What if Jason's in-game decisions are as poor as they have been? Where do we turn?

[Idgit]

The rest of the NFL copies whatever Bellicheck does. He goes to a pass heavy offense, the rest of the league doe it, he uses 2 TE sets using 2 recieving TE's the rest of the league does it.... Bill goes for it on 4th down more than anyone else, ill bet you see people follow that too once it proves to be a good idea. The guy is an innovader

I think we can add Chip Kelly to the list of HCs willing to take those chances. It's coming to the NFL, because, statistically, it's the right thing to do. It's only a matter of time.

 

[tantrix1969]

horrible idea.... if you want him to fire people up just hire him as a motivational speaker

only person I can see hiring Lewis for motivation is Aaron Hernandez

 

[iceman117]

I think we can add Chip Kelly to the list of HCs willing to take those chances. It's coming to the NFL, because, statistically, it's the right thing to do. It's only a matter of time.

what part do you mean, going for it on 4th and short, around mid field?

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

JG will get better with his in game management. Everyone tends to forget that he had zero HC experience before being named the cowboys HC. Those kind of mistakes were bound to happen. The more experience he gains the less frequent these kind of mistakes will occur. If he can weather the HC rookie problems he will make a very good NFL HC.

 

[Galian Beast]

The New England game is the perfect example of our personnel costing us the game and there was nothing that could be done about it. An O-line that when attacked, got blown into the backfield. Followed by a defense that couldn't hold a lead.

His decision to run in 3 times straight into the Patriots defense and punting it back to Brady cost us the game. Not having Romo attempt to pass on 3rd down, cost us the game.

 

[Idgit]

what part do you mean, going for it on 4th and short, around mid field?

Basically, I don't buy that he's not going to go for it on 4th downs on his opponent's side of the field. Any guy who's going for it even sometimes on *his own* side of the field early in games is going to go for it on his opponent's side of the field more often than your average NFL coach.

 

[Galian Beast]

please explain how exacution by the players did'nt cost us most of those games

He cost us the detroit game because he still had romo throwing in the 2nd half. After the first pick the game plan should have been run heavy.

He cost us the game in New England because he decided he would run in three times straight at the defense. Even in 3rd and long. Then he punted it back to Tom Brady.

He cost us in the game against Arizona when he froze the kicker.

 

[Idgit]

His decision to run in 3 times straight into the Patriots defense and punting it back to Brady cost us the game. Not having Romo attempt to pass on 3rd down, cost us the game.

See, this is a really good example of bad reasoning when it comes to blaming a HC for a loss. Running the ball and eating the clock was a perfectly legitimate tactic at that point in that game. I agree that I would have thrown it once on that series of plays, but I'm not going to blame the coach for taking time off the clock and for trying to convert on the ground in that situation. Nor am I going to give our defensive secondary a pass for letting us down yet again when they had a chance to put that game away for us.

Had Garrett passed the ball there, and had it been an incompletion, we'd have only given Brady more time. Had we passed it more than once, fans would be ballistic that we did not take the air out of the ball at the end of the game. The only situations where JG would be ok in that scenario is had we passed the ball and successfully converted, and believing that is not fair to any HC.

 

[Galian Beast]

See, this is a really good example of bad reasoning when it comes to blaming a HC for a loss. Running the ball and eating the clock was a perfectly legitimate tactic at that point in that game. I agree that I would have thrown it once on that series of plays, but I'm not going to blame the coach for taking time off the clock and for trying to convert on the ground in that situation. Nor am I going to give our defensive secondary a pass for letting us down yet again when they had a chance to put that game away for us.

Had Garrett passed the ball there, and had it been an incompletion, we'd have only given Brady more time. Had we passed it more than once, fans would be ballistic that we did not take the air out of the ball at the end of the game. The only situations where JG would be ok in that scenario is had we passed the ball and successfully converted, and believing that is not fair to any HC.

Everyone knows that you can't punt the ball to brady at the end of the game. You go into the series knowing that you have to get a first down. It was first down or bust, we weren't in the position to simply run the clock out yet.

 

[Idgit]

JG will get better with his in game management. Everyone tends to forget that he had zero HC experience before being named the cowboys HC. Those kind of mistakes were bound to happen. The more experience he gains the less frequent these kind of mistakes will occur. If he can weather the HC rookie problems he will make a very good NFL HC.

This is pretty much my take. Some of these decisions were bad ones. Some of the bad ones were bad because he was green. Some of the bad ones will matter less as the team benefits from the things JG is really good at. Get enough talent assembled, the right staff, and the right focus and preparation and motivation, and nobody's going to be questioning decisions to run the ball tree times in a given series or the use of a time out before a game winning FG attempt. In the interim, we've had to endure some learning on the job and some games that were closer than they probably should have been.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Everyone knows that you can't punt the ball to brady at the end of the game. You go into the series knowing that you have to get a first down. It was first down or bust, we weren't in the position to simply run the clock out yet.

You go into the series trying to minimize the bad things that can happen. What is the one thing you can guarantee will happen on that drive? That you can run the ball three times, take the maximum amount of time off the clock. That was the approach that JG took, which was very conservative. It was a page almost straight from the big tuna play book. If it were Parcell's who made that call no one would be questioning it. I find it hard to fault JG for his decision making here.

Me personally, I would have gone in a different direction and done everything I could to pick up a first or two and score. That is a difference in philosophy, not good decision vs a poor one.

 

[Idgit]

Everyone knows that you can't punt the ball to brady at the end of the game. You go into the series knowing that you have to get a first down. It was first down or bust, we weren't in the position to simply run the clock out yet.

You also can't give him extra time to beat you. And you're not going to make a living throwing the ball against Belichick in must-throw situations.

I also don't concede that you can't win the game against the Pats on a defensive stand. At some point, you have to play the percentages. It's not like we weren't trying to convert on that series.
That NE game is a perfect example of second guessing a HC for a decision that didn't work. I'd have liked to see different play calling myself, but at the end of the day, had the offense executed on the running plays, or the defense on the pass protection, we'd have won that game against a very good NE team.

 

[Idgit]

You go into the series trying to minimize the bad things that can happen. What is the one thing you can guarantee will happen on that drive? That you can run the ball three times, take the maximum amount of time off the clock. That was the approach that JG took, which was very conservative. It was a page almost straight from the big tuna play book. If it were Parcell's who made that call no one would be questioning it. I find it hard to fault JG for his decision making here.

Me personally, I would have gone in a different direction and done everything I could to pick up a first or two and score. That is a difference in philosophy, not good decision vs a poor one.

Exactly my take.

 

[DOUBLE WING]

Garrett could very well take a huge step forward this year and enter the caliber of good/great/elite coaches in the NFL and there will be a lot of "told you so's" around here, but those people will be wrong.

The fact is, Garrett was learning on the job these last couple of years. He was not ready to be an NFL head coach when he was hired. That's not his fault. It's Jerry's fault. And I know Jerry isn't the only one who thought that, because I know that the great Ozzie Newsome also wanted to hire him and if he did, that would have been a bad hire by the great Ozzie Newsome. It happens.

There's no doubt this situation is the worst possible for a young coach to get his start in. You bring in a young, green head coach and ask him to stabilize one of the most dysfunctional organizations in the NFL and you're asking for trouble.

But the learning on the job needs to end. The pieces are in place for a successful season and if Garrett isn't ready to take that step forward, he's got to go.

 

[visionary]

You go into the series trying to minimize the bad things that can happen. What is the one thing you can guarantee will happen on that drive? That you can run the ball three times, take the maximum amount of time off the clock. That was the approach that JG took, which was very conservative. It was a page almost straight from the big tuna play book. If it were Parcell's who made that call no one would be questioning it. I find it hard to fault JG for his decision making here.

Me personally, I would have gone in a different direction and done everything I could to pick up a first or two and score. That is a difference in philosophy, not good decision vs a poor one.

i can see both sides of this

 

[Deep_South]

Garrett is going to become a much better coach if the players stop making stupid mistakes and the offense can run the ball effectively. Also, I'm hoping that with Callahan calling the plays, RHG will be able to concentrate on watching the clock more closely as the half or the end of the game approaches.

 

[zrinkill]

He was not ready to be an NFL head coach when he was hired.

Neither was Jimmy Johnson ....... or Belicheat at his first head coach job.

In fact nobody is "ready" to be a NFL head coach until they have been doing it a few years.

 

[big dog cowboy]

He cost us the detroit game because he still had romo throwing in the 2nd half. After the first pick the game plan should have been run heavy.

He cost us the game in New England because he decided he would run in three times straight at the defense. Even in 3rd and long. Then he punted it back to Tom Brady.

He cost us in the game against Arizona when he froze the kicker.

That is painful to read.

 

[CapnCook]

First of all, he never iced his own kicker in AZ. The first kick was made well after the timeout was called. The defending line never even made an attempt. Anyone who says he iced his own kicker shows they are reactionary in judgement. As for the decision to not call the timeout after the first down conversion, I can agree he made the wrong call. And so did Romo. They both should have been signaling TO after Bryant converted the third and long. This would have alleviated the confusion on the sidelines. What cost that game was Bailey missing a very makeable FG in regulation, even after getting a practice swing, and then in OT, a defense that could make a tackle on a screen play that covered half the field.

Against Detroit, the Lions figured out that Newman was getting posterized on every throw to Johnson. While running the ball would have helped preserve the lead, the defense was stopping the run. However, 12 of the comeback points came on pick sixes. Here's a thought for Romo on 1st and 10 (and this applies to the NY Jets game, too). Don't throw the deep out to a double-covered receiver. The number of picks on first and 10 is alarming, but Garrett gets blamed. Well, it's no wonder he doesn't want to throw the ball the very next week against NE. The guy is always in a catch-22 with this fanbase (as someone said earlier, so is every other coach with every other fan base).

So now that Garrett has seen so many false starts and INTs, why would he want to get more yardage against Baltimore. And let's not mention the players strolling back to the LOS. I even heard some fans blame this on Garrett for sending in a play where they were on such deep routes. Sheesh.

 

[arglebargle]

Garrett could very well take a huge step forward this year and enter the caliber of good/great/elite coaches in the NFL and there will be a lot of "told you so's" around here, but those people will be wrong.

The fact is, Garrett was learning on the job these last couple of years. He was not ready to be an NFL head coach when he was hired. That's not his fault. It's Jerry's fault. And I know Jerry isn't the only one who thought that, because I know that the great Ozzie Newsome also wanted to hire him and if he did, that would have been a bad hire by the great Ozzie Newsome. It happens.

There's no doubt this situation is the worst possible for a young coach to get his start in. You bring in a young, green head coach and ask him to stabilize one of the most dysfunctional organizations in the NFL and you're asking for trouble.

But the learning on the job needs to end. The pieces are in place for a successful season and if Garrett isn't ready to take that step forward, he's got to go.

You'll have to forgive me if I give a bit more credence to Ozzie Newsome's opinion than to yours on this issue.