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Ellis - Division Race Set, But Garrett Won't Look Up
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com
Garrett is 4-1 against the NFC East as the Cowboys' head coach.
IRVING, Texas - The word of the day was "myopic." As an adjective, it describes a lack of foresight, or narrow-mindedness.
During his Monday press conference, Jason Garrett was presented an example in the form of a question. Do you ever evaluate big picture, just to know what your own expectations are, and size up how good you think you can be, or are you so myopic each week that you're not doing that?
It was fair. The Cowboys head coach constantly stresses the importance of doing things right on a daily basis, but prefers not to acknowledge where his team is in the grand scheme of things. A game behind the NFC East-leading Giants and with their second division outing of the season coming up in Philadelphia on Sunday, one of five in the final 10 weeks of the schedule, the team's place in the standings will become more and more important over the next two months.
"I think we evaluate the big picture all the time and see where we've been and where we're going and how this day fits into that," Garrett said. "I do think it's important to focus on what you can control right now."
Garrett gave the example of an old NFL adage that the 16-week schedule be split into four quarters, with coaches hoping to go 3-1 every four weeks, which can ultimately result in a letdown. After a 2-2 start to the season, the Cowboys are now back to .500 midway through the second quarter, though that's not the way Garrett likes to view things, which is why his message hasn't wavered since he took over as head coach at the midway point of 2010.
Whereas last year's team was dead in the water when the final month of the season rolled around, this year's squad will have three NFC East games in the final four weeks. Things must go right between now and then for that to stack up in the Cowboys' favor, however.
"Sometimes people get so concerned about what's happening at the end of the season," Garrett said. "We have these division games at the end of the season. Really what we're trying to do is be our best today, to win this game this week and put ourselves in a good position when we play those division games.
"When you're looking toward the future and looking back on what's happened in the past, you want to do it in a productive manner. I don't really care how we fit in right now. What I care about is trying to win a game against Philadelphia."
Just doing that will be tough enough. Despite a 1-4 start to the season, the Eagles are still in the thick of the young NFC East race, in last place but only two games behind New York. They notched their second win in Week 6, topping Washington 20-13. The Redskins, now 3-3, are tied with the Cowboys.
Andy Reid's team is a perfect 12-0 coming out of the bye during his tenure, and entered their rest week on a positive note, giving the Cowboys plenty to think about ahead of Sunday's 7:20 p.m. (CT) kickoff.
"Real concern," Jerry Jones said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on 105.3-FM The Fan in Dallas. "It's tough to play in Philadelphia, but more importantly this team is tough to play. As you know, they put together the Super Team at the start of the year. We know how it goes when you put it on paper, but it's got to go to the field. We had that happen to us last year, for sure. So, we know that they have their heart. They have not in any way let where they are with their record impact their aspirations for this year. That's a dangerous situation."
The next time the Cowboys meet the Eagles, on Christmas Eve, the divisional playoff picture will be much clearer, and it'll surely be crystallized when they travel to New York for the regular season finale on New Year's Day, 2012. But the Cowboys have a long way to go until then.
"Just to say, 'What about that game against New York?' ... that has nothing to do with us right now," Garrett said. "That's 10 lifetimes away. What we've got to worry about is cleaning up this game and getting ready for the next game."
Staying in the present, Garrett is happily myopic.
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com
Garrett is 4-1 against the NFC East as the Cowboys' head coach.
IRVING, Texas - The word of the day was "myopic." As an adjective, it describes a lack of foresight, or narrow-mindedness.
During his Monday press conference, Jason Garrett was presented an example in the form of a question. Do you ever evaluate big picture, just to know what your own expectations are, and size up how good you think you can be, or are you so myopic each week that you're not doing that?
It was fair. The Cowboys head coach constantly stresses the importance of doing things right on a daily basis, but prefers not to acknowledge where his team is in the grand scheme of things. A game behind the NFC East-leading Giants and with their second division outing of the season coming up in Philadelphia on Sunday, one of five in the final 10 weeks of the schedule, the team's place in the standings will become more and more important over the next two months.
"I think we evaluate the big picture all the time and see where we've been and where we're going and how this day fits into that," Garrett said. "I do think it's important to focus on what you can control right now."
Garrett gave the example of an old NFL adage that the 16-week schedule be split into four quarters, with coaches hoping to go 3-1 every four weeks, which can ultimately result in a letdown. After a 2-2 start to the season, the Cowboys are now back to .500 midway through the second quarter, though that's not the way Garrett likes to view things, which is why his message hasn't wavered since he took over as head coach at the midway point of 2010.
Whereas last year's team was dead in the water when the final month of the season rolled around, this year's squad will have three NFC East games in the final four weeks. Things must go right between now and then for that to stack up in the Cowboys' favor, however.
"Sometimes people get so concerned about what's happening at the end of the season," Garrett said. "We have these division games at the end of the season. Really what we're trying to do is be our best today, to win this game this week and put ourselves in a good position when we play those division games.
"When you're looking toward the future and looking back on what's happened in the past, you want to do it in a productive manner. I don't really care how we fit in right now. What I care about is trying to win a game against Philadelphia."
Just doing that will be tough enough. Despite a 1-4 start to the season, the Eagles are still in the thick of the young NFC East race, in last place but only two games behind New York. They notched their second win in Week 6, topping Washington 20-13. The Redskins, now 3-3, are tied with the Cowboys.
Andy Reid's team is a perfect 12-0 coming out of the bye during his tenure, and entered their rest week on a positive note, giving the Cowboys plenty to think about ahead of Sunday's 7:20 p.m. (CT) kickoff.
"Real concern," Jerry Jones said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on 105.3-FM The Fan in Dallas. "It's tough to play in Philadelphia, but more importantly this team is tough to play. As you know, they put together the Super Team at the start of the year. We know how it goes when you put it on paper, but it's got to go to the field. We had that happen to us last year, for sure. So, we know that they have their heart. They have not in any way let where they are with their record impact their aspirations for this year. That's a dangerous situation."
The next time the Cowboys meet the Eagles, on Christmas Eve, the divisional playoff picture will be much clearer, and it'll surely be crystallized when they travel to New York for the regular season finale on New Year's Day, 2012. But the Cowboys have a long way to go until then.
"Just to say, 'What about that game against New York?' ... that has nothing to do with us right now," Garrett said. "That's 10 lifetimes away. What we've got to worry about is cleaning up this game and getting ready for the next game."
Staying in the present, Garrett is happily myopic.