Dallas' Garrett's passive leadership costly (AKA, don't blame it all on Romo)

[Auggie]

Jean-Jacques Taylor | ESPNDallas.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - If the Dallas Cowboys don't make the playoff this season, and Jerry Jones decides to fire Jason Garrett, the coach can only blame himself.

Garrett let Tony Romo, his $108-million quarterback, and pass-happy offensive coordinator Bill Callahan potentially determine his fate with some of the dumbest decisions you'll ever see intelligent people make Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.

Understand, pretty much the only way a team can blow a 23-point second-half lead at home is with dumb play calling and turnovers, but that's exactly what the Cowboys did.

MORE: http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/10144515/jason-garrett-let-cowboys-loss

Taylor opines the Cowboys should have run DeMarco Murray. I didn't see the game, but it defies football logic to not run as much time off the clock when you're leading, especially if the running game is working as Taylor asserts. Case in point: the 49ers had a 10 minute scoring drive against Tampa Bay in the fourth quarter which sealed their win. Cowboys should be looking at 8-6 this morning.

Posting this because I don't think Romo should take all the heat for the loss (with the added reminder I did not see the game).

[Scuba]

1. I saw the game ...

... and find it interesting that all the discussion is about who deserves the blame, with virtually no discussion of who deserves the credit.

Had the Cowboys run the ball and failed, Garrett would no doubt be catching fire for being too conservative. Overlooked is the Packer offense coming alive and scoring five second-half touchdowns, none of which came against Tony Romo, Bill Callahan or Garrett.

[Auggie]

2. The author claims Dallas was running the ball effectively with Murray ...

why abandon it?

With the lead Dallas had it's natural to point the finger at what went wrong. Good point -- there's no mention of the Dallas defensive scheme during this comeback either. Credit Green Bay for capitalizing on all opportunities Dallas provided.

[Scuba]

3. Did the author note the Packers had nine men in the box to stop the run, and the two cornerbacks...

... were one-on-one with the Cowboy receivers?

[Auggie]

4. No

If that's a half-time adjustment it explains the pass-heavy offense. And that I've been duped.

[Scuba]

7. Cornerback is the Packers' best defensive position, so putting ...

... Williams and Shields one-on-one with Bryant and Whitten allowed the Packers to beef up the rush D and put some pressure on Romo, unlike what they did in the first half when Romo had all day plus to find those guys.

Everyone loves the blame game, though, and I'm sure Garrett will hear about this one for a long time. The Cowboys injury-depleted defense will soon be forgotten.

[joeybee12]

5. Good, then let Jerry hire another Coach he doesn't let coach...

And the cycle will continue.

[TZ]

32. I'd love to see Jerry Hire

Kyle Shannahan. Something tells me they'd be a perfect fit...: D

[TBF]

6. I don't know what McCarthy said at 1/2 time -

but somehow it woke up the Packers. Romo isn't great but neither is Flynn.

[DinahMoeHum]

8. As long as Jerry Jones has a death-grip on the franchise

and thinks he can be both owner and GM, the Cowboys will never contend for, much less win, another Super Bowl.

Bastard thinks he's bigger than the game.

Gonna be fun reading Gil LeBreton and Randy Galloway at the Fort Worth Star Telegram:
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/


Somewhere up in heaven, Tom Landry is laughing his ass off.

[El Supremo]

9. Tony Romo deserves his share of blame for Cowboys’ ‘worst loss ever’

By Randy Galloway

ARLINGTON — The easy answer is this:

Fire everybody. Now.

But since there’s nobody to jettison Jerry Jones, that allows his butt to wiggle off the hook. For nearly two decades, Jerry has done no time for his multiple football crimes.

Speaking, however, of blame:

Honk if you are guilty of having overrated Mr. Jones’ current maggot-mess of a football club....

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/12/15/5421623/tony-romo-deserves-his-share-of.html?rh=1

[bluedigger]

10. Barnwell makes a good case to look at the defense.

3. It's the defense's fault. Romo made a bad throw. Garrett could have called for an extra run play or two. Not unreasonable. What about the guys who allowed an offense run by Matt freaking Flynn to score 34 points in the second half? Green Bay scored on each of its five meaningful possessions in the second half, two of which started with excellent field position: one after a punt return to the Dallas 22-yard line, and the other after Shields's pick of Romo exactly at midfield. The other three drives all started on the Packers' 20-yard line. Flynn went 16-of-22 for 182 yards and four touchdowns in the second half. Eddie Lacy carried the ball 13 times for 110 yards, including a 60-yard scamper to start the third quarter. During that second half, Flynn was not sacked once. From what I can tell without coaches tape, he was only knocked down once all half.

The defense doesn't get blamed for stuff like this, though, because there isn't the one smoking gun. It's way easier to hang your hat on an interception than it is on a blown coverage or a missed tackle. There's no individual defensive play that's as obviously detrimental as an interception. Romo made a bad throw. The defense probably produced about 25 subpar snaps in the second half. That sort of disadvantage is more subtle, but it's far more impactful.

Ask yourself this: When was the last time Romo's defense bailed him out? I can think of a whole bunch of times when Romo bailed out his defense. Like the two-minute drill against the Vikings a few weeks ago after his defense blew a fourth-quarter lead. Or last year, when Romo led two touchdown drives in the final four minutes to tie up the game against the Saints. Or the 10-point, fourth-quarter comeback against the Bengals two weeks earlier. Where are the games when Dallas's defense comes up with a big play late to seal — let alone create — a victory?3 You're not wrong to pin some of the blame on Romo. But, again, if we're going to talk about what's going wrong with the Dallas Cowboys, it seems wrong to blame the side that scored 36 points far more than the one that allowed 37.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10145592/bill-barnwell-week-15-nfl

[madinmaryland]

17. That was my issue. Romo should never been in the position of having to comeback. The defense

could not stop a PeeWee team. They have all these supposed great deep coverage guys who aren't worth shit. I know that they have another defensive coach, but they are completely disorganized. Even DeMarcos Ware looks lost and Sean Lee has either been injured or invisible.

[Upton]

11. I saw most of it..

Dallas averaged 7.4 yards per rush against a GB defense that's ranked 25th in that department. Yet, while trying to run out the clock and knowing his tendency to throw interceptions at critical times, Romo was given the option to audible out of the run, which of course he did, predictably leading to the interception that gave the Packers the lead.

It's hard to understand. This one is on Garrett..

Btw, since you didn't see the game, you missed Dez Bryant walking off the field and into the locker room in frustration with over a minute left. Something Steve Mariucci said he's seen only happen twice. Probably at least one was TO. The Cowboys are nothing if not a soap opera.

[El Supremo]

13. Dezzy says he didn't want to cry on the sidelines:

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/dallas-cowboys-wr-dez-bryant-says-he-regrets-leaving-the-field-early-but-he-didnt-want-to-cry-on-the-sideline.html/

[Auggie]

15. Thanks ...

I saw a clip of Bryant but missed the details. Even when the 49ers can't run they keep trying. A three and out is better than an INT.

This is too bad. I wanted S.F. to face either Dallas or Detroit in the wild cards. The thought of playing in Chicago, Philly or that frozen fucking tundra makes my skin crawl. Not that I don't think that they can't beat any of those teams, but the conditions could be brutally new to someone like Kaepernick.

[El Supremo]

16. Geese! Now you are making excuses for Tat Boy before he even needs them.

[Auggie]

18. I am over-the-top paranoid

[Upton]

31. I don't know that it matters who they play..

I just have a hard time envisioning Kaep leading the 49ers to 3 consecutive road playoff wins. He really hasn't demonstrated the kind of poise on the road needed for such an accomplishment. The defense will have to carry them, and in that case it might be better if they played outdoors.

One thing is for sure. If the 49ers win on Monday, they'll move into the #5 seed because New Orleans and Carolina play each other and they both have 4 losses.

[Bluzmann57]

12. The hell with the Cowboys

The Packers had a magnificent comeback and that's what people should be talking about. They finally started playing like a team that HAS to win to make the postseason. One question though, why can't Flynn do anything outside of Green Bay? He signed with Seattle only to be displaced by a better qb, went to Oakland, which could use a qb, couldn't make it there, got cut by Buffalo, and now is doing reasonably well with the Packers again.
Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter, it looks like Rodgers will be back next week. GO PACK!

[Kingofalldems]

14. When does baseball season start?

[Auggie]

19. Spring Training reporting dates are two months from now ...

for most reams. Nats and Giants are TBD according to the link.

http://www.springtrainingonline.com/reporting-dates/

[Kingofalldems]

27. They both must be plotting something.

[madinmaryland]

20. Maybe we can have another dream season in Pittsburgh and go all the way!!

[El Supremo]

21. All the way down in flames?

[madinmaryland]

23. ??

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12041065

[El Supremo]

24. You have to all the way back to the Spiral Hawk days?

Sheese!

[madinmaryland]

26. I suppose I could go back to the Ace Reporter days.

[Kingofalldems]

28. Hope to see the Bucs in the NLCS.

[madinmaryland]

29. The Bucs and Nats in the NL Championship Series?? MLB heads would be exploding!

[PeteSelman]

22. Santa Romo checked out of a running play on the fateful int.

The guy is a stone choker and his football smarts are very suspect. He has seven instances of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in his career. He just sucks when crunch time comes.

Of course, Garret and Callahan suck too but you can't fault them for bad play calling in this instance.

Lots of hilarious Romo pics flowing on Facebook.

[El Supremo]

25. I'd love to see the pics!

BTW, the word is that "Pick" Romo called the plays.

[PeteSelman]

30. I wish there was an easy way to drop them in a thread from a phone.

We need a picture button on here.

I'll figure something out.

[PeteSelman]

33. Here you go. Enjoy!