I know there's a hunger for an improvement in a lot of areas on this team, including with the coaches. However, let's be realistic here. We have Jerry for an owner, and we had Jason Garrett in some coaching capacity for 10+ years. I think Mike deserves at least another year or two of patience from us. Now, I know some of you think I have sausage rolls for brains, but here are some big reasons to be patient with Mike.
- Jimmy went 1-15 in his first year and 6-10 in his second year. It can take time for a coach to implement his style and mark into the team.
- Mike is having to implement his mentality into a team that had Jason Garrett as HC for approximately 9 years. So, it naturally will take longer for him to implement his mentality into the team. I think we can see that starting to develop, as I shall point out in the next point.
- Look at some of the games we won last year. Specifically, let's look at the Chargers game, the Patriots game, the Vikings game (in particular), the Saints game, and the first of two Washington games. In the Chargers game, we were playing a flashy young QB in Justin Herbert on the road in SoFi Stadium. I daresay that it'd have been a loss with Garrett, especially with the WRs the Chargers have. Yet, under Mike and Quinn, we won. The Patriots game would probably have likely been a humiliating loss. Let's face it, we hadn't beaten a Belichick coached team before that when he's the HC, and Garrett was never a match for Belichick. Then there's the Vikings game. Now, this was one that'd have the classic earmarks of a Garrett classic. Starting QB out, completely dismantled team, completely blown out to look like we have wet spaghetti for a team, and Jerry passes it off for missing the QB and extends Garrett for another year. Yet, we won that game with Cooper Rush. Then there's the Saints game. That was more Quinn as Mike was out, but Mike's mentality probably helped, and we won that game which, under Garrett, that'd be a loss. Finally, the first Washington game. We started collapsing towards the end. With Garrett, collapses always meant a loss. We won this time though. Let's assume we lose 4 of those. We'd have been 8-9 (likely a Garrett record). The Eagles, assuming their record held even, would've been the division champs at 9-8. We'd have been out of the playoffs entirely.
- We have Jerry Jones for an owner. Between him and how impatient as fans can be, there's a limit to how good of a coach we can get. Do you think Belichick is chomping at the bit to coach here? Nope. So, Mike is actually a very good coach for the owner we have.
I know the season didn't end how we wanted, but it was a great season. Mike's not perfect, and no coach is. However, as far as I'm concerned, I think Mike is doing a solid job. I like what I see in TC in terms of intensity. I think gone are the days of Camp Cupcake. The physicality seems much more intense. We got an OTA practice taken away both last year and this year because we were slightly overly physical (which is ridiculous, but ok). This team looks much more aggressive now. I think, if we are patient with Mike, this can be a very good team, and I like how he's developing this team. I wish Jerry would take a chance with a trade or a FA signings with player that can start and perform highly. I think that, like the Haley deal, might be all we need to go from playoff bound to contender. He'd pull out moves to save Garrett's job, why won't he take a chance or two to help Mike take this team to the mountain?
