The Garrett bashing is trite, tired, and lacking in truth

[GimmeTheBall!]

43-33

I see. That's mush better.

 

[ShiningStar]

We don't have our starting QB, we don't have our #3 WR, we don't have a solid RB to grind out games, we are missing key defensive players on the defensive line, our linebackers last about 2-3 minutes into the game before going out with something bothering them.

...and people here are expecting a dominant performance or an automatic win? The fact that we ALMOST won these games is telling of this coaching staff having this team ready.

And what miscues? I see "miscues" everywhere on every team in nearly every game.

and how did this affect the 8-8 seasons, or do we just forget about those?

 

[ringmaster]

NFL fans across the league today are frothing at the mouth, ripping their head coaches to shreds. Don't believe me? Just go to internet.com because it's everywhere.

By my count, there are exactly three good coaches in the NFL today. And in the WILDEST of coincidences, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers play for two of those coaches, and the new coach in Atlanta has a good QB, too.

Tomlin is getting dogpiled in Pittsburgh. Seattle fans are freaking out over their awful offense and are questioning Carroll. Pagano looks almost done with the imploding Colts. Chip Kelly is about to be hung in effigy, Lovie looks impotent in Tampa, Reid is about to get jellyrolled out of KC, Kubiak was publicly forced to abandon his offense and let Peyton take over, Tomsula is getting Republican treatment in San Francisco, Payton is getting skewered over the weapons traded away, McCoy has them restless in San Diego, Houston is quickly tiring of their foul-mouthed head coach, and Miami has already catapulted theirs to the scrap heap. The fans of the Jets, Bears, Raiders, Jags - you know the ones - are longtime professional coach haters.

Likewise, the Garrett bashers are out of hibernation and starting to puff out their man boobs once again. Never mind that 8 of his top 15 starters are out, including the best two players on the team, which happen to be the QB and star offensive weapon. Never mind that he just fought Ryan and Brees with the likes of Brandon Kyle Weeden, whom I'm pretty sure still sleeps with the light on.

This is what we do. Fans by nature are knee-jerking football simpletons who think their Madden playbook could go 15-1. They rarely even know the right questions, let alone the right answers.

Among my favorites:

1. "The playcalling sucks!" - This is the old tried-and-true. Don't need to know the difference between weak and strong side to make this bold claim. The truth is, all plays are designed to work, and they have worked, but they must be executed. It's also true that plays are called to AVOID bad things as much as achieve good things, especially when you're without key players or you have bad positional matchups. There is much to consider, things are constantly changing, and you have about 5 seconds to decide. If you have the right QB, any of 20 plays will do. If you have the wrong QB, it might be better to just punt.

2. "The coaches don't know how to make halftime adjustments" - There is no such thing as halftime adjustments. Teams have 12 whole minutes, and it takes 3 minutes to get everybody in the locker room and 3 more to get them back out. That leaves enough time to pee, get re-taped, and maybe go over an item with a positional coach. That's it. This isn't college where you get a lunch hour at halftime for the marching bands. Adjustments are discussed all game long, and they're made, but it still comes down to the QB and players at your disposal. Then it's up to them to make it happen.

3. "The time management was awful" - This one is often true, actually, but if you peruse the internet, all 32 coaches get berated for this constantly. Truth be told, they all make these mistakes quite often in the heat of a game with little time to think it through. But when you have Rodgers, Brady, or Romo - along with a representative cast around them - it often doesn't end up mattering in the end. If you don't, it goes nuclear and gets forensically analyzed for days. Rehashing the "should have dones" in time management is the most Monday Morning Quarterbacking thing to do.

4. "This coach doesn't fire up these guys" - That stuff mostly dies in high school, and what's left runs out in college. If a player needs to be fired up by a head coach, he won't likely see the light of day on a pro field unless he's a freak like Jadeveon Clowney. With few exceptions, only the highly self-motivated get to the pros, and then once they get a big contract, even they can lose their internal rah-rah.

5. "So and so isn't getting enough touches" - Coaches call a play, but it's the quarterback who decides whether or not to audible and who to throw the ball to. Running backs can't run if there's no space, and if there is, they have to actually find it and make something happen. Intent doesn't always result in reality when it comes to touches, regardless of a coach's gameplan.

I could literally list 100 more of these, and I FULLY admit that my emotions have led me to commit half of them. (I try to be good, but dag nabbit, they make ME SO FREAKING MAD SOMETIMES!!)

Coaches, first and foremost, establish a culture. They set expectations and provide a plan. They hold people accountable, and they walk that walk themselves. They relate to players and earn their trust, not in coddling but in in fairness and clarity. Combine that with the personnel department, which works with coaches to get the right mix of players, one of which had better be a upper tier quarterback.

Then, you throw in a tricky ball that bounces all sorts of funny ways, a completely unpredictable set of rules and referees, the biggest stage primetime TV offers, players that make five times the coach's salary, a magnifying media waiting with baited breath for a misstep of any nature, and a fan base of know-nothings that now have smart phones and limitless social media outlets.

It takes some thick skin, a lot of patience, a world of self belief, and perhaps a touch of arrogance to boot.

Coach that, Garrett haters.

This is the post of the entire season right there.

 

[Risen Star]

We have pre-school schemes that hold back all our talent.

 

[Sportsbabe]

Not last Sunday.

 

[CapnCook]

read the original post again. you totally missed the forest because of the trees.

doesn't Rothlisberger do the same in pittsburgh?
Doesn't Rodgers do the same in GB?

btw, Russell wilson does a lot and masks a lot in Seattle.

but what you want is a coach, who faarts lightning and can wave a magic wand and make the 7th round players into HOFers and scheme things such that you can insert a high school player in the lineup and the play should work. why? because that's what everybody else does. right?

and with all of that said. assume that garrett's offense is bad. sucks (yet we scored 28 & 20 points the past two games). Why does the defense suck? didn't you say McClay makes all the picks and he fixed the draft and marinelli is magic?

Shut down logic. Brilliant post. (It won't matter, though)

 

[mattjames2010]

and how did this affect the 8-8 seasons, or do we just forget about those?

You mean 2013 where the defense was made up of no names off the street? We had a historically bad defense, and still got to 8-8. Still having Romo as our QB masked that we were essentially going into rebuild mode after Phillips was let go.

Sadly, we have another setback due to injuries at nearly every position. Not sure what else Garrett is supposed to do, tell the players to rub some dirt on the wounds? Bring in a witch doctor? He's working with what he's got right now, and it's not much.

 

[mattjames2010]

Mike McCarthy went 2-5-1 without his starting QB. He's a respected HC in the NFL, and we're here criticizing Garrett for not getting the Ws with the nobodies we are fielding at multiple positions.

 

[ShiningStar]

You mean 2013 where the defense was made up of no names off the street? We had a historically bad defense, and still got to 8-8. Still having Romo as our QB masked that we were essentially going into rebuild mode after Phillips was let go.

Sadly, we have another setback due to injuries at nearly every position. Not sure what else Garrett is supposed to do, tell the players to rub some dirt on the wounds? Bring in a witch doctor? He's working with what he's got right now, and it's not much.

sooooooooooo if other teams work with less, thats ok, but if Garrett has less, more excuses? Gotcha.

 

[mattjames2010]

sooooooooooo if other teams work with less, thats ok, but if Garrett has less, more excuses? Gotcha.

What other teams are working with less? Show me these teams. Show me a team that has been completely decimated on defense while losing their starting QB and WR. Show me another team even remotely close to that and they are still successful.

 

[Kevinicus]

Can some of you that relentlessly defend Garret on every single issue please clarify what you think a head coach can actually be criticized for?

Yes, some people may go overboard in their rants. Yes, everyone knows there are a lot of injuries that make things difficult.

However, the situation does not completely absolve Garret of any and all criticism. There are still many things that he and his staff do control. Some people don't feel like Garret & co. have put the players that they have available in the best possible position. They see areas where they think that even with the injuries that things could be done to help the team win, and those things aren't being done. I think many of these critiques (not all) are legitimate. If you don't, that's fine, but we have reached a point where some of you are basically suggesting that coaching does not matter AT ALL. Anything and everything is 100% on the players and Garrett under no circumstances can be criticized.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Mike McCarthy went 2-5-1 without his starting QB. He's a respected HC in the NFL, and we're here criticizing Garrett for not getting the Ws with the nobodies we are fielding at multiple positions.

was one of those wins a 27 point comeback against are Jason Garrett led Cowboys....in Dallas...against a 4th stringer Matt Flynn?

 

[mattjames2010]

was one of those wins a 27 point comeback against are Jason Garrett led Cowboys....in Dallas...against a 4th stringer Matt Flynn?

Again, they only lost Rodgers. They still had their defense. The simple fact is, it's hard to win games without your starting QB; take away defensive players and key players at skill positions on offense, and it becomes extremely hard.

We have no business even being in these games and sending games into OT.

But yes, it was. Against one of the worst defenses to in league history.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Can some of you that relentlessly defend Garret on every single issue please clarify what you think a head coach can actually be criticized for?

Yes, some people may go overboard in their rants. Yes, everyone knows there are a lot of injuries that make things difficult.

However, the situation does not completely absolve Garret of any and all criticism. There are still many things that he and his staff do control. Some people don't feel like Garret & co. have put the players that they have available in the best possible position. They see areas where they think that even with the injuries that things could be done to help the team win, and those things aren't being done. I think many of these critiques (not all) are legitimate. If you don't, that's fine, but we have reached a point where some of you are basically suggesting that coaching does not matter AT ALL. Anything and everything is 100% on the players and Garrett under no circumstances can be criticized.

Sounds like you are saying Garrett needs SUPERIOR talent to win...and that means as a Head Coach....he is NOT a difference maker. Sean Payton took a banged up Drew Brees....and a stable of nobodies at WR...and at the end of the game....their production in the passing game was what it ALWAYS was. So Jerry better stop looking at the Falcons moving Julio around....or Sean taking a noodle armed QB and throw it all over the place....because by looking at these other outfits find a way....Jerry will turn green with envy knowing Garrett needs a Pro Bowler at every position to win games!

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Again, they only lost Rodgers. They still had their defense. The simple fact is, it's hard to win games without your starting QB; take away defensive players and key players at skill positions on offense, and it becomes extremely hard.

We have no business even being in these games and sending games into OT.

But yes, it was. Against one of the worst defenses to in league history.

You mean their defense that allowed the Cowboys to race out to a 27 point lead?

 

[mattjames2010]

Sounds like you are saying Garrett needs SUPERIOR talent to win...and that means as a Head Coach....he is NOT a difference maker. Sean Payton took a banged up Drew Brees....and a stable of nobodies at WR...and at the end of the game....their production in the passing game was what it ALWAYS was. So Jerry better stop looking at the Falcons moving Julio around....or Sean taking a noodle armed QB and throw it all over the place....because by looking at these other outfits find a way....Jerry will turn green with envy knowing Garrett needs a Pro Bowler at every position to win games!

You mean Sean Payton took his banged up franchise QB, and beat up a banged up defense, and got his first win of the season against a banged up team?

This is a compliment?

 

[mattjames2010]

You mean their defense that allowed the Cowboys to race out to a 27 point lead?

Again, their comeback came against a historically bad defense.

Where are you having trouble?

 

[DandyDon52]

Good OP, but
My question is why do any of you care if someone or many posters criticize Garrett, any of the staff , or some of the players ??
It doesnt hurt anything, Garret , staff , and players dont read this board or any other board, or pay much attention to media.
Romo said all that is just referred to as "noise " and they dont care and ignore it.
If anything does get to them it is what appears in major media, not anything on a forum.

If we all came in here and just acted like cheerleaders and talked about how great JG is and how jerry is best guy in the world, and all our players
are special and wonderful, and we are going to win every game , and go to SB every year, it would be pretty boring.

you need the yin and the yang to have a interesting forum, at least IMO.
I even find guys who are trolls or fans from other teams amusing, but some of you here get all upset with these guys.
It is just some typed words that those of us here can either read or not read, nobody forces any of us to read any thread or any post.
It is all by choice.
So lighten up and have fun with it and ignore posts you dont like or find distasteful.

 

[loublue22]

Hard to argue with anything in this post. JG is the same coach from last year only the players are different.

he's also the same coach from 2011, 2012 and 2013

 

[mahoneybill]

Scoring 21 + points should result in a W if the D had held. Some of us old-timers remember that Tom Landry's formula was to hold the opposition to under that and you should win the contest .