Dallas Cowboys Offer Reality in Arizona

Was it not former head coach Bill Parcells that made famous the phrase “you are what you are?"

With only one game remaining in the 2010 regular season, the Dallas Cowboys are 5-10. It seems kind of ironic that in the years following those three seasons with Dave Campo as head coach, the Cowboys should likely find themselves earning their fourth 5-11 mark in a decade.

The Christmas Day matchup between Dallas and the Arizona Cardinals had the feel and mystery of a preseason game. A rookie named John Skelton would be starting for the Cardinals and Dallas had already grown used to backup quarterback Jon Kitna in his starting role. But after Kitna went down with an injury of his own, Dallas third stringer Stephen McGee got his first NFL action ever.

Here’s a fun fact: Over the first 59:50 of this game, the Dallas defense, while under the recent scrutiny it has been of late, only gave up 10 points. That’s it.

The Cowboys doubled the Cardinals rushing attack by rolling up 183 yards on 34 attempts. Dallas won big in time of possession.

Yet, the Cowboys fall, 27-26.

Frankly, we have seen these kinds of losses before. The kind that just leaves you confused at the end. The type that leaves you thinking, “Did that really happen?” We saw it again Saturday night.

Not mentioned yet is the fact that the Cowboys had their second play from scrimmage result in a touchdown for their hosts. The following possession saw the exact same result and before the first quarter was half way finished, it was 14-0, red birds.

If ever there was a recipe for getting blown out on the road, giving up multiple touchdowns to the opposing defense can always play a huge role. It’s been stated many times before that the Cowboys find creative ways to lose games, and they really do.

If you have followed this team for at least four seasons, you can already think of close to a half dozen losses that were just massive. You can think of too many that are just embarrassing.

Since 2008, winning games hasn’t come quite as easily as it seemed to under first year offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The Cowboys still played some pretty sloppy football at times, but in going 13-3 in 2007, I think that this team just had enough “element of surprise” factor, concerning Garrett’s play calling, to escape with that record. That team was the narrowest of victories in Buffalo and Detroit from being 11-5.

This game included the standard penalties the Cowboys are now just known for. Miles Austin still has troubles catching the football following a huge contract extension and a trip to the Playboy Mansion within the last calendar year.

The reality is that the Dallas Cowboys might not even be the best team in their home state. While the Week 3 win against the Texans does offer an argument for, with both teams currently 5-10 you just have to wonder.

Garrett simply doesn’t get some things that I think have finally sunk his ship, at least in Dallas. Jerry Jones has to see that the massive momentum changers allowed by his young, aspiring candidate to become an NFL head coach are just a killer.

He moves away from the run too quickly on too many occasions and just doesn’t consistently show the knack for staying ahead of the opposing defense. In fact, it often seems that the defense has Garrett’s number.

I could get started on Garrett’s silly decision to pass on going for two following Marion Barber’s inspired 24-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. A two-point conversion would have tied the game at 21 apiece but Garrett felt that trailing by one was better than trailing by two. And why?!

In a way this game was a shame because the Cowboys did fight hard in offsetting the first quarter gravy they gave up. Dallas ran the ball very well and Stephen McGee showed that he can play the position of professional quarterback.     

But the Cowboys, as we have seen so many times before, just couldn’t get out of their own way. There was another poor snap from center Andre Gurode on the final offensive possession. There was a nice touchdown run by Marion Barber, up until he took his helmet off and also chipped in with a personal foul.    

And of course we could not forget David Buehler’s missed extra-point that pretty much summed up the entire season. Talk about expecting something to be easy that is actually quite challenging. Extra-points? Still?

Jones sounds like he sees the problem here. Garrett just doesn’t have the experience or the knack for offensive play calling that other professional offensive coordinators do. He obviously doesn’t have the wisdom of a seasoned head coach in the NFL and I believe that someday he will.

But as he stated following the one point loss to Arizona, there simply isn’t time to have a bad time for the Dallas Cowboys. The question, in fact, is when Garrett will be ready to assume the permanent role as head coach in the NFL.

Not right now. That’s the reality.