Dallas Cowboys: Failure in 2011 Could Carry Heavy Price for Jason Garrett, Team

Time is running out for the Dallas Cowboys.

After all of the hype about how they were back, and ready to once again claim their seat atop the NFL after four years under Bill Parcells' tutelage, and having their first real franchise quarterback since Troy Aikman in a young and exciting Tony Romo; what has transpired under the Wade Phillips/Jason Garrett regime since taking over for Parcells in 2007 has been four years of celebrating their greatness in training camp, only to repeatedly fall short of real success when each season would come to a close.  

The 2010 season brought the Phillips/Garrett coaching duet to a screeching halt, becoming the most embarrassing and humiliated group in Cowboys history. Poor coaching on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball resulted in a 1-7 record after the first eight games, and Jerry Jones stepped in to make a change.

Jason Garrett was appointed as interim head coach, and after winning five games and losing three in the last eight games of 2010, Garret was given the job as the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

But, being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2011 carries with it a Herculean responsibility that may be too much for one Jason Garrett to handle.

Immaturity on the sidelines and on the field has become the trademark of these Cowboys. From 2007, and through 2010, the inability to reach a level of consistent play has prevented this group from doing the one thing that all great teams are supposed to do—win the games they are supposed to win.

Instead this group has underachieved year after year, giving way to humiliation after humiliation on a national stage each time they were supposed to take the next step towards returning to greatness.

From the embarrassing opening round defeat in the playoffs to the New York Giants in 2007, to the 44-6 drubbing at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles that ended the Cowboys season in 2008 without a trip to the playoffs, and on to the 2010 season that ended with a 6-10 record, this team's legacy has become one of humiliation. 

After the 1-7 start in 2010, Wade Phillips was fired. But it is the decision to retain Jason Garrett despite his role in the disappointments of the past four years that reeks of the same incompetence that has led to this mess.

It is this cloud that hangs over a franchise already in disarray. And in 2011, the Dallas Cowboys cannot afford to "phone it in." No longer can this group hide behind clichés like "wait till next year," or "we'll get better and be back in it soon."

Four years of struggles for a team that was supposed to be ready to return to the top of the NFL have left their mark in the form of an aging offensive line, and a group of supposed-to-be superstars that are watching as their primes pass them by while the Cowboys have consistently failed.

And it has been Jason Garrett's handling of the Cowboys offense during the past four years that has been as big of a reason for the Cowboys struggles as any, and handing him the reins as the next head coach doesn't inspire much hope that 2011 and beyond will be any different than what has transpired since Garrett took the offense over in 2007.

While many will point at the stats that Garrett's offense has compiled, it has been the inconsistency of that very offense and their inability to put points on the scoreboard when needed that has been a major contributor to the failures of the 2007-2010 Dallas Cowboys.

Far too often it has been the failure of the offense to take control of games that the Cowboys should have won easily that has led to defeat. The inability to put a team away when the Cowboys have had them on the ropes has led opposing teams to no longer fear the Cowboys prowess as one of the great teams in the NFL.  

And now, that once-wide open window of opportunity with this group of players is closing quickly. With the offensive line now averaging 31 years of age, there are questions as to how long this group can continue to be productive at the NFL level.

With Tony Romo about to turn 31 and in his prime, how many years can the Cowboys afford to see pass without becoming the dominant team they had expected to become at the outset of 2007 before it is time to search for the next franchise quarterback?

After the retirement of Troy Aikman before the 2001 season, the Cowboys search for a franchise quarterback resulted in six years of frustrations before Tony Romo emerged as the next star under center for the Cowboys.

And now with Roy Williams, Miles Austin and Dez Bryant making up the most prolific receiving corps in football, how long can this team afford to waste such talent on 6-10 seasons?

While this team was once thought to contain all of the ingredients for the next NFL dynasty, one now wonders if this group will ever win one Super Bowl.

And before you go knocking the Cowboys defense, you should look at what really happened in 2010 that caused the Cowboys to give up a record total of 431 points. It was the turnovers by the Cowboys offense that repeatedly allowed opposing teams to score easy points that led to the 1-7 record after eight games.

Over the course of 2010, right at or just over 100 points scored against the Cowboys can be attributed to turnovers by the Cowboys offense in their own end of the field that either gave up points immediately or shortly thereafter. Such an example would be the one-point loss to the Cardinals on Christmas Day in which John Kitna's two interceptions early in the game were returned by the Cardinals for a pair of touchdowns—the difference in that game.

It has been observed that this group of Cowboys on offense tends to celebrate its victories well short of the final gun sounding, often shutting its engines off after an early score that lights up the highlight reels, and then expects to coast to a victory as the opposing teams simply bow down in its presence.

Well here's a news flash for young Mr. Jason Garrett: Those other teams are continuing to play for a win despite the greatness of your talented offense. So when one of those touchdowns is scored that makes the highlight reels, don't put away your guns just yet.

What happened to this once-powerful offense? How did the expected Super Bowl rings of 2007 and 2008 slip away? This group is supposedly even more talented than the group that started 12-1 in 2007, with the additions of Roy Williams and Dez Bryant bolstering a receiving corps that is second to none in the NFL.

Add in Miles Austin's surprising emergence as a big-play threat in 2009, and the talent on this squad has seemingly made this offensive unit unstoppable. Yet, they repeatedly fall short of scoring after making big gains between the 20s.

How did the Cowboys of 2010 fall so quickly to the cellar of the NFC East with even more talent than they began with in 2007?

Without answers to those questions, and a solution in place to prevent the re- occurrence of the past, America's Team could well plunge into oblivion with a poor showing in 2011.

While Jason Garrett has set about to put together a staff of Rob Ryan and others to ensure that the Cowboys defense will be solid, what assurances do Cowboys fans have that the stagnant offense of the past four years that led to so many struggles won't re-appear in 2011 and beyond?

America's Team is in danger of losing the trust of the fanbase that made them "America's Team." Gone are the heroes that led the Cowboys to victories and a record-setting 20 consecutive winning seasons.

No longer do these Cowboys inspire us to believe that they will overcome adversity to reach the top.

Since taking over the offense in 2007, Jason Garrett's leadership has led this group to resemble more of a pro-wrestling circus than an NFL offense—with plenty of flash and showmanship, but very little actual production.

This is not the "Cowboy Way," Mr. Jason Garrett. Given the repeated failure of your offense to play 60-minute football, one has to wonder if you even know what it is.

But if the Cowboys offense of 2011 resembles the same Cowboys offense that Jason Garrett ran from 2007-2010, America may find another team to cheer on.

This is serious business, and the time for excuses is at an end. A failure to show the same characteristics and qualities that the Dallas Cowboys franchise have embodied for the past 50 years that led to their success could well mean the end of an empire in Dallas, as fans begin to change the channel to look for a team that actually came to play the game.

Celebrations of your greatness should be saved for after the Super Bowl, and Cowboys fans want to see this group get down to the business of playing the game the way it is meant to be played.

No more excuses, Jason; either get this team in line, or get out of Dallas. Your excuses are wearing thin, and 2011 will be the proving grounds.  

And that's the bottom line.