JJT: Cowboys ride Jason Garrett's winning formula into NFC's elite class

Cotton

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Cowboys ride Jason Garrett's winning formula into NFC's elite class
8:51 PM CT
Jean-Jacques Taylor
ESPN Staff Writer

FRISCO, Texas -- It took coach Jason Garrett four seasons to change the Dallas Cowboys' identity and provide his players with a formula for winning football games.

In 2014, DeMarco Murray rushed for 1,845 yards on 393 carries -- both single-season franchise records -- Tony Romo averaged a career-low 29 passes per game and the Cowboys went 12-4 to win the NFC East.

These Cowboys are using the exact same formula, with a different quarterback and running back. The results, however, remain the same.

Ezekiel Elliott leads the NFL with 703 yards rushing, and quarterback Dak Prescott is averaging 30 passes per game for the 5-1 Cowboys, who are tied for the best record in the NFC. Subtract the 45 passes that Prescott threw in the opener against the New York Giants and he's averaging 27 throws per game.

For Dallas, this is all about being the most powerful team on the field.

"I feel like the most physical team wins the game, you know?" Elliott said recently. "When you can set that physical tone early in the game and carry it throughout the game, you find [opponents] not wanting to play in the fourth quarter."

The Cowboys play this style because Garrett saw the Cowboys win championships with it in the 1990s when he was the third-string quarterback. And it protects the Cowboys' defense, which is always going to be inferior to the offense because of how the Cowboys have chosen to build their team.

This season, they're spending $79.7 million of their salary cap on offensive players and $45.2 million on defensive players. Owner Jerry Jones loves offensive stars, which means he is always going to lean toward paying the big bucks to offensive players.

To win, the Cowboys must play complementary football that protects their defense.

Their winning formula involves grabbing an early lead, which puts pressure on the opposing offense. The Cowboys run the ball, controlling the line of scrimmage and limiting the number of possessions.

Once the Cowboys have the lead in the second half, their opponents tend to become one-dimensional: Because foes have been unable to stop Dallas, they must throw the ball.

Even average NFL pass-rushers can mount a quality pass rush when they don't have to worry about stopping the run.

The Cowboys lead the NFL in time of possession at 33 minutes, 9 seconds per game, which means their defense is only on the field for 26:51 per game. Fatigue is rarely an issue.

The Cowboys' run defense gives up 4.48 yards per carry, which is in the bottom third of the league, but teams can't exploit it because they're always playing from behind. Teams have rushed only 127 times against the Cowboys, the lowest total in the league.

Out of the possible 180 regulation minutes in their past three games, the Cowboys have led for 140 minutes, 49 seconds. They haven't trailed since taking a 21-17 lead over San Francisco with 5:49 left in the third quarter of Week 4.

The Cowboys have outscored their opponents 37-10 in the first quarter and 98-46 in the first half. They also have scored on their first possession in five of six games -- and on nearly 50 percent of their drives overall this season.

"You want to set the tone for the game," Garrett told reporters after beating the Packers at Green Bay on Oct. 16. "If your offense can drive the football and go get points, score a touchdown, it certainly gives you some momentum early on. And I think it helps the defense. They say, 'Now it's our turn. We have to start fast.'"

It's all part of the formula.
 

Jiggyfly

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So it looks like JJT has put the knee pads back on.
This is especially galling.

It took coach Jason Garrett four seasons to change the Dallas Cowboys' identity and provide his players with a formula for winning football games.
As if that has been the plan all along.:picard
 

Genghis Khan

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Exactly. This wasn't remotely the formula until Linehan showed up. Even then we didn't seem like we went into week 1 with this plan.
 

mcnuttz

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Actually the formula was finally realizing that the lines are important.

Once the DL gets a little more attention it could be dynasty time again.
 

Genghis Khan

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Actually the formula was finally realizing that the lines are important.

Once the DL gets a little more attention it could be dynasty time again.
Not to light a fire on this tired conversation, but a) Garrett wanted a TE over Frederick, and b) 4/5 of this line was in place in 2013 and we still weren't following the current formula despite the fact that Murray was extremely effective.

The entire staff is doing great this year and I'm glad they figured things out, but I find it difficult to swallow that this was the plan all along considering we weren't acting accordingly.
 

UncleMilti

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Yeah, I'm not sucking up this bullshit thru a straw...Garrett has done a decent job this year, but acting like some plan has suddenly come together is laughable at best.

What he has is a QB, RB, and OL playing lights out and an average defense that's not been asked to carry the majority of the responsibility to win games. Linehan has done more IMO to have this team where it is by understanding and using Dak above and beyond what we normally see out of a rookie.

Maybe its lightning in a bottle and it carries this team to a championship.

I just worry that god forbid, they are playing on the road and the offense sputters....I'm not sure the D can hold up to help get a win.
 

jeebs

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If by winning formula and long term plan, jjt means that we have been putting resources into our offensive line for the last few years (after years of neglect) and this is paying dividends by lowering the load on the rest of the team: then I don't know how you can argue against that. That is exactly what is happening.

Now, if he is saying it is deeper than that, it would have sure been nice for an example
 

townsend

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You gotta wonder how many more playoff opportunities we would have had with Marinelli as our coordinator instead of Rob Ryan. God knows how many late season meltdowns we could have avoided if our defenses could hold water.
 

Simpleton

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I'll give Garrett some credit for Smith and Martin on the OL since he seemed to be pretty big proponents of them, but he obviously wanted Eifert (without trading down mind you) in 2013 and that would've been an unmitigated disaster.

But yea, generally speaking this nonsense about it being Garrett's plan is ridiculous. If our OL was average or even above average I still think we'd be slinging it around 35 times a game, especially if Romo was healthy.

The fact that we have what could potentially become the great OL of all time makes it obvious what kind of philosophy this team needs to have, even for Garrett.
 

ravidubey

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Yeah, I'm not sucking up this bullshit thru a straw...Garrett has done a decent job this year, but acting like some plan has suddenly come together is laughable at best.
It's like the media forgot 2014 ever happened. It's the same fricking formula.
 

Chocolate Lab

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If anything the "winning formula" has been removing Garrett from the process as much as possible.

The more he sticks to patting butts and whiffing high-fives while leaving the coaching to Linehan and Marinelli, the better we do.
 

Smitty

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Setting aside the fact that it was Garrett who chose Linehan, it is incredibly myopic to think he had nothing to do with the push for drafting linemen high since Jerry was the one who went 20 years without doing it.

Also I am not sure it is more than speculation and anecdotal that Garrett did not want Frederick but I could be wrong there.

Nevertheless whether he went to bat for any of these guys individually or not is beside the point. He definitely influenced a shift in thinking and scouting in the front office towards taking these guys. Or you could just believe it was just coincidence, whatevs.
 

Rev

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Setting aside the fact that it was Garrett who chose Linehan, it is incredibly myopic to think he had nothing to do with the push for drafting linemen high since Jerry was the one who went 20 years without doing it.

Also I am not sure it is more than speculation and anecdotal that Garrett did not want Frederick but I could be wrong there.

Nevertheless whether he went to bat for any of these guys individually or not is beside the point. He definitely influenced a shift in thinking and scouting in the front office towards taking these guys. Or you could just believe it was just coincidence, whatevs.
The 2013 draft was the one where Garrett had to be talked out of Eifert wasn't it?

I don't know where his interest went from there but I don't think you can say his focus was on the line. Maybe he had a voice but I think he just walked into the OLine situation we have now and not some kind of plan of his.
 

Cotton

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The 2013 draft was the one where Garrett had to be talked out of Eifert wasn't it?
I think that was the draft where he was visibly pissed on the war room cam when they didn't decide on Eifert.
 

skidadl

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I don't know how much Garrett had to do with it but the bottom line is that the system put in place for personnel worked. It may be luck but it worked out. I don't know who gets credit but someone should.
 

Smitty

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The 2013 draft was the one where Garrett had to be talked out of Eifert wasn't it?

I don't know where his interest went from there but I don't think you can say his focus was on the line. Maybe he had a voice but I think he just walked into the OLine situation we have now and not some kind of plan of his.
The Eifert story is anecdotal and I'm not sure how true it is; and even if it's true it does not prove he wasn't still focused on OL heavily otherwise. I think he was certainly behind the Tyron Smith selection and I would guess Martin over Manziel too.

I think it's absurd to say with three first rounders in four years that he wasn't part of that concerted effort. He would talk all the time about how we needed a ball control OL and then magically it appears as soon as he took over as head coach. He certainly didn't walk into it because he was in charge before the first OL was taken (Smith was his first draft pick).
 

jsmith6919

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The Eifert story is anecdotal and I'm not sure how true it is; and even if it's true it does not prove he wasn't still focused on OL heavily otherwise. I think he was certainly behind the Tyron Smith selection and I would guess Martin over Manziel too.

I think it's absurd to say with three first rounders in four years that he wasn't part of that concerted effort. He would talk all the time about how we needed a ball control OL and then magically it appears as soon as he took over as head coach. He certainly didn't walk into it because he was in charge before the first OL was taken (Smith was his first draft pick).
Broaddus and co. let it slip on Talking Cowboys that the reason Garrett was visibly pissed is he wanted Eifert
 
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