That 2010 team was supposed to be great and then Garrett took over and we're supposed to believe those 8-8 seasons was him rebuilding that team.
It was. Those teams in 2011, 12 and 13 had some of worst defenses statistically in Cowboys history and set futility marks in NFL history rivaling some of the worst teams.
If not for Romo and his theatrics on offense those were no more than 4 or 5 win teams. 2013 team was a little better and if Romo hadn’t been out in finale probably could have finally broke thru.
And the fact they were even contending in final week for division while rebuilding was quite an achievement especially with some of the off field distractions we had with the death of players, etc .
2014 was the culmination of those rebuilding years and I’d argue our best team in Garrett era. That was a championship caliber offense with a QB playing at his peak level. Defense could have been better and probably cost us. That divisional playoff heartbreaking loss we never overcame.
The 2015 offseason ripped apart the Triplets as we let the leagues leading rusher walk, dispute with Dez contract which I’d argue was mishandled and Romo had a season ending injury. We never fielded that 2014 core offensive juggernaut again.
Then in 2016 we used the 4th overall pick in the draft to compensate for the poor decision of letting our leading rusher go without a suitable replacement, Romo was injured in preseason and we started a Rookie QB who set the league on fire matching the Cowboys best regular season record only to lose in divisional round again in another heartbreaker.
IMO that would end up being the legacy of Garrett . A HC who steered the Cowboys through some difficult times often overcoming off field distractions, key injuries and of course the ever present poor Mgmt decisions , meddling and distractions from our ownership. In the end the heart breaking losses and lack of success in those divisional rounds of the playoffs which he never overcame were too much for a fan base to sustain without eventually more success with the constant pressure of an owner who over hyped the talent and expectations to sell his product.
I believe in years to come history will be more favorable on Jason’s tenure in this Puppet era under Jerry pending the results upcoming. Much like history is more favorable on Romo now we haven’t had any more success since.