Posts Tagged ‘Jason Garrett’

Don’t Blame December, Dallas

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Wade Phillips_Dallas Cowboys_NFLIn between taking swipes at Tiger Woods and his nine, I mean eleven, man is it up to an even dozen women?!?, pundits are expounding on the annual December swoon that descends upon the Dallas Cowboys.  Swoon, shwoon; I’m not buying it at all!  Last season the Cowboys went 1-3 in December, horrible right?  Of course all four of the teams they played were playoff teams and three made their respective Conference Championships.  This year the Boys are oh and 2 losing to the New York Giants in the Meadowlands and the San Diego Chargers yesterday.  Both teams were expected to contend this year and the Chargers are riding an eight game winning streak.  On the horizon for the Cowboys are the 13 and oh New Orleans Saints in the Superdome which doesn’t look real good for the Cowboys either.  Long story short, I look at the schedule the Cowboys are playing and don’t buy into the swoon theory.

     Where I place the blame is on the coaching staff and Head Coach Wade Phillips.  In four of the five Cowboy losses, the team lost by seven points or less; true that is indicative of most NFL games but what is says to me is that the Cowboys can not  close out quality opponents in close games.  The field goal kicker is four of ten from over 40 yards which is pathetic.  Why does Wade put up with that???  Bill Parcells canned Mike Vanderjagt when he missed a few kicks and he was the most accurate kicker of all time!  Wade Phillips can’t pull the trigger on the hard decisions and it is time to cut him loose.  With coaching candidates like Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher on the radar screen, Wade Phillips is a liability to say the least!  And oh by the way, send Jason Garrett packing with him…

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Tony Romo, Time to get serious

Friday, June 19th, 2009

tony-romo_dallas-cowboys_nflThe news out of Dallas these days is getting to be concerning and as usual, it centers around Tony Romo.  Last year, after getting lathered by the Eagles in the season finale, Romo stated he would be okay if he never got to a Super Bowl.  This year, after hearing he needed to get in better shape from Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett, Romo responded that the meeting never occurred and that the concern with his being in playing shape was “silly”.

     Hmmm, why all the mystery around Romo?  One always hears conflicting reports: great competitor in practice, fools around too much in practice, locks into Witten too much, forced the ball to TO too much, in great shape, can’t make the plays in December…  Which story is the right story and which ones do you believe? 

      My personal thought is that Romo spends too much time in the spotlight.  Sure this is the age of the internet and no one really has any privacy, but I sure don’t remember Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach or even Danny White being the source of so much controversy.  Don’t get me wrong, I think Tony Romo is a good quarterback, the best the Cowboys have had since Aikman.  But I also think he walks a little tall for a guy with no pedigree.  I mean what part of undrafted free agent, losing record in December and two first round playoff losses, makes Tony Romo think he can walk around with as cavalier an attitude as he seems to have?

     I’d like to see Romo put his tabloid stardom in the background, concentrate on getting in shape, practicing hard, leading by example and getting the Cowboys back to the playoffs and Super Bowl.  No other result for the quarterback of America’s Team can be considered success!

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It’s all about Talent…

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

owens-terrell-buffaloDo Dallas Cowboy fans see anything wrong with the picture to the right?  Yes sir, that is Terrell Owens, the Cowboys top receiver the last three years (actually the last 10 years going back to Michael Irvin) with a BUFFALO BILLS backdrop behind him.  I have been catching the talking heads giving their predictions for the 2009 football season and every one I heard expects the Cowboys to do better this year.  Why?  Well it’s addition by subtraction of course… Huh?!? 

     If I hear one more time how much better off the Cowboys are this year, I’ll go nuts!  Subtract TO; hmmm that’s over 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns out of the offense.  Subtract Pac-Man Jones; hmmm, that’s knocking out the best cover corner the Boys had last year.  Subtract Roy Williams the safety; hmmm, awesome hitter and intimidator in the secondary.  Are any of those guys perfect players or model citizens?  No way, but tell me, where is the addition part?  All three are great talents and add to a football team!

     It is all about talent and how you manage it in the NFL.  If Wade is not tough enough to get the players in line, can him.  If Jason Garrett can’t manage the offense, replace him.  Not the players!  Get more leadership for the locker room!  Ray Lewis and Brian Dawkins were both on the market this year.  Yes, they had high price tags, but the object is to win the Superbowl and both could have helped there.  Jimmy Johnson valued talent and could manage it.  When did the Cowboys get over the top in the 90’s?  When they brought in super “malcontent” Charles Haley to rush the passer.  How did the Patriots get to 16-0 last year?  By bringing in Randy Moss and turning him loose.  Haley and Moss did not suddenly become angels did they?  No, they were managed by veteran leaders and strong coaches.

     The Cowboys will not be better this year without TO.  The record may get better due to a softer schedule.  The new stadium will be great as will the national TV exposure.  But the playoff and Superbowl drought will continue until Jerry Jones goes back to the formula that made the Team of the 90’s, strong coaching and stronger players.

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Who shot TO?

Friday, March 6th, 2009

t_owens_090305_250x150The question in Dallas in the 80’s was who shot JR; the question for 2009, who shot TO???  While I can’t pipe in the theme music from the late, great primetime soap Dallas, the current goings on in Big D smack of that old drama… Jerry says he loves TO, Romo says he needs TO, Garrett says he wants TO and now TO’s gone.  Let’s look at the cast of suspects…

Jerry Jones

The leader of the pack, Jerry was saying two weeks ago that TO was likely back, now he says the Cowboys need a new attitude.  What was wrong with the old one, at least where TO was concerned?  TO was a workaholic and passionate player who brought it all every Sunday.  A great owner and lousy GM, Jones dished out 4 years and over 30 mil to TO last year on a new contract and this move costs the Boys 9 million in dead money.  Way to go Jerry!  Had Jones laid down the law with Owens early on in the Parcells days, maybe this doesn’t happen.  Better yet, had Jones hired a non-creampuff coach, maybe TO would have been more accountable, which brings us to…

Wade Phillips

TO loved Wade compared to Bill Parcells; why wouldn’t he, he got to do whatever he wanted.  Nuf said on the creampuff who should have been the move Jerry made…

Jason Garrett

Jason’s fingerprints are all over this as he said that he felt he and TO could not co-exist after TO questioned his offensive schemes.  How dare TO do that???  Question, didn’t Dallas’ offense drop from the top 5 to the 2nd tier last year?  And where did all the crossing patterns and motion plays for TO that were a big success in 2007, go in 2008?  Maybe Garrett should have done more analysis of his offense and done more to get more out of Tony Romo in practices…

Tony Romo

Everybody’s favorite playboy remains the QB of the future in Dallas and the best guy to be driving the car since Troy Aikman.  The difference between him and Aikman is, could you really have seen TO chewing on Aikman like he did on Romo?  Aikman had his own diva Wide Receiver to deal with in Michael Irvin and oh by the way, they’re both in the Hall of Fame and have three Superbowl Rings.  For Romo and Dallas to be successful, he needs to take the reins and leadership role on the offense which has not happened thus far…

Jason Witten

The mysterious “source” for many of Ed Werder’s TO reports, Witten lost Owen’s trust and facilitated this whole debacle.  Another player who needs to show more leadership as the Cowboys trudge on.

Terrell Owens

Was this killing self inflicted???  Obviously to some extent as Owens is a diva and lightning rod for the media.  He could have played nicer on the sidelines, but it is not in his fiery and competitive nature…

So, where are we now?  As a staunch Cowboy fan, I can not be more disappointed that the team parted ways with TO.  How do you replace 38 TDs and over 4000 yards in receiving over the last three years???  This guy is a Hall of Famer for cat’s sake!  The issue with TO has always been accountability.  As in Philadelphia before and now in Dallas, Owens is not afraid to say what is on his and other players minds.  This is not necessarily a bad thing if handled in the right way.  I’ve had plenty of employees who told me things I did not like to hear, if I had fired them all, I’d be in a pretty sparce work environment.  Jerry Jones, Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett entitled TO, Romo and Witten did not man up to confront the issues before them with Owens and TO got the shaft.  A pretty sad ending to the soap opera if you ask me…

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