Dallas Cowboys: Don't Expect Them To Start Winning With Jason Garrett Coaching

For those of us who desperately wanted a change after the Packers destroyed the Cowboys, they got it when Wade Phillips was finally sent on his way out of Dallas. When Jason Garrett came up to the podium and said that he was the coach of the Dallas Cowboys and things were going to change, some may have gotten the feeling the Cowboys would start playing like they should've been all season. 

I'm here to tell you that you shouldn't believe the hype and drink the Kool-Aid. 

Jason Garrett was under fire when the season started for his starting offense doing absolutely nothing during the preseason. Nothing changed when the regular season started as the Cowboys racked up the yards in their first five games, but couldn't score.

Instead they made mistakes at crucial times, abandoned the run and tipped passes and missed blocking assignments turned into interceptions, which lead to just one win. 

When Tony Romo went down with a broken collarbone the offense went from the hot girl with no brain, to the ugly girl no one pays attention to. 

So what makes anyone think that Garrett will elicit a huge change? This is the guy who constantly abandons the run and forces his defense to play series after series because the offense goes three and out so much. 

Even defensive players think Garrett was in over his head before he was given the interim job, now as head coach he has free reign to do what he wants, and with a road game against the Giants coming up, things aren't looking up, but instead further down.

Jon Kitna is a nice backup, he can lead a drive or two, maybe even play a full game and win. However, to ask him to play eight weeks and make a significant contribution is crazy. The run game has been downright awful (30th in the NFL at 75.6 ypg) when Garrett has actually stuck with it, mostly because an offensive line who all of a sudden forgot how to block (the Cowboys were seventh in rushing last season at 131.3ypg). 

The defense could improve now that Paul Pasqualoni will actually yell at the defense instead of looking at them with disappointment like Phillips, but this is a defense that can't stop the run and was housed by Eli Manning and the receiving core known as Jet Blue (Steve Smith, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks). 

Even after the Giants game, the Cowboys' schedule takes a turn for the worst. They play the Lions next week (possibly their last winnable game), then a Thanksgiving game against the Saints followed by a trip to Indianapolis, then a December that includes three division games in four weeks. 

Garrett may yell, he may scream, he may even bench players, and all that will be a nice and welcome change for the fans, but don't expect the players to respond. Instead, they'll probably just shut down and ride out the worst season in Cowboys history like the rest of us are.