George: Garrett Rattles Off Long List Of Reason Of How Defense Struggled

Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett rattles off long list of reasons of how the defense struggled in preseason opener
By Brandon George / Reporter bgeorge@dallasnews.com
3:07 pm on August 9, 2014 | Permalink

OXNARD, Calif. — Obviously, Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett still isn’t very happy with how the defense played in the preseason opener Thursday night at San Diego.

In a rare moment for Garrett, he went on and on about how badly the defense performed against the Chargers after he and his staff evaluated the film from the game.

So, what were the biggest issues with the Cowboys’ defense Thursday?

“Uh, lets start from top to bottom: The discipline wasn’t very good, the gap control wasn’t very good, it wasn’t very physical, we didn’t tackle very well, we didn’t run to the ball well enough, we didn’t make enough plays,” Garrett said. “We made one play on the ball that was significant, but we didn’t make any plays that made a difference in the game.

“I thought we did a good job in the red zone a couple of times, forcing a turnover on the 1-yard line and forcing them to kick a field goal when they were inside the 5. there were some things that you can say, ‘That was alright,’ but for the most part across the board it wasn’t what we needed to be.”

Earlier in his Saturday afternoon news conference, Garrett said, “We have a long way to go in a lot of areas.”
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Just laying the foundation of accountability.

Well played, Red Pube.

Frankly, I think this a good thing for him to say. Enough with the "It's a process" bullshit. Enough sugar coating everything. Everyone can see the defense has been a train wreck. No sense in trying to deny it.

NoDak said:

Frankly, I think this a good thing for him to say. Enough with the "It's a process" bullshit. Enough sugar coating everything. Everyone can see the defense has been a train wreck. No sense in trying to deny it.

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Well he kind of can't. If he did do his normal routine, he could lose the team.

This is about as close as the android gets to questioning players. Usually his commentary is generic and deflects blame. Not apologizing like Fat Wade, but simply not saying anything at all publicly.

I am very intrigued how they respond to that. If they don't, that tells me that they pretty much don't pay attention to him.

boozeman said:

Well he kind of can't. If he did do his normal routine, he could lose the team.

This is about as close as the android gets to questioning players. Usually his commentary is generic and deflects blame. Not apologizing like Fat Wade, but simply not saying anything at all publicly.

I am very intrigued how they respond to that. If they don't, that tells me that they pretty much don't pay attention to him.

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What difference does it make what his commentary is to the media? He doesn't owe them anything.

Carl said:

What difference does it make what his commentary is to the media? He doesn't owe them anything.

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Smart coaches use the media to send out messages. And if you are a smart coach, in charge of the most media saturated team in the NFL, you would be stupid not to use it.

boozeman said:

Smart coaches use the media to send out messages. And if you are a smart coach, in charge of the most media saturated team in the NFL, you would be stupid not to use it.

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Ok, so let's all wait and see how they "respond" in the second pre-season game.

boozeman said:

Smart coaches use the media to send out messages. And if you are a smart coach, in charge of the most media saturated team in the NFL, you would be stupid not to use it.

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Correct. Parcells was one of the all time greats at it.

If you sweep everything under the rug, guys will stay comfortable. You call them out and embarrass them when they deserve to be embarrassed and some of them will be driven by their pride not to be embarrassed again.

In this era of millionaire athletes that don't respond to hard-core disciplinarians like they did in the past, there are two things coaches can do: take their playing time or affect their public image.

On the other side of it, Garrett didn't call out any players. Is he just trying to throw a third defensive staff (counting Wade's) under the bus preemptively, hoping his upcoming failure can be blamed on Marinelli/Kiffin the way it was blamed on Fat Rob, so he can keep his job.

Carl said:

Ok, so let's all wait and see how they "respond" in the second pre-season game.

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I think that is smart. I am not going to say it is calculated. Main reason being that it is so outside of Garrett's normal programming, that it seems misplaced.

That's why I wonder if the message carries any weight.

Clay_Allison said:

In this era of millionaire athletes that don't respond to hard-core disciplinarians like they did in the past, there are two things coaches can do: take their playing time or affect their public image.

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Today's NFL athlete is not like those of that past you could threaten with their jobs. Back in the day, if someone pissed you off, you threatened to trade them to Buffalo. If that did not work, they were cut and had little chance to get a much better salary.

The salary cap has made that very tough to do with star players. They have more leverage because there are penalties to getting rid of someone. About the only leverage that a coach has is to try to tap into pride and even that is sometimes a losing cause.

boozeman said:

Today's NFL athlete is not like those of that past you could threaten with their jobs. Back in the day, if someone pissed you off, you threatened to trade them to Buffalo. If that did not work, they were cut and had little chance to get a much better salary.

The salary cap has made that very tough to do with star players. They have more leverage because there are penalties to getting rid of someone. About the only leverage that a coach has is to try to tap into pride and even that is sometimes a losing cause.

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If you have an owner other than Jerry you can hit them with fines for a lot of behavior typical of dickhead players.

NoDak said:

Frankly, I think this a good thing for him to say. Enough with the "It's a process" bullshit. Enough sugar coating everything. Everyone can see the defense has been a train wreck. No sense in trying to deny it.

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I completely agree.

It was nice to see him being open and frank for a change.

1bigfan13 said:

I completely agree.

It was nice to see him being open and frank for a change.

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Let's see how the team responds.

If they see this as out of character, they will blow it off.

boozeman said:

Let's see how the team responds.

If they see this as out of character, they will blow it off.

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Of course it's out of character for Garrett.

Usually we get a bunch of random comments about the process and needing to go back and look at the film.

Personally I doubt his comments will ignite a fire under the team. I don't question their effort. I question their talent. They're just not good enough, IMO.

boozeman said:

Smart coaches use the media to send out messages. And if you are a smart coach, in charge of the most media saturated team in the NFL, you would be stupid not to use it.

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Yep. It would be pretty naive to think players don't notice what the head coach says publicly. They absolutely do.

Genghis Khan said:

Yep. It would be pretty naive to think players don't notice what the head coach says publicly. They absolutely do.

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Because it's something they are held accountable for. They hear about it on the radio or see it on the web and they know all of their friends and their family know what the coach said about them. Humans aren't complicated. If you want to shame them you have to hit them where they live and if they aren't accountable to their teammates yet, they will be accountable to the people who see the coach talking about them in the media.

That would be props for Garrett if it wasn't too little too late. He's a frustrated coward who never dared pump anything but sunshine until his back was against the wall and he was desperate for more defensive players and coaches to throw under the bus to save his pathetic ass.