Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett has lived long under Jerry Jones -- but when will he prosper?
As a Cowboys head coach under owner Jerry Jones, Jason Garrett has lived long. He has not prospered.
It is along those lines that I think it would be great if Garrett came out for his next news conference wearing Spock ears but not simply to step out of character or to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. There's more to it than homage.
I have for some time felt that Garrett and Spock, the half-Vulcan, half-human science officer on the Starship Enterprise shared common traits, even if Spock was a better quote. Both have overstayed their five-year missions. Both are genuinely of high intelligence. Both are central figures in their quest to achieve success although neither is quite the man in charge.
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But it's Spock's internal conflict between his totally logical Vulcan side and his creative, emotional human side that brings us to what troubles Garrett and the Cowboys. With notable exceptions, Spock was able to keep the human side suppressed and make decisions based solely on logic.
Garrett's conflict is that he comes from the most traditional football background imaginable -- his father, Jim, was a longtime scout in the Cowboys organization and two brothers work as coaches or scouts. But Garrett played for and was educated at Princeton University. If he's frequently the smartest guy in the room, capable of imaginative outside-the-box innovations, Garrett keeps it hidden behind a mantra of blocking, tackling and Pudge Heffelfinger references.
Take Sunday's 20-19 loss to the Giants. There are a number of reasons the Cowboys came up one point short in a game it dominated in certain areas, but it's fairly clear that the sun streaming in through the western side of the stadium bothered Dallas receivers in the fourth quarter.
Garrett's response to the issue: "The sun has been here for five billion years. It will be here for another five billion years. My experience has been it's a factor for both teams.''
About as dismissive and meat-and-potatoes old-school football coach as one can get.
Here's what Giants head coach Ben McAdoo told the New York Post: "We had some pictures of the past, noticed for the 2014 game how it comes in and shines from the west in the second quarter at times, into the third and fourth quarter and how that impacts things. If you have a chance to help yourself in the kicking game and on offense and defense with the glare, you do that.''
You could argue that McAdoo might be grabbing too much credit here, but, hey, history is written by the victors. Garrett knows that from his Princeton history classes.
Watching the Arizona Cardinals start drives following kickoffs from their 11, 19, 16 and 8-yard lines, it was easy to see what New England head coach Bill Belichick was doing Sunday night. He was taking the new touchback rule and saying, "We can do better than giving the opponent a fresh start at the 25 every time.''
Even though the Giants' Dwayne Harris brought back a couple kicks (one from five yards deep), it was clear from the first three touchbacks Sunday that Garrett had chosen to stick with the basics- kick it out of the end zone if you can, send the defense out to the 25.
Egregious mistake? Not really.
But did he use a little imagination, going against the grain? Not on your life.
Don't you wish the Cowboys were the team that, just occasionally, overmatched opponents in the brain department? What if an Ivy Leaguer led this team to go where no NFL team has gone before- regularly declining to punt from around midfield and attempt first downs on fourth-and-two rather than having the punter turn the ball over 20-25 yards downfield?
Garrett has been so far removed from that line of thinking during his extended time here, Cowboys fans are simply happy when a month goes by without serious clock management issues.
I don't think it has to stay this way. I'm not talking about wild high-risk play calling. That doesn't suit a team that - Sunday's evidence to the contrary - should be able to run successfully on any given Sunday.
Remember when Gil Brandt and the Cowboys were hailed for bringing the computer into football more than 40 years ago?
Well, there's still a chance to be ahead of the sport's analytics curve. It's time for the creative side of Garrett's brain to create some history of its own. Living in the past, repeating what other coaches have done (both winners and losers) for so long is a good way to find yourself approaching the 100-game mark with a 45-44 record.
Garrett needs to do what Dr. McCoy advised Spock (somewhat ironically) in the episode "Amok Time,'' when the first officer was wrestling with the unusual reproductive nature of his Vulcan half.
"Yield to the logic of the situation.''
