Jerry Jones And The Dallas Cowboys Shouldn't Buy Into Jason Garrett Yet

There are those that are already begging Jerry Jones to remove the "interim" title from Jason Garrett's job description, officially making him the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

But, that could be a terrible mistake.

The Cowboys may have won three of their last five games, but that is in large part because the offense is finally playing to its potential—they haven't made the turnovers that killed them in the first half of the season.

Nineteen turnovers through the first eight games, often coming at critical moments that meant the difference in several games that the Cowboys lost by seven points or less. 

In the two games that the Cowboys lost since Jason Garrett took over, the offense has committed multiple turnovers.

These games were lost by three points or less. Against the Saints it was three, including an interception that helped the Saints to an early 17-0 lead, and it was two against the Eagles.

In the games that the Cowboys have won since Garrett's takeover they committed one turnover or less (zero).

And the offense is still struggling.

Against Detroit, it took a punt return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery at the Lions 19 for the Cowboys to overcome their own offensive failures.

Starting the second half, Garrett called four consecutive pass plays in two drives.

The first was a three and out, and the fourth pass resulted in a safety from holding it in our own end zone. The defense held this time, and Brian McCann returned a punt for a touchdown.

On the Lions ensuing drive, Sean Lee forced a fumble that Jay Ratliff recovered at the Lions own 19 and the Cowboys got 14 points that changed the momentum of that game.

If Garrett is the answer, and the reason that the Cowboys have won three games, why did the offense take so long to show up this season?

Certainly, if the offense had played this well the first half of the season, the Cowboys would have won more than one game.

But, under Garrett, the defense has gotten worse.

Most fans want to blame the players for this, but the stats for this season don't support that theory.

Under Wade Phillips, this defense was allowing only an average of 338 yards per game, as opposed to what they're allowing now—414 yards per game. And that 338 yards per game is skewed by the three games after Romo went down, when everyone agrees that the team quit.

Without those three games, the defense under Phillips had allowed only 281 yards per game, but the Cowboys were still 1-4.

So, the biggest change in this team is that the offense is finally producing, and in the wins they are not committing the turnovers that killed the Cowboys in the first half of the year.

Since Garrett has taken over, the Cowboys defense has not been the same. They now are giving up an average of 414 yards per game and over 26 points per game. That includes the 90 yard game winning drive that gave the New Orleans Saints a 30-27 victory over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving—a loss that effectively ended any hope of a playoff berth this season.

Last Sunday night, the Eagles torched the Cowboys with big plays to DeSean Jackson—four plays for 236 yards.

Three of those four passes that set up scores and the Cowboys lost to the Eagles again by a three point margin, 30-27. Had Garrett simply taken measures to stop the Eagles big play threat, the Cowboys would most assuredly have won that game.

Versus the Colts, the defense allowed Peyton Manning to force overtime, despite the Cowboys leading that game by a score of 17-0 and then again by a score of 27-14 to start the 4th quarter.

Manning and the Colts scored 21 points in the 4th quarter, and the Cowboys needed a touchdown and a two point conversion to force the game into overtime—where David Beuhler gave the Cowboys a victory with a field goal, 38-35.

Yes, the defense came up with two interceptions returned for a touchdowns, but they also allowed 28 points. A pick-six is great, but how many games can you expect to see them?

The Cowboys may be winning now , but it is the offense that is carrying this team.

This offense is no longer "pass happy", as evidenced by Garrett's determination to run the ball against the Saints even when the Cowboys were down by a score of 17-0.

The Cowboys now average 141 yards per game running the ball, as opposed to 75.6 yards per game in the first eight games.

But the defense is clearly not as good as it was under Wade Phillips.

So, if Garrett is letting the defense get worse, and it is the very offense which he was responsible for that is just now playing to their potential, where has he shown that he can lead this team?

Without a stellar defense, the Cowboys will continue to struggle.

With the Cowboys winning three of their last five games, one has to wonder how many wins we would have had if the offense had played this well when Wade was still the head coach.

Would it have made a difference?

As highly touted as Jason Garrett is, this team cannot win if our offense continues to turn the ball over to the opposing side in big games.

The offense cannot just "check out" when the pressure is on, and return when things get easier. This, above all, is Jason Garrett's responsibility.

So, taking all the information into account, and knowing that our defense is getting worse and it is the same offense that let us down in the first half of this season that is carrying us now, it has to be said that Jason Garrett has done nothing to prove that he should be the head coach of this team.

That's not a very good resume for a candidate that wants to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

And that's the bottom line.