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By Gregg Easterbrook | ESPN.com
Multiple choice question on the entrance examination for Princeton University:
When holding a big lead in the second half, a football team should:
1. Keep the clock moving.
2. Run the ball.
3. Employ clock-management tactics.
4. Pass, pass, pass, pass!
Apparently Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, a Princeton grad, chose Answer 4. How else to explain the Boys' epic collapse versus the Green Bay Packers? From the point at which Dallas took a 26-3 lead, the home team executed 23 passing plays and seven rushing plays. The pass plays resulted in eight incompletions, including two interceptions. The turnovers provided the visitors the ball and incompletions stopped the clock, allowing Green Bay time for a comeback that resulted in a lead with 1:31 remaining. Had Dallas simply run up the middle for no gain rather than throwing incompletions, the Cowboys would have prevailed.
The Boys' lack of football IQ was, if anything, even worse than the final fiasco suggests. Taking possession with 4:17 remaining and a five-point lead, Dallas threw incomplete, stopping the clock, then a moment later threw the interception that positioned Green Bay for its go-ahead score. On the day, the Cowboys rushed for 134 yards on 18 carries, a sparkling 7.4-yard per rush average. Adjusting for sacks, the Cowboys had 51 passing plays, for a 6.5-yard average gain per passing down. Though Dallas was getting better yardage on the ground than in the air -- Green Bay has one of the league's lowest-ranked run defenses -- in a clock-killer situation, the Cowboys kept throwing.
"We probably could have run the ball more," Garrett declared after the game. No kidding! The Boys have 21 coaches, and this apparently did not occur to any of them at the time.
Game in and game out, the Dallas Cowboys, led by a Princeton graduate and representing the state that is the center of American football culture, display low football IQ.
Two seasons ago, Dallas led Detroit 27-3 in the second half at home. From that point until the Lions capped their last-second comeback victory, the Boys ran 12 passing plays and 11 rushing plays, resulting in three interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns, and five incompletions that stopped the clock. In that contest, too, had Dallas simply run up the middle for no gain in the second half, the Cowboys would have prevailed.
There's something beyond low football IQ in the latest Cowboys meltdown. Postgame, Garrett noted that in the second half, Green Bay kept one of its safeties near the line of scrimmage, anticipating rush -- why on Earth would the Packers expect that? -- which made passing plays attractive. It's true that only one safety "high" is a look any quarterback would like. But the Cowboys didn't need to make passing plays, they needed to keep the clock ticking!
Garrett is a former college quarterback. Dallas owner Jerry Jones gave Romo the league's largest salary. Jones has invested heavily in receivers, but not in backs. It's as if the Dallas braintrust thinks that only big numbers in the passing game count in modern football.
In their October home loss to the Broncos, the Cowboys took possession with the game tied, 2:39 remaining, holding all their timeouts. High-IQ football would be to work the ball slowly down the field, exhaust the clock and kick the winning field goal with seconds showing. Instead Dallas went sack, interception, watch Broncos win. This may be a pass-wacky era -- the top of the passing stats page is dominated by winning teams while woeful Washington and Buffalo are third and fourth in rushing . But because throwing the ball is the epitome of the modern game isn't a reason to throw away a win -- which the hapless Cowboys just did.
Of course being in the NFC East, they remain very much alive. If the NFL East title comes down to the low-IQ Cowboys at the anything-can-happen Eagles on Dec. 29, one of the wackiest games ever may be in store.
Multiple choice question on the entrance examination for Princeton University:
When holding a big lead in the second half, a football team should:
1. Keep the clock moving.
2. Run the ball.
3. Employ clock-management tactics.
4. Pass, pass, pass, pass!
Apparently Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, a Princeton grad, chose Answer 4. How else to explain the Boys' epic collapse versus the Green Bay Packers? From the point at which Dallas took a 26-3 lead, the home team executed 23 passing plays and seven rushing plays. The pass plays resulted in eight incompletions, including two interceptions. The turnovers provided the visitors the ball and incompletions stopped the clock, allowing Green Bay time for a comeback that resulted in a lead with 1:31 remaining. Had Dallas simply run up the middle for no gain rather than throwing incompletions, the Cowboys would have prevailed.
The Boys' lack of football IQ was, if anything, even worse than the final fiasco suggests. Taking possession with 4:17 remaining and a five-point lead, Dallas threw incomplete, stopping the clock, then a moment later threw the interception that positioned Green Bay for its go-ahead score. On the day, the Cowboys rushed for 134 yards on 18 carries, a sparkling 7.4-yard per rush average. Adjusting for sacks, the Cowboys had 51 passing plays, for a 6.5-yard average gain per passing down. Though Dallas was getting better yardage on the ground than in the air -- Green Bay has one of the league's lowest-ranked run defenses -- in a clock-killer situation, the Cowboys kept throwing.
"We probably could have run the ball more," Garrett declared after the game. No kidding! The Boys have 21 coaches, and this apparently did not occur to any of them at the time.
Game in and game out, the Dallas Cowboys, led by a Princeton graduate and representing the state that is the center of American football culture, display low football IQ.
Two seasons ago, Dallas led Detroit 27-3 in the second half at home. From that point until the Lions capped their last-second comeback victory, the Boys ran 12 passing plays and 11 rushing plays, resulting in three interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns, and five incompletions that stopped the clock. In that contest, too, had Dallas simply run up the middle for no gain in the second half, the Cowboys would have prevailed.
There's something beyond low football IQ in the latest Cowboys meltdown. Postgame, Garrett noted that in the second half, Green Bay kept one of its safeties near the line of scrimmage, anticipating rush -- why on Earth would the Packers expect that? -- which made passing plays attractive. It's true that only one safety "high" is a look any quarterback would like. But the Cowboys didn't need to make passing plays, they needed to keep the clock ticking!
Garrett is a former college quarterback. Dallas owner Jerry Jones gave Romo the league's largest salary. Jones has invested heavily in receivers, but not in backs. It's as if the Dallas braintrust thinks that only big numbers in the passing game count in modern football.
In their October home loss to the Broncos, the Cowboys took possession with the game tied, 2:39 remaining, holding all their timeouts. High-IQ football would be to work the ball slowly down the field, exhaust the clock and kick the winning field goal with seconds showing. Instead Dallas went sack, interception, watch Broncos win. This may be a pass-wacky era -- the top of the passing stats page is dominated by winning teams while woeful Washington and Buffalo are third and fourth in rushing . But because throwing the ball is the epitome of the modern game isn't a reason to throw away a win -- which the hapless Cowboys just did.
Of course being in the NFC East, they remain very much alive. If the NFL East title comes down to the low-IQ Cowboys at the anything-can-happen Eagles on Dec. 29, one of the wackiest games ever may be in store.
