Mosley: Garrett's too smart to make staff changes

boozeman

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Garrett's too smart to make staff changes



MATT MOSLEY |

Published: Thursday, November 14, 2013, 2:35pm

One of the first lessons of self-preservation in NFL head-coaching circles is to surround yourself with viable scapegoats. This is especially true when working for Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones.

It's one of the reasons Jason Garrett is too smart to start making major changes during the Cowboys' bye week. On paper, having the worst-ranked defense in the NFL after 10 games could serve as the basis for change. Baltimore fired its offensive coordinator about this time last season…and ended up winning a Super Bowl.

Garrett could also be completely justified in reclaiming the playcalling duties from Bill Callahan. Despite having proven weapons such as Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, the offense has sputtered in recent weeks. The Saints basically erased Bryant from Sunday's game by assigning two players to defenders to him. The Cowboys never responded to that strategy and ended up with 193 yards. Garrett presents himself as a humorless man, but surely he gets a chuckle out of folks clamoring for him to take control of the offense.

Say what you want, but the offense put up solid numbers when Garrett was calling the plays from '07 through 2012. He struggled with game management at times, but I never thought that making him a walk-around head coach was the answer. Garrett's identity in this league is all about offense. Did we really think giving up playcalling would allow him to have a huge impact on defense and special teams? Former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson had encouraged Garrett to give up playcalling, in part because that was his approach in the NFL. But Johnson had a completely different demeanor and overall personality than Garrett. What worked for Johnson wouldn't necessarily work for the more reserved, intellectual Garrett.

I think Garrett desperately wants to call the plays again, but he'll wait until next season to supplant Callahan. If he made the move right now and it didn't work, Garrett's making himself a bigger target for Jerry. Callahan and Kiffin would both be more likely to be fired than Garrett if the Cowboys don't win this dreadful division. Jerry has fired plenty of coaches over the past two decades, but that doesn't mean he enjoys doing it. And what he hates more than anything is firing a head coach who has another year left in his contract. There's also the fact that he truly wants things to work out for Garrett because of his longtime ties to the organization. If Garrett fails, it will make Jones look even worse for not going after Sean Payton when he had the chance.

Garrett is well aware the presence of a failing defensive coordinator and playcaller offers him a form of protection. If the Cowboys don't make the playoffs, Jones will be compelled to throw some folks overboard. That's why Garrett's in no hurry to make massive changes. He can tweak some things behind the scenes and perhaps have a larger role in the playcalling, but you don't want to eliminate your scapegoats.

What Garrett knows (and maybe Jerry has now discovered) is that Callahan wasn't the right man to call plays. For starters, there's a reason offensive line coaches rarely perform that task. They may have a great understanding of protection schemes, but they need to be available to help their players make in-game adjustments. There's also the problem of Callahan having a West Coast offense background. He's known as a highly intellectual coach, but it's hard to ask anyone to call plays in a completely different offense than he's run in the past.

If it were up to Garrett, he'd still be calling plays. Stripping him of those duties was simply change for the sake of change. It was never going to lead to some breakthrough. But now Garrett needs to keep things status quo on both sides of the ball in regards to his coaching staff.

Otherwise, he might get himself canned.
 

E_D_Guapo

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The Saints basically erased Bryant from Sunday's game by assigning two players to defenders to him. The Cowboys never responded to that strategy and ended up with 193 yards.
Absolutely inexcusable to not make adjustments there.

Say what you want, but the offense put up solid numbers when Garrett was calling the plays from '07 through 2012. He struggled with game management at times
His offense also struggled to consistently run the ball, to put up points early in games, and to score TDs in the red zone.
 

jaf1224

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He's just not smart enough to out coach anyone else in the NFL.
 

L.T. Fan

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This article has a grassy knoll flavor.
 

junk

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Wait, when has Garrett's offense ever "put up solid numbers"? 2007 when Sparano was here? Agreed, since then he's been consistently middle of the pack when it comes to scoring.

I've seen what his offense can do. Pass.

Worst case scenario next year is that Garrett stays, they can Callahan, Garrett takes back play calling duties and they promote Wes Phillips to OL coach.........I think I just predicted the offseason.
 

boozeman

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Dallas Cowboys point to third-down failures as reason for offensive struggles




By Rainer Sabin
rsabin@dallasnews.com
4:06 pm on November 13, 2013 |


IRVING — With the bye week underway, the Cowboys are taking stock of their season. The defense, ranked last in the NFL, has issues. But so does the offense.

“We just need to do a better job in all phases,” coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday.

And in some situations, too. In their first 10 games, the Cowboys have struggled to convert third-down opportunities, succeeding 32.8 percent of the time. Only two teams — Arizona and Jacksonville — have fared worse.

“In the last few days, we’ve done a lot of research on third down,” offensive coordinator Bill Callahan said. “We’ve broken it down into every category imaginable. We’ve looked at protections. We’ve looked at formations. We’ve looked at any kind of tendency we’ve created. We’ve looked at every route we’re using, utilizing. So, without going any further into that, we’ve looked at every aspect.

“And we’ve got to do a better job as coaches, players, we all have to do a better job and come up with a better plan to put guys in positions. That’s really the crux of it.”

The Cowboys failed to move the chains on any of their nine third-down chances Sunday in a 32-point loss to New Orleans. They rank 19th in average total yardage, a byproduct of their struggles to extend drives.

“Typically, what you find out is you’ve got to tweak some of the stuff and migrate to some of the stuff that’s been good to us and get rid of some of the other stuff,” Garrett said. “We’ve got to throw it better, catch it better and block it better. What you find out is we all have to do our jobs better. That’s certainly what we’ve been trying to do this week.”
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:lol

If they say this kind of shit to the players, I guarantee they tune them out.
 

jsmith6919

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:lol

If they say this kind of shit to the players, I guarantee they tune them out.
having drivel like this spewed at you would explain the team looking like they couldn't care less if they lose(besides Dez & they're working on coaching that out of him asap)
 
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