Why Jason Garrett, Not Tony Romo, Is to Blame for Cowboys Lackluster Offense

Despite the no-show performance against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football this past weekend, the Dallas Cowboys offense has looked nice on the stat sheet, just not when it's needed most.

For almost every contest besides the routing of the St. Louis Rams game, wide receiver Dez Bryant has been a non-factor in the second half of games, and Jason Garrett is to blame.

Yes, Tony Romo is the quarterback and he is in large part to blame for not getting the ball to No. 88 more often, but Garrett needs to create plays that can get Bryant in the best position to be open.

Bryant and Austin were nonexistent in the Philadelphia game due to the Eagles' dominating the time of possession all night. If Romo was able to connect with one of his two Pro Bowl-caliber receivers on a deep throw then perhaps Dallas gets a spark of life at some point early in the first half.

Overall though, I won't place too much blame on Garrett for Sunday night; it was just one of those games where you knew it was going to be a route after Philly went up 14-0. For the most part, Garrett has been a positive influence on this team, but the play calling can be puzzling to his team's fanbase. Case and point being the New England Patriots game.

With the lead and under five minutes on the clock, Dallas had the chance to end the Patriots' 19 game home winning streak, all they needed was two first downs to seal the almost unthinkable. Garrett essentially took the ball out of the hands of his quarterback and instead ran dives and screens that had proven ineffective all game against a surprisingly game New England defense.

The other issue is that despite the nice stats Dallas has put up, it has sputtered in the end zone to many times this season. The team was unable to score a touchdown against the Washington Redskins earlier this year, and didn't even get inside the Eagles' 20 yard line until the game was in garbage time.

Over time, Garrett could become the head coach America's Team needs, but he has proven that he can have difficulties choosing the right plays for his offense in crucial situations, like the red zone and deep in the fourth quarter.

Though the schedule only gets easier from here on out, there will still be some nail-biting games this year and that's when Garrett needs to make the right moves if this team wants to be playoff bound in 2011.