Jason Garrett: Too Smart For Himself Sometimes

This article is not meant to throw Jason Garrett under the bus and solely blame him for Sunday night’s loss to the New York Giants. Believe me; Sunday’s loss was primarily on Tony Romo.

He flat-out stunk.

Those three interceptions were all costly and inexcusable because his protection was good and he had time to make the proper read. Romo just made horrible passes. 

This article is also not meant to let the secondary off the hook. Almost all of the defensive backs had at least one bad play. Terence Newman was burnt and Orlando Scandrick was caught out of position several times.

I completely agree that the quarterback and secondary wasted a great performance by the offensive line, special teams, and running backs. Dallas doesn’t have to be great in all areas but they certainly cannot be horrible in any one area.

Last night they were horrible in passing and defending the pass and therefore lost a game they should have won to a bitter rival.

I spent most of my Monday talking with friends about how disgusted I was with the performance of Romo and the secondary, and quite frankly there isn’t much more I can say about how poorly they played. I won’t write about that because it would be too easy and unoriginal.

This is why I am choosing to write about Jason’s Garrett’s tendencies to get too cute. Sometimes he just does things that are silly.

He does things that remind me of the coach from "The Waterboy." You know? The man that said: “He doesn’t fake. He thinks about faking. He pretends to fake.”

I sometimes think that Garrett makes ridiculous statements like that in his head.

Here are four series that prove that Red Ball can lose his common sense and outsmart himself. Again, this isn’t why the Cowboys lost. These play calls didn’t help by any means but I invite you to read and ponder “why?” with me.

Also look for these cute gimmicks in the weeks to come.

The First Series of the Game

Cowboys have the ball with a 3rd-and-2. Marion Barber has two touches for eight yards. Offenses should be pleased with any 3rd-and-2 situation. Most defenses would be satisfied holding a RB to two yards, but on 3rd-and-2, a two yard run is good enough to move the chains.

This is why this situation is in the offense’s advantage. Defenses still have to think run or pass, and even if they think run and have enough guys to stop it, the ball carrier may still simply fall forward for a first down.

This conventional football knowledge sometimes escapes Garrett’s mind. When he has 3rd-and-2 in the first quarter and Barber has picked up eight yards on the first two plays, Garrett does the “logical” thing and empties the backfield.

What a break for the linebackers. They simply stay in coverage knowing it’s a throw and wouldn’t you know it, Romo looks left, looks right, looks middle…no one open. Series over.

Cowboys' Third Series of the First Quarter

They lead 7-3 thanks to a healthy dose of the MB3 Playa. The running game looks smooth so Garrett wisely decides to shelf it for a series and come out throwing on first down.

He then decides to throw a quick screen to Jason Witten on second down and of course Roy Williams nearly runs into him. Not like the play would have worked anyways. I love Witten but shaking a defender in the flat is not in his skill set.

All of a sudden it’s 3rd-and-10 and there goes the lead as Romo makes a terrible pass for a pick six. Again, just ask yourself: why doesn’t a running back get a carry somewhere in this series? 

The Cowboys' First of Two Two-minute Drill Possessions

This one occurred with the score 14-13, and with 1:47 left in the half, ball at the Dallas 10-yard line, and most importantly three timeouts. I don’t understand the need to throw on first down here. 

At this point of the game the Cowboys had been averaging over five yards a carry. Garrett inexplicably risks a sack, safety, or fumble by having Romo drop back to pass on first down, and naturally Flozell Adams commits a tripping foul putting Dallas at the five.

They risk another pass on the replayed down but thankfully Romo connects to Roy for a nice gain and a first down out of bounds to stop the clock. Cowboys are out of the hole and still have all their timeouts. They can still afford to run the ball. In fact, it would not hurt to chew up a little clock to ensure them the final possession of the half.

Do they run it?

Nope, they keep throwing and sure enough you have another turnover. Giants ball inside the Cowboy 30. Newman gets burned and the lead is blown.

The Killer Drive

Cowboys ball near midfield. Dallas clearly has the running game firing on all cylinders. Romo has been off but the Cowboys lead 24-20 anyways. They try a play-action kill shot, which generally is not a bad idea because the running game is working and midfield is the area where you try this.

However, the running game was working too well to even think about abandoning it. Plus, Romo clearly is off so no need to give him an option to just chuck it up. He of course does this and delivers a ridiculous interception.

I want to finish this piece by pointing out something even peculiar about this play: the personnel. Here are the Cowboys' route runners on the play: Sam Hurd, Patrick Crayton, Jason Witten, Marion Barber, and Deon Anderson! I like all of these players but are any of these guys the ones you think of when Dallas dials up a bomb?

Where is Miles Austin? Where is Felix Jones? Most importantly, where is Roy, your No. 1 receiver? This seemed like a strange personnel grouping to connect on a 50-yard pass. Again I ask…why?