Dallas Cowboys: Why Jason Garrett Should Be Fired Instead of Promoted
I don't want to make any bones about this and I want to be understood clearly:
I firmly believe that Jason Garrett should be fired for his role in the Cowboys 1-7 start. Wade Phillips' defense wasn't nearly as bad as the media made it out to be;
And it was Garrett's abandonment of the run game and unprofessional approach to play calling that is the reason that the Cowboys were struggling during the first half of 2010.
As a matter of fact, Jerry Jones should call Wade Phillips and apologize. Phillips was fired, but it was the offense under Jason Garrett that was costing the Cowboys the season.
Over the course of 2010, almost 100 points credited against the Cowboys defense was the direct result of interceptions thrown by Garrett's pass happy offense in the Cowboys own end of the field.
Under Phillips, the Cowboys defense started just as we expected the Cowboys to start and they were ranked No.1 in the NFL after the first five games of 2010. But the Cowboys were 1-4 and it was about to get even worse.
Garrett's offense through those first five games was ranked at No. 22 in scoring and No.14 overall. The Cowboys were ranked 27th in rushing the ball.
This is the mark of the offense under Jason Garrett. The passing game racks up big statistics, but with no ground work for a running game the drives would stall as the Cowboys neared the end zone, and opposing defenses could use the back of the end zone as an additional defender for each receiver.
The Cowboys offense had turned the ball over nine times, and those nine times had come at critical moments in each of the Cowboys' first four losses, usually in the Cowboys' own end of the field and usually leading to points that helped the Cowboys' opponents win those games that the Cowboys were losing by seven points or less.
While analysts and media screamed for a balanced attack that would allow the Cowboys' big offensive line to take over the line of scrimmage and let the running back trio of Felix Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice thrive;
The running game for the Cowboys would not show up until Wade Phillips lost his job and Garrett was named his successor.
Was it a scheme to take over as head coach, or was Garrett just inept? I think it was a lot of both.
September 12, 2010: The Nightmare Begins in Washington
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The Cowboys' opening night disaster in Washington should have been the last game that Garrett ever coached.
With the running game working early, Garrett mysteriously abandons it to call back-to-back screen passes to Dez Bryant and the Cowboys' opening drive ends with a punt.
The Cowboys offense was impotent all night long, making gains between the twenties, but always falling short of paydirt.
Down by a score of 3-0 as the first half is coming to a close, Garrett calls for a pass play from the Cowboys own 37 yard line with four seconds left in the half.
Coaches from Pee Wee football all the way to the NFL know that you kneel down on the ball in that situation, but Garrett calls the pass play.
What ensued was another embarrassment for the Cowboys and their fans, as Romo passed the ball out to Tashard Choice, who had no chance of scoring. Choice was almost immediately ganged up on by Redskins who were after only one thing—the football.
DeAngelo Hall, the man who cried to reporters that Terrell Owens spit in his face in order to deflect questions as to how T.O. had torched him for two touchdowns in a game two years before, ends up with the football and does a "splash" in the end zone, extending the Redskins half-time lead to 10-0.
The Cowboys lose that game 13-6 when a touchdown is nullified by a holding call on Alex Barron on the last play of the game, but it was the last play of the first half that humiliated the Cowboys.
September 19, 2010: Cowboys Pass Happy Offense Helps Bears To Victory
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Romo threw 51 passes for 374 yards, but the Cowboys could only score one touchdown and three field goals. Had it not been for Dez Bryant's 62 yard punt return for a touchdown, the scoring would have been more one-sided by the Bears.
The Cowboys gained only 36 yards on the ground on 20 attempts, and the Cowboys blocking schemes failed to account for the Bears linebackers. The result resembled more like seeing the Cowboys backs running into a rock pile as Garrett was more intent on a passing attack against the Bears.
This allowed the Bears' physical secondary to lay back in coverage and deliver vicious hits to the Cowboys receivers.
By failing to establish a run game, Garrett allowed the Bears' secondary to play the pass almost exclusively and this allowed them to terrorize the Cowboys receivers.
Romo's two interceptions, one in the Cowboys' own end of the field, helped set up six points for the Bears who won the game by a 27-20 score.
Garrett's offense during the first eight games had one common theme, and that was to put up big yards with the passing game between the twenty yard lines, but without a running game the drives would eventually stall.
September 26, 2010: Cowboys Showdown With Texans Proves Running Game Exists
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Losing to the Texans,especially at 0-2 already, would have likely driven Jerry Jones off the edge early, and he would likely have fired the entire coaching staff.
While Garrett apologists claimed that the Cowboys offensive line couldn't produce the push needed to run the ball, they didn't seem to have any trouble running against a Texans defense that was ranked second in the NFL against the run.
The Cowboys presented a balanced attack consisting of 30 passes and 27 runs against the Texans.
The result?
The Cowboys win their first game of the season, 27-13.
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October 10, 2010: Cowboys Pass Happy Offense With Game Tied Helps Titans Win
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The score was tied 20-20 when Tony Romo threw his second interception of the game. The first had led to a field goal by the Titans, but this one was the one that hurt much worse.
At the Cowboys' own 16, Romo drops to pass and throws an interception at the 18 yard line that is returned to the Cowboys' one yard line.
Chris Johnson scores on the Titans next play and they go up by a touchdown.
Even though the Cowboys eventually match that score, a celebration penalty gives the Titans a short return on a kickoff, and they return it to the Cowboys eleven yard line—and a penalty moves them to the Dallas five.
The Titans score the winning touchdown and the Cowboys had provided them with the winning margin.
Tony Romo threw the ball 46 times, while the Cowboys ran only 23 times. Romo threw three interceptions on the day and the Cowboys lost a shootout.
When the Cowboys wanted to run the ball they were successful, with Felix Jones leading the rushing with 15 rushes for 109 yards.
But, a shootout isn't a shootout if you keep the ball out of the other teams hands by using the run game.
Once again, Garrett abandoned the run game and his pass happy offense helped the Cowboys opponents win.
October 17: Cowboys Versus Vikings, Another Interception Helps Vikings Win
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Both the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings came into this game at 1-3.
Both had expected to return to the playoffs in 2010, but the loser of this game would fall to 1-4.
This time, the Cowboys ran a more balanced offense, but once again the Cowboys pass happy ways would bite them.
In the first quarter Tony Romo throws an interception at his own 26, which the Vikings return to the Cowboys 16 yard line.
The Vikings scored a touchdown two plays later and the Cowboys offense had handed them seven points.
Then, with the score tied late in the game, Tony Romo throws an interception that the Vikings convert into the field goal that helps them win the game, 24-21.
The Cowboys lost the game by three points, but the offense had given them 10 points.
In the Cowboys' first four losses, the offense had provided the opposing team with enough points to defeat them.
Garrett's response to accusations of abandoning the run? That they were always behind and he had to play catch up.
Games that were lost by seven points or less.
October 25, 2010: Cowboys Versus Giants, Romo Goes Down For Season
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The Cowboys defense was ranked No.1 in the NFL coming into this game and early in the game they were playing like champions.
Twice in the first quarter, they intercepted Eli Manning in the Giants territory, but the Cowboys lack of commitment to the run game continued to show up in the red zone. Garrett's desire to pass the ball outweighed his desire to let the Cowboys big offensive line take over the line of scrimmage.
The Cowboys defense then recovered a fumble at the Giants 41 and once again gave the Cowboys offense the ball inside the Giant's territory.
The Cowboys defense had given the Cowboys offense the ball three times in the Giants territory and all the Cowboys could muster was 13 points off of those turnovers.
Romo went down in this game and would be out for the remainder of the season.
The Giants won this game 41-35, and the wheels began to come off of the Cowboys wagon.
October 31, 2010: Cowboys Versus Jacksonville: Cowboys Pass, Pass, Pass
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When most offensive coordinators have a backup quarterback that is struggling to get used to the games, they lean on the run game to allow him to catch up to speed.
Not Jason Garrett.
The Cowboys passed the ball 49 times versus the Jaguars and Kitna threw four interceptions. Two of those interceptions were in deep in the Cowboys own territory, setting up 14 points for the Jaguars. A third ended a drive by the Cowboys at the Jacksonville 23 yard line.
In comparison, the Cowboys ran the ball only 22 times.
Kitna did throw for 379 yards, which helped the offense look good statistically, but the interceptions and the refusal to commit to a running game were consistently putting the Cowboys in a hole.
The Cowboys lost this game big, by a score of 35-17, but the Cowboys offense had provided the Jaguars with 14 points off of interceptions, ended a drive that should have been a touchdown with another interception, and got stopped on a 4th and goal by the Jacksonville defense when Marion Barber and John Kitna ran into each other to end another drive.
It totaled to be a 28 point swing in a game the Cowboys lost by 18.
Yet some still blame the defense for that loss.
November 7, 2010: The Green Bay Massacre, When Garrett Should Have Been Fired.
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Most saw the debacle in Green Bay and blamed the Cowboys defense.
What they didn't see was Garrett's play selection that allowed the Green Bay defense to shut down the Cowboys offense with ease, and led to the blowout win.
The Cowboys defense held the Packers scoreless in the first quarter, and even blocked a field goal, but Garrett's offense kept passing the ball and taking almost no time off the clock, going three-and-out and then forcing the Cowboys defense back on the field.
Towards the end of the first quarter, Kitna threw his first interception of the night at the Green Bay 37, that Green Bay turned into their first score of the game early in the second quarter.
Kitna would later throw an interception that would be returned for a touchdown.
A fumble on a kickoff helped the Packers to another seven points and the Cowboys had helped the Packers to 21 points in a 45-7 debacle that made the most die hard Cowboys fans sick to watch. If the offense of the Cowboys had even tried to put up some semblance of a game plan, this game would have been different.
Instead, Garrett's approach seemed to be one of getting his guys off the field as quickly as possible each time the Cowboys offense got the ball.
It was the most disgusting display by an offensive coordinator ever in the NFL, and maybe in any league.
After the first three plays of the game for the Cowboys were rushes that netted nine yards, Garrett completely abandoned the run game altogether.
Midway through the third quarter, the Cowboys had run the ball a total of six times for five yards. The rest of the time Garrett called pass after pass, and it was the first interception thrown by Kitna that led to Green Bay's first points in the second quarter.
Garrett continued to pass, pass, pass and the Cowboys defense was left to play the Green Bay Packers by themselves.
When the Cowboys came out for the second half, the Cowboys defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half and gave the offense a chance to get back in the game.
Garrett's response: Three-and-out, three passes and took only 1:35 off the clock, forcing the defense back on the field again.
The Cowboys offense ran the ball only seven times in the first three quarters and then ran it seven times more in the fourth quarter, when the game was already decided.
It was clear that Garrett was not trying to run a productive offense that night and the next day he got his dream job when Wade Phillips was fired for losing games, when it was actually Garrett's pathetic offensive coordination that had cost the Cowboys the 2010 season.
November 14, 2010: Cowboys Versus Giants, Garrett Suddenly Committs To Run Game
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With Wade Phillips now gone and with Jason Garrett being named as Interim head coach, suddenly the Cowboys produce a balanced, powerful run game.
There were no offensive mistakes for the Cowboys and they ran the ball with power through a New York Giants team that was leading the NFC East.
The Cowboys defense once again came up big, providing turnovers to assist the offense, but now that Garrett was head coach the offense suddenly began to run like the offense Cowboys fans had hoped to see all year long.
Brian McCann returned an interception the length of the field and the Cowboys soundly defeated the New York Giants, 33-20.
There are those that credit Garrett's decision to have the team practice in pads with the Cowboys sudden success in the run game, but that is a load of bull crap, plainly put.
The Cowboys have had ample success with the run game each time they tried to use it, and a couple of practices in pads before the New York Giants game wasn't going to make any difference.
Dallas Cowboys, 2010: Games 10-16
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After Garrett took over, he suddenly implemented a power run game that he stuck with, even when the Cowboys found themselves down by as much as 17-0. The result was that the Cowboys offense was finally playing to their potential and the Cowboys were winning games.
It was the offense that suddenly improved when Jason Garrett was named head coach, but without Wade Phillips to control the defense, the Cowboys still weren't whole.
Had Garrett run the offense during the first eight games with the intensity and commitment to the run game he showed only after he was named head coach, the Dallas Cowboys would likely be preparing for a bye week and getting ready to make their run for a Super Bowl title.
But, Garrett still showed his immaturity and inability to remain committed to the run.
After a few successes, the Cowboys red zone woes began to reappear. Even when Garrett did call a run in the red zone, it was so predictable that everyone in the stadium knew it was coming.
Against the Washington Redskins late in the season, the Cowboys defense once again repeatedly created turnovers that allowed the offense to start deep in Redskins territory. Once again, the Cowboys red zone offense struggled, and they were forced to settle for field goals on a couple of opportunities, and even missed completely on a 4th and goal from the one yard line when Garrett called a straight ahead smash into the Redskins line that everyone in the stadium knew was coming.
The pass happy offense began to reappear, but when Kitna went down in Arizona, Garrett was forced to stick with the run due to Steven McGee's inexperience.
But not until Kitna had given the Cardinals two interceptions—both returned for touchdowns.
In a game the Cowboys lost by one point on Christmas day, Garrett's pass happy ways had once again given their opponents points—14 on this day.
And once again, somehow the media blamed the Dallas defense.
What Does the Future Hold For the Cowboys Under Garrett?
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The Cowboys had a physical run game at the end of 2009 and used it successfully until they went to Minnesota. There, Garrett once again showed the inexperience that will continue to haunt the Cowboys as long as he is head coach. He failed to use the offensive line to take over the line of scrimmage, and allowed Minnesota's pass rush to harass Romo all day long.
The result was a 34-3 debacle, resembling the previous year's 44-6 debacle in Philly that ended the Cowboys' season with the playoffs on the line.
This is the history that has haunted the Cowboys since Jason Garrett became the offensive coordinator in 2007. When opposing defenses play physical defense, and punch the Cowboys in the mouth, Garrett tends to panic and the ball starts flying all over the field.
He hasn't shown the maturity or the heart to commit to a fight over the line of scrimmage. When pressured, he gives it up willingly and goes to the air.
With plenty of weapons in the passing game, the Cowboys can put up impressive numbers, but without control of the line of scrimmage, the red zone woes will continue.
In 2007, after securing home field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Cowboys lost in the first round to the New York Giants. Down by four points, the Cowboys couldn't muster the strength to put the ball in the end zone. They abandoned the run game mid-way through the third quarter and Romo's passes repeatedly fell short of completion in the end zone.
The Dallas Cowboys lost the entire 2010 season because of the pass happy ways of Jason Garrett, and the immaturity that continues to appear and reappear in big games.
For all of the criticizing of the Cowboys defense in 2010, the offense under Garrett provided opposing teams with almost 100 points through interceptions that put opposing teams in scoring position.
Add to that the number of drives that the Cowboys failed to score on inside their opponent's 30 yard line, and you will see that it was the offense--not the defense, that destroyed the Dallas Cowboys 2010 season. If you take away the points that the Cowboys offense helped opposing teams to score, the Cowboys defense gave up only around 330 points, instead of the record 436 points credited against them.
If Jerry Jones promotes Jason Garrett to Head coach as expected, don't expect the leopard to change his spots.
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