The Reason we didn't attack on our last possession

[CowboysToTheBone]

Do you think it's because Red wanted to protect Romo from losing the game? Can you imagine if Romo had thrown a pick at the end of the game? All hell would have broken loose in here! Personally, I think we should have gone 5 wide and tried to get that final first down. Let Romo lead this team like we are paying him to do. You play to win the game, don't play not to lose! Good God, I like Red...but c'mon man!

 

[Staubacher]

Romo wanted to attack. Dez wanted to attack.

Garrett trusted backup RBs and the worst ever pass defense instead of those two.

 

[dboyz]

All this hindsight second guessing is ridiculous. Garrett didn't know tyron would hold. If everything is executed without major flare ups lions get the ball with under 30 seconds no timeouts and have to drive for at least a fg. Basically any coach would take that.

 

[panchucko]

I doubt that was the reason, everyone knew the cowboys were going to run. Did they even have any recievers in the game on the last drive? I was at the game but didn't notice. I thought I saw all 11 defensive guys up on the line.

 

[T-RO]

All this hindsight second guessing is ridiculous. Garrett didn't know tyron would hold. If everything is executed without major flare ups lions get the ball with under 30 seconds no timeouts and have to drive for at least a fg. Basically any coach would take that.

This. Word. I don't like how conservative we were in the second-to-the-last possession, but there is little to criticize in the final possession.

It's very debatable if giving them 55 yards to get 3 is any different than 80 yards to get 7. The reality is the defense, sans 4-5 starters couldn't get it done.

 

[yimyammer]

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. I think Garrett and the team are shellshocked and have lost the nerve to be aggressive in all but the most desperate situations.

Garrett's been punished when he stayed aggressive in the past, just think about how the last Detroit game ended. It's hard for me to believe that situations like this aren't lingering in the back of his mind but he has to get over it and be willing to lose in order to win.

There's been too many games like this where if they had only taken an aggressive line that resulted in a first down they would have won but because they didn't they lost. I can't help but feel they could have won some of these games had they left the outcome to their playmakers not to mention the spillover effect of trusting the team has got to be beneficial.

 

[BAT]

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. I think Garrett and the team are shellshocked and have lost the nerve to be aggressive in all but the most desperate situations.

Garrett's been punished when he stayed aggressive in the past, just think about how the last Detroit game ended. It's hard for me to believe that situations like this aren't lingering in the back of his mind but he has to get over it and be willing to lose in order to win.

There's been too many games like this where if they had only taken an aggressive line that resulted in a first down they would have won but because they didn't they lost. I can't help but feel they could have won some of these games had they left the outcome to their playmakers not to mention the spillover effect of trusting the team has got to be beneficial.

Then Garrett is in a no win situation here and the merciful thing would be to put him out of his misery. You either run or fight, you don't stand frozen in the middle of the train tracks with a locomotive full of steam headed toward you.

 

[ejwilson1984]

All this hindsight second guessing is ridiculous. Garrett didn't know tyron would hold. If everything is executed without major flare ups lions get the ball with under 30 seconds no timeouts and have to drive for at least a fg. Basically any coach would take that.

This

 

[DMAC]

He has learned not to trust his QB in these situations. I don't blame him for that.

 

[Doomsay]

All this hindsight second guessing is ridiculous. Garrett didn't know tyron would hold. If everything is executed without major flare ups lions get the ball with under 30 seconds no timeouts and have to drive for at least a fg. Basically any coach would take that.

Garrett didn't even look like he understood that the penalty would stop the clock, I'm not sure that he impressed that reality upon the offense before they went out for that series.

 

[Doomsay]

He has learned not to trust his QB in these situations. I don't blame him for that.

Do you think putting trust in the defense is (has been) any wiser?

 

[rags747]

No hold we win the game, simple as that. The way this team finds ways to loose just boggles my mind.

 

[diehard2294]

Garrett coaches scared to me when the game is on the line

 

[Gameover]

He made the right decision. The penalty screwed everything up. Every coach in the league would've played it the exact same way.

 

[yimyammer]

Then Garrett is in a no win situation here and the merciful thing would be to put him out of his misery. You either run or fight, you don't stand frozen in the middle of the train tracks with a locomotive full of steam headed toward you.

I can't shake the sneaking suspension that all coaches are in a no win situation here

 

[loublue22]

The second to last possession was the one in question, not the last one. We absolutely should have done what we did and run it 3 times, the holding screwed everything up. Although I still say that's a ridiculous rule, if the penalty is declined then you should continue from the point of interruption, which was a running play that ended in bounds.

 

[T-RO]

I can't shake the sneaking suspension that all coaches are in a no win situation here

The difference is that the other coaches aren't saddled with a defense that is in the process of giving up 600 yards.

 

[Zman5]

Conventional wisdom would tell you that JG made the correct call and it is most of the time but there are few things to consider here. Once again it comes down to situation.

Obviously by trying to bleed the clock as much as possible, instead of going for the win, you are betting on the defense to win the game for you. A defense that has given up 500+ yards at that point and a defense that is beat up and probably exhausted. Most importantly, a defense that will have two undrafted rookie FA (Heath, Hamilton) at safety and a rookie CB (Webb) playing along with OScan and Carr. These 3 had barely played this year on defense. Hamilton was on the PS until a day before. And you are asking these guys to to stop an offense that was having a record day.

I question if JG was even aware of this fact. Did he know who was going to be fielding the defense when we punt/kick the ball back the Lions?

 

[ConstantReboot]

All this hindsight second guessing is ridiculous. Garrett didn't know tyron would hold. If everything is executed without major flare ups lions get the ball with under 30 seconds no timeouts and have to drive for at least a fg. Basically any coach would take that.

Yes he didn't know Tyron would hold. Yet in that situation why allow a rookie running back to run it outside and risk a penalty, fumble or even running it out of bounds? A first down would have been nice. But what we needed to do was chew time off the clock.

 

[kramskoi]

The second to last possession was the one in question, not the last one. We absolutely should have done what we did and run it 3 times, the holding screwed everything up. Although I still say that's a ridiculous rule, if the penalty is declined then you should continue from the point of interruption, which was a running play that ended in bounds.

I think Sturm alluded to the Tanner inside-outside run as the culprit, which likely facilitated the hold by Tyron. Simple dive plays would have killed it without undue risk but then you risk the field goal miss from a longer distance. Looks like dive plays and punting through the end zone [or deep] with about 20 - 25 seconds to get in field goal range [55 - 65 yards] might have been the way to go, absent a touchdown, they would only have a chance to tie. They would have had to go to the perimeter for yards, since being tackled in the middle of the field would probably be too risky.