The Emperor
Marcus Aurelius Maximus
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VIZZINI DOES DALLAS
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Jason Garrett arrived on the scene of a 1-7 disaster in 2010. With his interim coaching tenure commencing in the week leading to a road game against the New York Giants, many couldn't foresee the Cowboys winning the game. It was a greater surprise when he led the Cowboys to a 5-3 record down the stretch with the average margin for losing being a little over 2 points.
The see-change in this team was so evident that Cowboys fans were predicting a table run that would put them in the playoff hunt. Upon a season review, the majority opinion was Garrett did a supreme job with a 39-year old backup quarterback and Paul Pasqualoni at head coach. Garrett's coaching was impressive enough to earn him permanent head coaching status.
All of those accomplishments make the following inexcusable.
1. Up 27-3 with 10:30 left in the third quarter, rather than playing ball control offense, milking the clock, and using it against the Lions, Jason Garrett calls a pass play. The very first play. Bobby Carpenter picks off Romo and starts a barrage of points off turnovers that costs the Cowboys dearly 34-30.
2. With 3:36 left in the game, up 16-13 on the road against a renascent Cheatriots team, Garrett calls three consecutive runs against a stout rush defense. Conversely, he refuses to call one pass play against one of the Bottom Five pass defenses in the league. Subsequently, the league's best two-minute offense gets the ball back and makes the Cowboys pay 20-16.
3. At Arizona with a little under 25 seconds, two timeouts, and at the Cardinals' 31 yard line, Jason Garrett neglects calling his second timeout leading Romo to stop the clock with a spike. The "Ice, Ice Bailey" snickering misses the true crime here. You have two timeouts. You're forcing your kicker to try for 49 yards. Why in the heck are you not trying to get him closer? And if you are playing for a field goal, with two timeouts, why are you not trying to center up the hold?
4. With the Giants advancing from the Cowboys' 19 to the 1 yard line, Jason Garrett allows over twenty seconds of precious time to expire in a contest for top spot in the NFC East before calling the Cowboys' final timeout. Even Jerry Jones could be seen from his press box imploring Jason Garrett to call timeout. When an alleged moron-idiot who knows nothing about football like Jerry Jones has more situational football acumen than Jason Garrett, that's trouble. Think of what the Cowboys offense might have been able to do with those extra 21 seconds.
If these mistakes would have occurred during Jason Garrett's interim status, I wouldn't have minded. Frankly, that's when the sweepings of his being a "rookie head coach" would have been acceptable. He went 5-3 without Romo and a very disconsolate ball team with essentially no defensive coordinator. How does Garrett then make such boneheaded mistakes when he has most of the Cowboys' potential at his disposal? Because of the standard and expectations he set in 2010 with his own coaching job, it's unacceptable.
This is why Jason Garrett exasperates and consternates Cowboys fans.
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IT'S THE TRENCHES, STUPID
If James Carville knew as much about football franchises as he did political machines, I would imagine that's what he would say about the Dallas Cowboys' lack of success.
It was CASmith07 in our midst who said that the New York Giants advanced to two Super Bowl victories thanks to their ability to protect their quarterback and get to the other team's quarterback. This off-season, what have the Dallas Cowboys done to accomplish these goals other than sign average free agents and retain below average talent?
Well, you say, "They signed the best offensive line coach in Bill Callahan." Yes, they did. I'm glad. But even Dan Reeves, who was a great coach, said that Tony Dorsett made him a better runningbacks coach. It's the same here. Wouldn't you want to make Bill Callahan look like a great coach by giving him superior talent?
It does relate to the Claiborne pick. He is tremendous talent. We got a great deal. But did we get what we really needed? Did we really fill a void? Or did we just add depth to a position that gets neutralized every year by the competition committee's demands for an pass-friendly league?
So, yeah, I'm saying I would have rather taken DeCastro. Give Callahan the pieces he needs to be great. I bet he'd be a better offensive line coach with DeCastro than with Costa "Concordia."
Or, okay, we can bask in Callahan being the Knute Rockne of our offensive line. Fine. Why then wouldn't we seek the most disruptive defensive lineman in the draft or free agency? The Giants won their Super Bowls mostly for their ability to disrupt offenses at the point of attack. In light of being in their same division and their having done it to us specifically en route to Super Bowls twice -- no, think about that. When they went to Super Bowl victories, they rolled us over and they did it with their defensive line.
Anyway, instead of emulating that, we decide to bolster up our coverage units. Our coverage units sucked because Newman played 8 yards off the man on X-and-short situations, not because our secondary was really that bad. Take a look at the Giants' secondary. Who back there scares you? If you ran them in 7-on-7 against us, the Falcons, Saints, Cheatriots, etc., who would you say had the most talent?
It's called football for a reason. And we didn't address the point of attack on either side. That's something that consternates and exasperates Cowboys fans who really know football.
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CONCLUSION: 10-6 AT BEST*
When asked how he would make the '93 Cowboys better than the '92 Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson said that he didn't worry about it. He only needed to be better than the rest of the league, not the '92 Cowboys.
It's the same here. With the Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Steelers, and Bears on the schedule, we've got 7 games that need to be played with power football. We've got 7 games where you can't ***** it in the trenches. And what have we done with ours?
With such ambiguity in the trenches, Jason Garrett cannot afford any brain farts -- none. If he cut his mental errors in half last season, the Cowboys have a better chance for 10-6 and a playoff berth. With our formidable schedule in 2012, two mental errors could be too many.
I'm pleased with the discipline and stolidity Garrett brings to this team. I'm not pleased with the trenches; there's been little change. I just hope the rest of our schedule gets stupider and weaker.
"Realists of the world unite! You only have your optimism to lose."
*Author reserves the right to amend season prediction after training camp and preseason.
[youtube]U_eZmEiyTo0[/youtube]
Jason Garrett arrived on the scene of a 1-7 disaster in 2010. With his interim coaching tenure commencing in the week leading to a road game against the New York Giants, many couldn't foresee the Cowboys winning the game. It was a greater surprise when he led the Cowboys to a 5-3 record down the stretch with the average margin for losing being a little over 2 points.
The see-change in this team was so evident that Cowboys fans were predicting a table run that would put them in the playoff hunt. Upon a season review, the majority opinion was Garrett did a supreme job with a 39-year old backup quarterback and Paul Pasqualoni at head coach. Garrett's coaching was impressive enough to earn him permanent head coaching status.
All of those accomplishments make the following inexcusable.
1. Up 27-3 with 10:30 left in the third quarter, rather than playing ball control offense, milking the clock, and using it against the Lions, Jason Garrett calls a pass play. The very first play. Bobby Carpenter picks off Romo and starts a barrage of points off turnovers that costs the Cowboys dearly 34-30.
2. With 3:36 left in the game, up 16-13 on the road against a renascent Cheatriots team, Garrett calls three consecutive runs against a stout rush defense. Conversely, he refuses to call one pass play against one of the Bottom Five pass defenses in the league. Subsequently, the league's best two-minute offense gets the ball back and makes the Cowboys pay 20-16.
3. At Arizona with a little under 25 seconds, two timeouts, and at the Cardinals' 31 yard line, Jason Garrett neglects calling his second timeout leading Romo to stop the clock with a spike. The "Ice, Ice Bailey" snickering misses the true crime here. You have two timeouts. You're forcing your kicker to try for 49 yards. Why in the heck are you not trying to get him closer? And if you are playing for a field goal, with two timeouts, why are you not trying to center up the hold?
4. With the Giants advancing from the Cowboys' 19 to the 1 yard line, Jason Garrett allows over twenty seconds of precious time to expire in a contest for top spot in the NFC East before calling the Cowboys' final timeout. Even Jerry Jones could be seen from his press box imploring Jason Garrett to call timeout. When an alleged moron-idiot who knows nothing about football like Jerry Jones has more situational football acumen than Jason Garrett, that's trouble. Think of what the Cowboys offense might have been able to do with those extra 21 seconds.
If these mistakes would have occurred during Jason Garrett's interim status, I wouldn't have minded. Frankly, that's when the sweepings of his being a "rookie head coach" would have been acceptable. He went 5-3 without Romo and a very disconsolate ball team with essentially no defensive coordinator. How does Garrett then make such boneheaded mistakes when he has most of the Cowboys' potential at his disposal? Because of the standard and expectations he set in 2010 with his own coaching job, it's unacceptable.
This is why Jason Garrett exasperates and consternates Cowboys fans.
--------------
IT'S THE TRENCHES, STUPID
If James Carville knew as much about football franchises as he did political machines, I would imagine that's what he would say about the Dallas Cowboys' lack of success.
It was CASmith07 in our midst who said that the New York Giants advanced to two Super Bowl victories thanks to their ability to protect their quarterback and get to the other team's quarterback. This off-season, what have the Dallas Cowboys done to accomplish these goals other than sign average free agents and retain below average talent?
Well, you say, "They signed the best offensive line coach in Bill Callahan." Yes, they did. I'm glad. But even Dan Reeves, who was a great coach, said that Tony Dorsett made him a better runningbacks coach. It's the same here. Wouldn't you want to make Bill Callahan look like a great coach by giving him superior talent?
It does relate to the Claiborne pick. He is tremendous talent. We got a great deal. But did we get what we really needed? Did we really fill a void? Or did we just add depth to a position that gets neutralized every year by the competition committee's demands for an pass-friendly league?
So, yeah, I'm saying I would have rather taken DeCastro. Give Callahan the pieces he needs to be great. I bet he'd be a better offensive line coach with DeCastro than with Costa "Concordia."
Or, okay, we can bask in Callahan being the Knute Rockne of our offensive line. Fine. Why then wouldn't we seek the most disruptive defensive lineman in the draft or free agency? The Giants won their Super Bowls mostly for their ability to disrupt offenses at the point of attack. In light of being in their same division and their having done it to us specifically en route to Super Bowls twice -- no, think about that. When they went to Super Bowl victories, they rolled us over and they did it with their defensive line.
Anyway, instead of emulating that, we decide to bolster up our coverage units. Our coverage units sucked because Newman played 8 yards off the man on X-and-short situations, not because our secondary was really that bad. Take a look at the Giants' secondary. Who back there scares you? If you ran them in 7-on-7 against us, the Falcons, Saints, Cheatriots, etc., who would you say had the most talent?
It's called football for a reason. And we didn't address the point of attack on either side. That's something that consternates and exasperates Cowboys fans who really know football.
-----------
CONCLUSION: 10-6 AT BEST*
When asked how he would make the '93 Cowboys better than the '92 Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson said that he didn't worry about it. He only needed to be better than the rest of the league, not the '92 Cowboys.
It's the same here. With the Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Steelers, and Bears on the schedule, we've got 7 games that need to be played with power football. We've got 7 games where you can't ***** it in the trenches. And what have we done with ours?
With such ambiguity in the trenches, Jason Garrett cannot afford any brain farts -- none. If he cut his mental errors in half last season, the Cowboys have a better chance for 10-6 and a playoff berth. With our formidable schedule in 2012, two mental errors could be too many.
I'm pleased with the discipline and stolidity Garrett brings to this team. I'm not pleased with the trenches; there's been little change. I just hope the rest of our schedule gets stupider and weaker.
"Realists of the world unite! You only have your optimism to lose."
*Author reserves the right to amend season prediction after training camp and preseason.
