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Moore: Fear drives Dallas Cowboys’ strategy and performance more than confidence
By DAVID MOORE
Staff Writer
dmoore@dallasnews.com
Published: 16 December 2013 10:20 PM
Updated: 16 December 2013 10:20 PM
IRVING — In the wake of a game that took more effort to lose than to stand strong and win, the Cowboys continue to accept blame, explain philosophy and make assurances that all will be behind them once they take the field for Sunday’s game.
Head coach Jason Garrett again said Tony Romo should not have thrown the ball that was the first of the quarterback’s two interceptions in the final three minutes of the loss to Green Bay. He should have stuck with the run play that was called.
“I should have done a better job, the staff should have done a better job, Tony should have done a better job,” Garrett said.
There you have it. A mea culpa from Garrett to go with the ones given by Romo and receiver Cole Beasley — the target on Romo’s final interception — after the 37-36 loss. And while Garrett acknowledges that the Cowboys should have run more in the second half to protect an evaporating 23-point lead, he doesn’t sound like a coach ready to go all in on the run these final two games.
“I think they had five drives in the second half, all were touchdown drives,” Garrett said Monday afternoon. “So as a football team to say, ‘We are just going to kind of sit here and run it and maybe have some bad runs and punt it,’ I don’t think that was the right strategy. We felt like it was important for us to stay aggressive.”
Garrett quickly followed that comment by saying a team can be aggressive when it runs the football. His actions say otherwise.
Garrett can talk all he wants about being aggressive. The Cowboys are not. “Passive aggressive” is a more accurate label. The Cowboys take what the defense gives them and want to exploit that by spreading the ball around.
That’s fine when it works. But too often, you get the sense the offensive triumvirate of Garrett, Romo and offensive coordinator Bill Callahan call plays dictated by what they’re not. The need compensate for what they can’t do overrides what they do best.
You can’t run DeMarco Murray on first down because if he doesn’t pick up enough yards, the team will be forced to pass the next two downs. You can’t run him on second down because you need to stay out of third-and-medium and third-and-long because this team is so bad on third down.
You can’t run him on third-and-short because the defense will be expecting it, and then you will have to punt the ball and put your pitiful defense on the field.
Fear drives the Cowboys’ strategy and performance these days more than confidence. It’s as if they expect the worst. Now, how does this mesh with Garrett’s overriding offensive philosophy?
“If you’re the best third-down team in the league, you convert maybe 50 percent of your third downs. So figure out the math on that,” Garrett said. “You’d better make some first downs on first down. You’d better make some first downs on second down, and you’d better make those third downs manageable.”
When a team needs 10 yards for a first down, its chances are better through the air than on the ground. That explains why the Cowboys don’t run more. It explains why Packers nose tackle Ryan Pickett and cornerback Tramon Williams spoke of the Cowboys’ reputation for not sticking with the run.
Murray has rushed for 518 yards in his past five games with an average of 6.2 yards a carry. He has broken off runs of 11, 21, 30, 35 and 41 yards, yet he did not have more than 18 carries in any of those games.
The Cowboys have been unable to run effectively and consistently for so long, it’s almost as if Garrett and Callahan refuse to believe their eyes.
“You have to keep trying to give him opportunities if they’re worthwhile,” Garrett said. “But again, we’re trying to move the football and score points. That’s our objective.”
The objective is to win. The Cowboys failed to do so Sunday because Murray ran only seven times in the second half for a team that took a 23-point lead into the third quarter. He ran only twice after the Cowboys held a 29-10 lead.
If the Cowboys do jump to a lead on Washington on Sunday afternoon, will it be any different?
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Great points, ones that have been around for a while but rarely are put so succinctly.
Fear. It's a powerful one word way to describe who and what the Dallas Cowboys are.
Fear. Better keep this player (Ratliff, Austin) with a contract more than he's produced because he's halfway decent and since we suck at drafting we might not get another one.
Fear. Better pay this heartbreaking quarterback because we all know how hard it was to find one the last time dagnabbit.
Fear. Better keep this head coach who is in over his head because it is just scary to start over.
And that isn't even counting the fear that bleeds all the way down to this team when they actually play football games. Our QB has been playing out of fear all season because he knows what he is and it manifested itself again Sunday. The pffensive coach is calling plays out of fear that that stacked box might make a negative play. The defensive coach is calling plays out of fear they give up the big play, but they are so unsound they give up just as many large chunks of plays than explosive longer ones.
That reminds me, the only ones who fear anything are mostly those at the upper end of the chain with the least to lose.
Nobody below that fears losing their job. Nobody fears getting cut. They see the products and beneficiaries of fear being rewarded all the time and the fear factor wins all around.
By DAVID MOORE
Staff Writer
dmoore@dallasnews.com
Published: 16 December 2013 10:20 PM
Updated: 16 December 2013 10:20 PM
IRVING — In the wake of a game that took more effort to lose than to stand strong and win, the Cowboys continue to accept blame, explain philosophy and make assurances that all will be behind them once they take the field for Sunday’s game.
Head coach Jason Garrett again said Tony Romo should not have thrown the ball that was the first of the quarterback’s two interceptions in the final three minutes of the loss to Green Bay. He should have stuck with the run play that was called.
“I should have done a better job, the staff should have done a better job, Tony should have done a better job,” Garrett said.
There you have it. A mea culpa from Garrett to go with the ones given by Romo and receiver Cole Beasley — the target on Romo’s final interception — after the 37-36 loss. And while Garrett acknowledges that the Cowboys should have run more in the second half to protect an evaporating 23-point lead, he doesn’t sound like a coach ready to go all in on the run these final two games.
“I think they had five drives in the second half, all were touchdown drives,” Garrett said Monday afternoon. “So as a football team to say, ‘We are just going to kind of sit here and run it and maybe have some bad runs and punt it,’ I don’t think that was the right strategy. We felt like it was important for us to stay aggressive.”
Garrett quickly followed that comment by saying a team can be aggressive when it runs the football. His actions say otherwise.
Garrett can talk all he wants about being aggressive. The Cowboys are not. “Passive aggressive” is a more accurate label. The Cowboys take what the defense gives them and want to exploit that by spreading the ball around.
That’s fine when it works. But too often, you get the sense the offensive triumvirate of Garrett, Romo and offensive coordinator Bill Callahan call plays dictated by what they’re not. The need compensate for what they can’t do overrides what they do best.
You can’t run DeMarco Murray on first down because if he doesn’t pick up enough yards, the team will be forced to pass the next two downs. You can’t run him on second down because you need to stay out of third-and-medium and third-and-long because this team is so bad on third down.
You can’t run him on third-and-short because the defense will be expecting it, and then you will have to punt the ball and put your pitiful defense on the field.
Fear drives the Cowboys’ strategy and performance these days more than confidence. It’s as if they expect the worst. Now, how does this mesh with Garrett’s overriding offensive philosophy?
“If you’re the best third-down team in the league, you convert maybe 50 percent of your third downs. So figure out the math on that,” Garrett said. “You’d better make some first downs on first down. You’d better make some first downs on second down, and you’d better make those third downs manageable.”
When a team needs 10 yards for a first down, its chances are better through the air than on the ground. That explains why the Cowboys don’t run more. It explains why Packers nose tackle Ryan Pickett and cornerback Tramon Williams spoke of the Cowboys’ reputation for not sticking with the run.
Murray has rushed for 518 yards in his past five games with an average of 6.2 yards a carry. He has broken off runs of 11, 21, 30, 35 and 41 yards, yet he did not have more than 18 carries in any of those games.
The Cowboys have been unable to run effectively and consistently for so long, it’s almost as if Garrett and Callahan refuse to believe their eyes.
“You have to keep trying to give him opportunities if they’re worthwhile,” Garrett said. “But again, we’re trying to move the football and score points. That’s our objective.”
The objective is to win. The Cowboys failed to do so Sunday because Murray ran only seven times in the second half for a team that took a 23-point lead into the third quarter. He ran only twice after the Cowboys held a 29-10 lead.
If the Cowboys do jump to a lead on Washington on Sunday afternoon, will it be any different?
----------------
Great points, ones that have been around for a while but rarely are put so succinctly.
Fear. It's a powerful one word way to describe who and what the Dallas Cowboys are.
Fear. Better keep this player (Ratliff, Austin) with a contract more than he's produced because he's halfway decent and since we suck at drafting we might not get another one.
Fear. Better pay this heartbreaking quarterback because we all know how hard it was to find one the last time dagnabbit.
Fear. Better keep this head coach who is in over his head because it is just scary to start over.
And that isn't even counting the fear that bleeds all the way down to this team when they actually play football games. Our QB has been playing out of fear all season because he knows what he is and it manifested itself again Sunday. The pffensive coach is calling plays out of fear that that stacked box might make a negative play. The defensive coach is calling plays out of fear they give up the big play, but they are so unsound they give up just as many large chunks of plays than explosive longer ones.
That reminds me, the only ones who fear anything are mostly those at the upper end of the chain with the least to lose.
Nobody below that fears losing their job. Nobody fears getting cut. They see the products and beneficiaries of fear being rewarded all the time and the fear factor wins all around.