Cowlishaw: It’s too early for Cowboys to fire Jason Garrett, but his arrogance is inching him closer to the end

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,732
[h=1][/h] [h=2]Sunday’s Jets-Cowboys game turned on a seemingly small decision by Garrett.[/h]
Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett confers with quarterback Dak Prescott (4) before he heads back on the field in the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday, October 13, 2019.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
By Tim Cowlishaw

9:03 PM on Oct 13, 2019
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Long before this looked like a game that would go to the wire, a game that would require the Cowboys to execute a last-minute two-point conversion just to get the score tied (FYI this did not happen), Sunday’s Jets-Cowboys game turned on a seemingly small decision. You can decide whether it was a moment of Jason Garrett incompetence (I’ll pass) or Jason Garrett arrogance (count me in).

Of all the things his critics attach to Garrett — and many of them I dispute — the one that always stands out is his refusal to acknowledge what’s in front of him. And that turns into arrogance, and that happened late in the second quarter of a 24-22 loss to the Jets that turned the Cowboys into a .500 team.

Facing fourth-and-two at the Jets’ 7, just under four minutes left in the half and New York leading 7-3, Garrett passed on the easy field goal. He went for the harder conversion instead, and there were plenty of reasons to see this was the wrong choice at that moment. The Cowboys were playing without their regular starting tackles and their running game was spotty. Ezekiel Elliott had just been thrown for a 1-yard loss on third-and-1 so there was virtually no chance they were going to hand it to him again. The passing attack was limited by the absence of injured wide receivers Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb.

There wasn’t much for Dak Prescott to believe in besides tight end Jason Witten (that would happen later and fail on the two-point conversion), so this time Prescott simply tried to run the ball to his left, the short side of the field. He was smothered by a swarm of Jets for another 1-yard loss that never had a chance.

I asked Garrett about it later.

“Just felt like we had a chance to get it. You want to be aggressive,’’ he said. “We had been moving the ball fairly well, so you want to convert there and possibly score a touchdown.’’

Actually they weren’t moving the ball with any consistency at all as a short pass that Tavon Austin turned into a 23-yard gain accounted for much of the yardage on that failed drive. What Garrett “wanted” and what seemed practical were two different things.

Of course, the Jets’ Sam Darnold connected for a 92-yard touchdown with Robby Anderson on the next play — one of many collapses that allowed Darnold to throw for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns — and now a different game was at hand. A winless Jets team now had the skeptical home crowd fully on its side while the Cowboys’ self-doubts were resurrected.

Dallas hasn’t scored a first-half touchdown in this three-game losing streak. The Cowboys have been granted the opportunity to play for first place next Sunday only because the Eagles are equally hapless at 3-3. The rest of the NFC divisions are led by teams with 5-0, 5-1 and 4-1 records. In the case of the East, misery loves company and the Cowboys will gladly embrace that misery.

As for the slide from 3-0 to 3-3, Garrett had only this to say: “The biggest thing is we have to get back to work. You have to focus on us, on getting better week to week.’’

Again, that’s just arrogance by another name (in addition to the fact he said the exact same thing a week ago, which suggests the approach might not work).

In Garrett’s world, it’s all about us. In other words, me and my team, that is all that matters. And that’s just not the case in the NFL. Rivals as vastly different as the Saints, Packers and Jets are exposing flaws in the Cowboys’ system. In Darnold’s case, getting his receivers 1-on-1 against Cowboys’ corners (and this was true even before Byron Jones left with an injury) was as easy a way to move the ball as it was for Green Bay to hand it to Aaron Jones last week.

It’s way too early to engage in talk of Garrett following Washington’s Jay Gruden out the door, but keep in mind what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered on the “hot seat” front Sunday night: “I’m not even coming close to those future type considerations.”

Is that the same as “don’t bet on it, you’ll lose your money,” or is that inching slightly the other direction? Jones might be the one hedging his bets. He made the remark about losing your money last week because, in part, he never saw his team losing to the previously 0-4 Jets.

I wouldn’t say all bets are off now, but it’s something to watch if this thing edges closer to the cliff. It’s a popular topic but one that disregards the players and their personal failings. I’ve never fully understood the whole “coach didn’t have his team ready” argument in a once-a-week league. The beloved Landry thought motivation belonged to the players’ locker room, not his.

Garrett isn’t Landry and never will be. He’s still 20 years short of matching Landry’s tenure here, and unless he finds a way to turn a 3-3 team into at the very least a 10-6 club, someone else gets his turn on the Cowboys coaching carousel in the next few months.

Not weeks.

I don’t think.
 

deadrise

DCC 4Life
Joined
Dec 27, 2017
Messages
934
I believe Garrett took the keys away from Moore as Moore started getting more and more press. Yesterday was Garrett's statement game: "This is my team, I'm driving this bus."

It was vintage Garrett: predictable in almost every respect. First down? Line up in the run package and run. D expects it stuffs it. Second and 8? Now it's time to throw, maybe. D sees it, sends the blitz.

I'd love to know how often they threw on 1st down.

I could not believe that last series when he used up so much of the clock running the ball. Vintage Garrett.

Who knows if Jerry will fire him? Doesn't really matter, though. Jerry will hire whoever replaces him.
 

bbgun

please don't "dur" me
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
23,237
Why should Red sweat? His boss is proud that we're still in first place! :picard
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,462
3rd down and 11 to go. Oh let’s call a run play.
 

midswat

... soon
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Messages
4,241
This firing talk is ludicre. Garrett has won two playoff games.

Hes more than earned the right to leave under his own terms.
 

Simpleton

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
17,418
Let's not get too caught up in the microanalysis of horrendous, predictable 3rd and short play calls, if you look at the macro you see trends consistently repeating over the years. Slow/sloppy/unfocused starts have been something you've seen throughout Garrett's tenure, you saw it in the 2014 playoff opener, the 2016 playoff opener, repeatedly throughout 2011-13 when the offense would putz around for a half before Romo would go no-huddle and bring them back, and you're seeing it again now.

This team hasn't scored first in a single one of their 6 games. They're also damn near leading the league in penalties as well as penalty yards. They admitted to getting over-confident after winning 3 damn games in a row and they still haven't snapped out of it 3 games later.

Put it all together and it's obvious that Garrett should've been fired yesterday, today, tomorrow, a month from now, 4 years ago, whatever. I really don't give a shit about this season all I really care about is this scourge on the franchise being purged.
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,462
I believe Garrett took the keys away from Moore as Moore started getting more and more press. Yesterday was Garrett's statement game: "This is my team, I'm driving this bus."

It was vintage Garrett: predictable in almost every respect. First down? Line up in the run package and run. D expects it stuffs it. Second and 8? Now it's time to throw, maybe. D sees it, sends the blitz.

I'd love to know how often they threw on 1st down.

I could not believe that last series when he used up so much of the clock running the ball. Vintage Garrett.

Who knows if Jerry will fire him? Doesn't really matter, though. Jerry will hire whoever replaces him.
i heard today about 17 first down runs. Not sure if they were consecutive.
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,462
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,462
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,465
I believe Garrett took the keys away from Moore as Moore started getting more and more press. Yesterday was Garrett's statement game: "This is my team, I'm driving this bus."

It was vintage Garrett: predictable in almost every respect. First down? Line up in the run package and run. D expects it stuffs it. Second and 8? Now it's time to throw, maybe. D sees it, sends the blitz.

I'd love to know how often they threw on 1st down.

I could not believe that last series when he used up so much of the clock running the ball. Vintage Garrett.

Who knows if Jerry will fire him? Doesn't really matter, though. Jerry will hire whoever replaces him.
If true I'm just waiting for Jerry to mandate the offensive authority away from Garrett. He absolutely would do it if that was the case
 

jsmith6919

Honored Member - RIP
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
28,407
If true I'm just waiting for Jerry to mandate the offensive authority away from Garrett. He absolutely would do it if that was the case
Jerry already did that at the start of the year. I'd love the media to keep on Jerry about this subject when it's obvious Garrett has his fingers all over our losing streak
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,465
Jerry already did that at the start of the year. I'd love the media to keep on Jerry about this subject when it's obvious Garrett has his fingers all over our losing streak
Not really, all the talk before the season was that it would be a collaborative effort. I wouldn't be surprised if Garrett let Moore have free reign against the bad teams and took it back more as we approached better opponents.
 

jsmith6919

Honored Member - RIP
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
28,407
Not really, all the talk before the season was that it would be a collaborative effort. I wouldn't be surprised if Garrett let Moore have free reign against the bad teams and took it back more as we approached better opponents.
The talk from Garrett was it would collaborative, Jerry made a point of saying Moore was in charge and he should come to him if he interfered
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,465
The talk from Garrett was it would collaborative, Jerry made a point of saying Moore was in charge and he should come to him if he interfered
Well it's sad when Jerry saw the possibility of Garrett stepping on his toes. Maybe he isn't as senile as we all thought. It's also sad that Jerry thinks so little of the head coach he refuses to get rid of.
 

jsmith6919

Honored Member - RIP
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
28,407
Well it's sad when Jerry saw the possibility of Garrett stepping on his toes. Maybe he isn't as senile as we all thought. It's also sad that Jerry thinks so little of the head coach he refuses to get rid of.
Well Jerry has seen the fit Garrett threw when he wanted to bring in Shanahan as an offensive consultant to help Jason
 
Top Bottom