it takes the light off of the real game mismanagement which was not calling a timeout immediately after the Dez reception.

I was there in the stadium with thousands of other screaming cowboys fans, shaking our heads and being laughed at by cardinals fans. It was as if every person in that stadium recognized that coaching blunder in real time.

Like a 14 year old Spalding furiously miming a time-out that never comes.

 

[Risen Star]

Well, Shula did not play the media like a fiddle using bland coachspeak. So there's that.

He also didn't have the right number of phases in his process.

 

[Zordon]

I agree, I was screaming to call time out after the Dez completion. You are so right about the "icing the kicker" catchphrase because it takes the light off of the real game mismanagement which was not calling a timeout immediately after the Dez reception.

This. I hate when people bring up the "icing the kicker" talking point. The real blunder was after the Dez completion. People forget that b/c "icing the kicker" sounds better for headlines.

 

[scooper]

Yet all indications are Jerry gives Jason more control than Wade had. Go figure. Nice foil hat Beast.

Probably true except for that time Jerry visited his coach on the sidelines during the game and told him to take his QB out.

 

[TheDude]

I agree, I was screaming to call time out after the Dez completion. You are so right about the "icing the kicker" catchphrase because it takes the light off of the real game mismanagement which was not calling a timeout immediately after the Dez reception.

To be completely honest, and not to be inflammatory or sexist, but so was my wife who never watched a game of football until we started dating 5 years ago. When she knew something as perfunctory as that, it really set off some light bulbs.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

To be completely honest, and not to be inflammatory or sexist, but so was my wife who never watched a game of football until we started dating 5 years ago. When she knew something as perfunctory as that, it really set off some light bulbs.

Sorry, but a lot of this stinks of hindsight to me. Garrett said after the game that he feared a negative play and that he was at the range he wanted to be in. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but a quick glance at the statistics show that may have very well been the last field goal that Bailey has missed from 40-49 (he was perfect from 40-49 in 2012 and 2013). So to recap, Garrett discerned that the ball was at the point where his kicker was almost automatic and there is a ton of evidence to support that. He ran the clock down to ensure no further opportunities for the Cards. He feared a negative play, because at those distances a few yards really do matter. It sounds like most of you are mad because Bailey missed the kick, which is usually the case when hindsight is 20/20.

If you are mad because Garrett played it safe, then of course there are tons of hypocrites on this board who got mad when Garrett tried to pick up a first down running against the Lions last year and got burned because Tyron Smith committed a totally ridiculous, inexcusable penalty. Even without the penalty, there was strong statistical evidence that Garrett's call was perfectly defensible (over an 80% probability of winning at that point) but because it didn't work (hindsight), people got mad.

 

[Idgit]

Sorry, but a lot of this stinks of hindsight to me. Garrett said after the game that he feared a negative play and that he was at the range he wanted to be in. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but a quick glance at the statistics show that may have very well been the last field goal that Bailey has missed from 40-49 (he was perfect from 40-49 in 2012 and 2013). So to recap, Garrett discerned that the ball was at the point where his kicker was almost automatic and there is a ton of evidence to support that. He ran the clock down to ensure no further opportunities for the Cards. He feared a negative play, because at those distances a few yards really do matter. It sounds like most of you are mad because Bailey missed the kick, which is usually the case when hindsight is 20/20.

If you are mad because Garrett played it safe, then of course there are tons of hypocrites on this board who got mad when Garrett tried to pick up a first down running against the Lions last year and got burned because Tyron Smith committed a totally ridiculous, inexcusable penalty. Even without the penalty, there was strong statistical evidence that Garrett's call was perfectly defensible (over an 80% probability of winning at that point) but because it didn't work (hindsight), people got mad.

Good point re the Lions call.

For my part, you call a safe run in both those situations and don't anticipate a mental error by an OT. I still think it was a mistake that may have cost us the game not to get it closer in AZ, though.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Good point re the Lions call.

For my part, you call a safe run in both those situations and don't anticipate a mental error by an OT. I still think it was a mistake that may have cost us the game not to get it closer in AZ, though.

I absolutely agree that you simply can't call plays with a fear that someone will commit a penalty. In that sense, it was a mistake. However, at the end of the day all Garrett did was put the game in the hands of his most dependable resource. He did not put the game in the hands of Romo and Dez, who showed how good they are at playing catch in a similar situation earlier that year by throwing the ball right to Revis. He did not put the game in the hands of our offensive line, who had already committed a penalty on the drive and no doubt with the antics of the departed Alex Barron still fresh in his mind from last season. He ran the clock down and put the game in the hands of Bailey, and there is mountains of evidence to show that is usually a good move (except this time).

 

[KJJ]

Okay, I'm going to again make a comparison, because I absolutely agree with the substance of this. Tom Landry was smart from the word go. It took his team several years to catch up to his visions When they did, it was magical. The best time of my life as a football fan was knowing every year we were in the hunt. That simply isn't easy to do, and in this day and age of football, it is even harder to do IMO because there is a salary cap, and tangible (make that fungible) efforts to keep parity.

It took Landry's teams several years to catch up to his visions because he started off with an expansion team. The Cowboys didn't even have a draft pick their first season. Landry had to build the Cowboys from the ground up while competing with Lombardi's great Packers teams. Expansion teams back in the 60's started off with the worst players imaginable. Many years later even Landry laughed about the players he got stuck with when he first took over the Cowboys. The 1960 Cowboys are ranked as one of the top 10 worst teams in NFL history but their record improved the next 2 seasons. Garrett took over a Cowboys team that was only one season removed from an 11-5 season and a playoff win. The team Garrett inherited was picked by many prior to the 2010 season to end up in the SB.

Landry didn't start off with a Tony Romo, Demarcus Ware, Jason Witten and a Dez Bryant. The system that's in place today has brought along parity but it's also made it possible for teams like NE to compete for the SB every season. During Landry's era teams had to build through the draft and with trades. Free agency has allowed teams to add veteran players who can step right in and fill a hole. Expansion teams today have it so much better off than they did when the Cowboys entered the league in 1960. Every NFL team has to make available at least 5 players from which expansion teams can choose from. Expansion teams are given a ton of cap space and a top 10 draft pick. It's important to the NFL that expansion teams are successful and are given every opportunity to be competitive from day one. If a team can manage the salary cap they can stay competitive for years as the Pats have proven.

Jerry has signed some bad contracts the latest being Sean Lee which helped cost him Demarcus Ware. No one knows what Garrett could be if he had the same control Tom Landry had with the Cowboys. Tom Landry wouldn't work for the Jerry Jones we've been seeing the past 20 years. Tom Landry wouldn't put up with Jerry walking over to him "during a game" telling him to yank his QB like he did with Garrett during the Philly game a few years ago. I can't recall ever seeing anything like that during a game and it shows what a yes man Garrett is. Tom Landry did things HIS way as did Jimmy. As long as it continues to be Jerry's way the Cowboys will stay mediocre at best.


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[zrinkill]

Probably true except for that time Jerry visited his coach on the sidelines during the game and told him to take his QB out.

Hey look Midswat has dropped the act.