DMN: Blame the head coach for Cowboys' loss, too

[ZeroClub]

Blame the head coach for Cowboys' loss, too

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By David Moore, Staff Writer

ARLINGTON -- Blame Terrance Williams if you must.

Find fault with Ezekiel Elliott's debut and a Cowboys run defense that went soft in the final minutes when it needed to stand strong.

But as you're pointing fingers at players who didn't rise to the occasion in Sunday's regular season opener be sure to keep one reserved for the head coach.

Jason Garrett is conservative by nature. Conservative is not a dirty word. It's not a bad approach or fatal flaw for a coach if applied correctly.

Conservative makes sense on offense in today's NFL if you have a superlative kicker and a dominant defense. The Cowboys have that kicker in Dan Bailey.

Now, about that defense...

The Cowboys 20-19 loss to the New York Giants was a tired repeat of a script that was followed all too often during last season's 4-12 downfall. Rather than looking for spots to be aggressive on offense late in a close game, Garrett was cautious. He put the outcome in the hands of a defense that has shown no ability to generate pressure on the quarterback or come up with enough big plays to make a difference.

"That looked like last year,'' owner Jerry Jones conceded after watching his team lose a six-point lead in the final 10 minutes. "Play for the defense to stop them, don't stop them and get beat.

"But we're in better shape to not play that way or have that happen to us because we're better offensively.''

That's debatable.

For a coach that preaches the importance of living in the moment, Garrett too often approaches games as if these are the Cowboys on their Super Bowl run during the 1990s. Line up and overpower the opponent on both sides of the ball. Keep it simple and let superior talent win.

The problem: this is not a dominant defense. It can't hold up its end of the bargain to open this season. Yet Garrett insists on coaching as if it can.

"It's trite to say that, but we know we can't play to that,'' Jones said. "We've got to be aggressive.

It's important to be clear here. Jones doesn't believe Garrett was too conservative in Sunday's opener. He believes the two holding penalties on guard La'el Collins and a false start on guard Zack Martin in those final three possessions put the Cowboys in an untenable position.

Still, on their first offensive possession with a 19-13 lead in the fourth, the Cowboys threw two short passes and plunged Elliott up the middle. On third-and-18 rookie Dak Prescott threw a screen to Jason Witten, a Pro Bowl tight end but not the most elusive of runners.

It picked up three yards.

The Cowboys were faced with a third-and-20 on their next possession. Prescott again threw to Witten, this time for seven yards.

"I really thought that the only time I saw us do anything conservative was when we got those penalties and got into third-and-long,'' Jones said. "I saw us make a decision you could make with any quarterback and that is let's not try to get it all back here and let them make the mistake.

"If we had not gotten into those third-and-longs, I don't think you would have seen us be limited with Dak. I don't.''

Prescott was efficient. He didn't throw an interception. But it's a stretch to say the Cowboys weren't conservative or cautious in what they gave him to do.

The Giants loaded the box to take away the run. The rookie quarterback took a few shots downfield, but very few. He threw 45 passes, and 26 of them were underneath to Witten or slot receiver Cole Beasley. His longest completion of the afternoon was a 21-yard route to the sideline to tight end Geoff Swaim.

Prescott ran only twice. Did you see many zone read plays? Did you see any misdirection plays? If you're going to throw the ball underneath, why wasn't Lance Dunbar, who caught a short pass and took it for 16 yards on the team's final possession, a bigger part of the game plan?

"Cautious is not a word that we use,'' Garrett said. "I thought Dak did a really good job running the offense. He was very effective running off the bulk of our drop back offense, the movement offense was outstanding.

"That's not a (phrase) we use with our quarterbacks, being cautious with the ball. You want to be a good decision-maker. He was a good decision-maker throughout this ballgame.''

Prescott did a good job of making the decisions he was allowed to make. The question is whether his hands were tied by a head coach who is risk adverse to the point of taking away a young quarterback's ability to make plays.

"I was mad enough walking in here to second-guess it all, but now I'm not,'' Jones said. "Everybody gets mad.''

And everybody gets tired of watching the same scenario play out time and time again.

It's up to Jason Garrett to make it change.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

"I was mad enough walking in here to second-guess it all, but now I'm not,'' Jones said. "Everybody gets mad.'

Maybe that's part of the problem. Maybe Jerry needs to stay mad.

 

[peplaw06]

I haven't seen the second half yet, but I've heard about the Williams play.

I blame the coaches on that one too. Norm took a call at the end of the postgame show last night about it being Garrett's fault that these guys aren't tought situational awareness, and he twisted off on him saying if you told your child 900 times to do something and for the 901st time they still did it, is that your fault.

I question whether the players are being taught clock management. The QBs probably are... but the other offensive skill players? Not only did TWill make a bad decision, but I heard Dunbar failed to get out of bounds right before that. If all players aren't being taught this stuff, then yes I blame the HC. Wonder if TWill was trying to get the first down to stop the clock (the college rule)?

 

[dbair1967]

Way past time to be mad and stay mad. Enough is enough, Garrett is just a lousy HC.

 

[dbair1967]

I haven't seen the second half yet, but I've heard about the Williams play.

I blame the coaches on that one too. Norm took a call at the end of the postgame show last night about it being Garrett's fault that these guys aren't tought situational awareness, and he twisted off on him saying if you told your child 900 times to do something and for the 901st time they still did it, is that your fault.

I question whether the players are being taught clock management. The QBs probably are... but the other offensive skill players? Not only did TWill make a bad decision, but I heard Dunbar failed to get out of bounds right before that. If all players aren't being taught this stuff, then yes I blame the HC. Wonder if TWill was trying to get the first down to stop the clock (the college rule)?

Dunbar being in the game was stupid in itself.

Still, on the TWill play even Dez Bryant cane be seen imploring Williams to get out of bounds, and he doesnt do it.

But next Sunday, TWill will almost assuredly be in the starting lineup and not see any difference in his playing time.

 

[peplaw06]

What did Garrett do when Williams came to the sideline?

I think we all know what Jimmy would have done...

 

[dbair1967]

Garrett patted him on th back as he walked towards the middle of the field.

 

[TheZoneSucks]

Garrett patted him on th back as he walked towards the middle of the field.

Yep. No accountability. That is why mistakes like this keep happening. There are no Curvin Richards penalties for idiots who deserve it. I personally would never tolerate this idiocy. It's not like TWill is irreplaceable. Bench his ass and start Butler in his place next game, or better yet get rid of the idiot from the roster. Scare the shit out of the Dunbars of the world that they are next if it keeps up.

But this goes back to Garrett being a gamma male with no balls. The players just tune his ass out and do their own thing during the games because at worst they will get a clap, back pat, butt-slap, and/or "we'll get 'em next time" out of Caspar Milquetoast Garrett. Grown men in the NFL absolutely require alpha males to get the best out of them. Alpha males like Landry and Johnson. It's not rocket surgery, it's a basic understanding of males in a competitive atmosphere.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Yep, TZS.

And Garrett won't even hold himself accountable. He actually said at the postgame PC that the offense did a "really good job" in the first half because they ran 40 plays and controlled the clock.

So long drives that end in FGs are a good thing now. Never mind that little detail on the scoreboard.

 

[SixisBetter]

if you told your child 900 times to do something and for the 901st time they still did it, is that your fault.

That doesn't hold water, these are adults not children.
I don't believe for a second TWill didn't know to get out of bounds in that situation.I think the dumb ass thought he could get past defenders for that few extra yards and then out, or saw himself galloping away down the sidelines for the game winner as time expired.
When Dez knows to get out of bounds, everyone should know it.
What is Garrett's fault is these players think they can deviate from Football 101 without impunity, because mostly they can.
"It's okay TWill, you were trying hard, here's your participation trophy"

 

[TheZoneSucks]

I haven't seen the second half yet, but I've heard about the Williams play.

I blame the coaches on that one too. Norm took a call at the end of the postgame show last night about it being Garrett's fault that these guys aren't tought situational awareness, and he twisted off on him saying if you told your child 900 times to do something and for the 901st time they still did it, is that your fault.

I question whether the players are being taught clock management. The QBs probably are... but the other offensive skill players? Not only did TWill make a bad decision, but I heard Dunbar failed to get out of bounds right before that. If all players aren't being taught this stuff, then yes I blame the HC. Wonder if TWill was trying to get the first down to stop the clock (the college rule)?

Norm has no leg to stand on and his analogy is patently moronic. These are not parents and children, these are grown adult professionals. It is on Garrett for tolerating it for so long. Not only does he not bench and/or cut these boneheads, he pats them on the back for crying out loud! Yes, he patted TWill on the back right after the game clock reached zero because of the idiot, thus costing us at least a chance for a long FG, or hail mary pass attempt. We probably don't succeed, but that is no excuse for such dumb shit stunts. You have to do every thing you can to win even in the face of long odds because you never know until you try.

 

[UVAwahoos]

The fact that both Dunbar and TWill made the same mistake means it's not just a player brainfart. The team is clearly not prepared for those scenarios but it really doesn't matter. The Giants had a gameplan and Dallas did nothing to counter. Garrett lost the coaching battle to whatever dbag the Giants hired over the offseason, and it'll just be more embarrassing when he goes up against real experienced coaches.

In fact, I would be interested to see how many different head coaches Garrett has lost to over the last 6 years. If I'm an opposing coach, all I have to do is stick with my gameplan and Garrett will beat himself 10 times out of 10. It's hilarious that Garrett took Dez out of a game where the opponent was stacking the box to stop the run.

 

[UVAwahoos]

Yep, TZS.

And Garrett won't even hold himself accountable. He actually said at the postgame PC that the offense did a "really good job" in the first half because they ran 40 plays and controlled the clock.

So long drives that end in FGs are a good thing now. Never mind that little detail on the scoreboard.

Yup and he also threw his player under the bus like he's been doing for years to protect his own ass. I'm sure the players really love to rally and win for this orange guy.

Terrance Williams date with dumb dooms the Cowboys | The Star-Telegram

 

[ZeroClub]

Yup and he also threw his player under the bus like he's been doing for years to protect his own ass. I'm sure the players really love to rally and win for this orange guy.

Terrance Williams date with dumb dooms the Cowboys | The Star-Telegram

Good link.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Garrett lost the coaching battle to whatever dbag the Giants hired over the offseason

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Yep. No accountability. That is why mistakes like this keep happening. There are no Curvin Richards penalties for idiots who deserve it. I personally would never tolerate this idiocy. It's not like TWill is irreplaceable. Bench his ass and start Butler in his place next game, or better yet get rid of the idiot from the roster. Scare the shit out of the Dunbars of the world that they are next if it keeps up.

But this goes back to Garrett being a gamma male with no balls. The players just tune his ass out and do their own thing during the games because at worst they will get a clap, back pat, butt-slap, and/or "we'll get 'em next time" out of Caspar Milquetoast Garrett. Grown black men in the NFL absolutely require alpha males to get the best out of them. Alpha males like Landry and Johnson. It's not rocket surgery, it's a basic understanding of males in a competitive atmosphere.

fify

 

[Omegasupreme]

Yep. No accountability. That is why mistakes like this keep happening. There are no Curvin Richards penalties for idiots who deserve it. I personally would never tolerate this idiocy. It's not like TWill is irreplaceable. Bench his ass and start Butler in his place next game, or better yet get rid of the idiot from the roster. Scare the shit out of the Dunbars of the world that they are next if it keeps up.

But this goes back to Garrett being a gamma male with no balls. The players just tune his ass out and do their own thing during the games because at worst they will get a clap, back pat, butt-slap, and/or "we'll get 'em next time" out of Caspar Milquetoast Garrett. Grown men in the NFL absolutely require alpha males to get the best out of them. Alpha males like Landry and Johnson. It's not rocket surgery, it's a basic understanding of males in a competitive atmosphere.

It's really even worse than this. Nate Newton said tonight on ESPN Dallas that Garrett is constantly going over situational drills: stopping play and having the team re-rehearse situations. Williams has been getting a free pass for a few years now and is seriously stupid. Go back and listen to Williams, he makes reference to getting a first down and also that he wanted to get upfield but he will "never do that again". The bottom line is Williams plays the inferiority complex every single down in every game. He knows he's limited so he puts on a big show in practice where no one is tackling him or pounding him; when he can't make plays he fakes injury and in this case he couldn't do anything but one reception this whole game so what did he try to do? Take it himself. Mosley said it tonight that Williams just isn't working and he knows that Dallas "likes his work ethic in practice" but Brice Butler "has the speed and the hands" that its time for a change.

The bottom line is that Jason does not change. They ran the ball right at the strongest and fattest part of the Giant defense and repeatedly kept losing that battle. They didn't change. I'm worried that there might not be anything to change into. The Garrett offense has such very few plays and his game plan may have very few running plays. In preseason, the targets varied and the lateral movement of the plays suggested that the plays were no longer shackled to Garretts benign strategies. But yesterday's game did not look like anything other than 2015 again.

Think about it. When you have a season like 2014, shouldn't you have something that has been built from it or even still exists from it. Troy Aikman said the Dallas O-line may be better pass blockers than run blockers. Oh really!? So when DeMarco Murray led the league in rushing, how many sacks did the line give up? 31. Romos worst season was 36.

The issue here is that there is no strategic design and play calling for the running game, there is no adjustment for the red zone and when teams stop the offense there are no alternatives. Williams is not working but there is not alternative for him. Dez is being doubled but there are no plays to set him free. Elliot was getting stopped running into brick walls and there was no alternative.

I feel like the Beasley short passes are fine because they can move the chains and should have been a TD. The Witten passes were fine as well. The part that makes no sense to me is why Dez is not running slants or high percentage plays because he is such a violent runner.

And in the last reflection of Murray, he had 50+ receptions in consecutive years of 2013 and 2014. Where were the check downs?

 

[Bob Sacamano]

It boggles my mind how the slants to Beasley and the middle of the field passes to Witten were giving the Giants fits. And especially what dbair so keenly pointed out; had a faster Witten type in Swaim gaining our longest pass completion of the night up the field. Or one of the longest of the night at least.

Where was that the rest of the game? The offensive staff had Beasley running comeback routes, lining him out up top, designed screens to Witten, et al. We totally went away from that.

Like I said during the game; the game plan going in must have been to formulate plays to get Dak some high percentage completions, gain some confidence, get into a groove and then have him run the offense we've been running now for a decade.

Garrett has blinders on to today's successful offenses and is hell-bent on running 'his' offense.

Look at the Pats. They've been killing teams for years now using smallish WRs who simply terrorize the short and middle of the field. Can you only imagine who good our offense would be if we used big, fast, strong guys like Dez and Butler on those routes?

 

[dbair1967]

Anyody that watched Pittsburgh dominate Washington or how what was a lowly Niner team destroy the Rams should be utterly disgusted with our franchise today.

I just dont see how the Jones' can sit by and continue to watch this disgrace of a coaching job year after year.

 

[TheZoneSucks]

Anyody that watched Pittsburgh dominate Washington or how what was a lowly Niner team destroy the Rams should be utterly disgusted with our franchise today.

I just dont see how the Jones' can sit by and continue to watch this disgrace of a coaching job year after year.

Utterly disgusted is a perfect description. It is how I feel, and have felt for most of the last 20 years because it does not have to be this way. Not at all. The fucking tyrant with his iron grip on this franchise has no clothes.

How must it feel to be a billionaire fool? Jerry has put himself in some sort of ironic Greek hell where he is given literally everything in this world where most people get very little to nothing. Yet he did not get, and cannot buy the only thing he really wants - respect as a "football guy".

Even more ironic is that he could get that respect by getting the fuck out of the way, but he won't even though he admits his stubbornness. He knows that a large portion of fans have been lost, a generation of potential fans has chosen other teams, and of the fan base that remains, a large portion can't wait till the fucker dies so that they can have hope again.

Or maybe I am the one who is trapped in an ironic Greek hell.