Dallas Cowboys: Jason Garrett's Offense, Tony Romo's Struggles, Same Old Story

How could Jerry Jones have been so naive?

Sunday night in New York, the Cowboys showed the traits that have been prevalent under Jason Garrett: Get an early lead, make bad decisions on offense, poor coordination leading to senseless penalties and turnovers that help the opponent eventually come back and win.

And Cowboys fans immediately call for Tony Romo's head. Yet, no one seems to mention the sloppiness that led to senseless delay of game penalties. Or the refusal to commit to a run game that will wear down the defense so the offense can move the ball on the ground, when needed; that continually plagues the Cowboys.

With a chance to put the game out of reach on a first and goal from the three, Garrett still chose to call three consecutive passing plays—with the last one resulting in a fumble by Tony Romo that gave the Jets new life. And also prevented the Cowboys from at least getting a field goal that would have pretty much put the game out of reach for the Jets.

How could Jerry have handed the Dallas Cowboys over to a former backup quarterback whose offensive coordination was so inept that the Cowboys' offense was the biggest reason that the Cowboys lost seven of their first eight games in 2010?

That's right. It was the offense that failed last season, not the defense. It was only after Wade Phillips got fired and Jason Garrett got his dream job that the Cowboys actually put together a solid offensive game plan that included a balanced attack. Why couldn't Garrett have done that before?

For all of the excuses about the offensive line, as soon as he was given the job as interim head coach, Jason Garrett produced a balanced attack with a solid run game that helped the Cowboys win a few games. Yet, that was no where to be found in the first eight games of 2010, except against the Texans in the clash of rivals from within the state of Texas. The Cowboys won that game, remember?

Instead, Wade Phillips took the blame, but by the fifth game with Garrett as interim head coach, the undisciplined offense and the stupid mistakes so common with the offense under Garrett had returned. By Christmas, the offense had returned to the mistake prone sloppy mess that had been prevalent under Garrett since he became the offensive coordinator in 2007. Another embarrassment on national television ensued when the Cowboys' offense spotted the Cardinals two touchdowns on interception returns as the Cardinals defeated the Cowboys with a third string quarterback.

From 2007 through the 2010 season, the Cowboys' offense had repeatedly showed the same tendencies—flashes of brilliance at times and downright sloppiness at other times, but never consistent enough to play up to their potential in big games. Time after time the Cowboys took center stage in a game that was nationally televised only to embarrass Jerry Jones and the Cowboys' fans with another debacle.

Fans who support Garrett often point to the stats racked up by his offense, but those stats tell only a part of the story. Those stats don't show the games in which Garrett's offense was a no-show, leaving the defense of the Cowboys to defend against opposing teams on a short field time and time again, after a Tony Romo interception.

Garrett's failure to commit to a fight for the line of scrimmage resulted in the run game of the Cowboys being non-existent, despite having the explosiveness of Felix Jones and the consistency of Tashard Choice to rely on. With an attack based primarily on passing plays, Garrett not only ignored his obligation to fight for the line of scrimmage, he willingly gave it up.

When the Cowboys would find themselves in third and one situations or fourth and one, there was no dominance by the offensive line to be found because Garrett had failed to lay the ground work required to allow the offensive line to take control of the line of scrimmage.

Sunday night in New York against the Jets, this history once again showed the fate that the Cowboys, under Jason Garrett, will likely repeatedly suffer.

Disorganization by the supposedly well oiled offense that Garrett manages, led to repeated penalties for delay of game, and it is somewhat fitting that once again the Cowboys' last drive was pretty much thwarted when the ball was snapped to Romo without him knowing it was coming. That type of offensive miscue has been a trademark of Garrett's offense.

Once again, someone else took the blame, but the poor coordination of the offense seemingly has been overlooked as fans began to call for Tony Romo's head after his pass to Dez Bryant was intercepted by Darrell Revis, setting up the game winning field goal by the Jets. No one seemed to want to point out that Tony Romo is a product of the coaching that has led him for the last four seasons under Jason Garrett.  

Add in another turnover by Romo on an interception by Darrell Revis and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by the Jets, and another nationally televised game ended up in an embarrassment for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys' fans.

Same coach, different year. Same result. It looks like Jerry would learn from the past, but apparently he is blinded by his affections for a backup quarterback that probably wouldn't have even made Jimmy Johnson's roster, if his dad had not worked for the Cowboys' scouting department.

As long as Jason Garrett carries the mentality of a backup quarterback into his game-planning, and as long as he ignores his responsibility to establish dominance at the line of scrimmage. And as long as Jason Garrett is allowed to push his brand of football on the Dallas Cowboys, these kinds of debacles will likely continue to haunt the Cowboys and their fans.

If Jason Garrett was really like Jimmy Johnson, as so many fans have stated, he would understand that a flashy passing attack is nice, but that you can't win the game unless you control the line of scrimmage.

If Jason Garrett really was like Jimmy Johnson, he would have fired himself last season for the way he ran the offense.

This Cowboys' team still has the potential to be great. Even with the new blood on the offensive line, this group of Cowboys can still win it all. One thing is certain, however: If the Cowboys want to be better than they were for the last four years, they have to improve on offense—and that begins with the coaching.

That's the bottom line.