Yahoo!, DMN pumps up Garrett

[Thick 'N Hearty]

Didn't see this anywhere else, so thought I would get it going:

No matter what you hear this week, the Dallas Cowboys' game against Cleveland really has little to do with Kyle Kosier. Or Miles Austin. Or Sam Hurd. It has everything to do with Jason Garrett, the NFL's highest-paid assistant coach. He makes $3 million a year for weeks like this wrote Dallas Morning News columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor.
It's not that he needs to feel additional pressure because the Cowboys enter the first week of the season without their starting left guard and two of their top four receivers, but the owner has every right to expect Garrett to keep the Cowboys' offense running smoothly.

Frankly, there's no reason to think he won't make the proper adjustments.
After all, he's supposed to be one of the brightest young minds in the game. He comes with endorsements from local heroes such as Troy Aikman and Moose Johnston. Seriously, how hard can it be to call plays for an offense that has one of the league's top quarterbacks, tight ends and receivers, three Pro Bowl linemen and one of the game's most physical running backs?

This week will be a little more challenging, although it gives Garrett an opportunity to show he's much more than a caretaker of one of the NFL's most talented offenses. It's a chance to show his creativity as he compensates for the loss of Austin and Hurd, while making sure Cory Procter is adequately prepared to handle his first career start at left guard. A word of advice based on my e-mails the past few days: stop panicking.

Couple things I wanted to point out from this. Garrett is the mastermind of this offense. He'll package something that makes us successful offensively. Even with our WR woes, we still have a more talented O than we did, dare I say, during our SB years. Don't get that confused with playoff wins. I know we haven't won anything yet, but this team, even as it is this week, is loaded.

This team does have depth. Would I love to see Boldin with a star on his helmet? Absolutely. But, I have not doubt Amendola and/or Jefferson could step in and play. You gotta think, how many passes will we make against Cleveland? 25 tops? You've got T.O. getting about 6, Witten getting about 8, Crayton getting 4, Felix and MBIII getting 10 between them. Bennett will get a couple. That's more than I'm guessing they will throw.

The question mark this week, IMO, is the OLine. Houck will have these boys ready. Procter will step in and be solid. I would anticipate Cricket, Bennett and Witten even lining up in the backfield to help.

The final thing is to stop panicking. We're fine. Sure we'd like to have another solid 3 since Hurd and Austin are out. But how many catches does a 3 have during a game, much less a season?