Post by prossman on Jan 6, 2009 7:42:26 GMT -7
JFE: Dallas Cowboys’ Jason Garrett goes from genius to scapegoat in one season
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Dallas Cowboys’ Jason Garrett goes from genius to scapegoat in one season
By JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL
jenfloyd@star-telegram.com
While your Cowboys presumably spent wild-card weekend hammering away on Coach Wade’s "more whatever" plan, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen took a far more drastic approach to salvaging his underachieving franchise.
He fired his BFF Mike Shanahan, and then he ate.
Dinner with Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and brunch with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, allowing Bowlen to procure a plethora of fresh ideas to file away, if not his next coach, by his flight back to Denver. And he had a real coach and decided to upgrade anyway.
Also please note his remaining dining companions.
Bowlen has permission to interview The Coordinator Formerly Known as The Redheaded Genius, proving not everybody has bailed on Dallas Cowboys OC Jason Garrett as a viable coach. Just Owner Jones. You know, the same guy who fell crazy in love with him two years ago and all over again last off-season.
It would be spunky of Jerry, if not so contradictory.
While Owner Jones has hopped back into bed with Coach Cupcake after this embarrassment of a season ended with an even bigger embarrassment in Philly, he has determined his handpicked heir apparent to be expendable after an ugly little bump of a season.
A bump. A season.
Coach Wade has a long history of playoff failure elsewhere.
I probably should not say this too loudly, since little mobs with pitchforks tend to form daily, blaming him for everything, but I have not given up on The RH or his G eventually returning. Coaches do not usually go stupid in a year, certainly not this coach.
And how do you judge any assistant at Valley Ranch anyway?
I am not sure how the best and brightest navigate this minefield of whiny players and zero accountability, where attention to detail has only recently been upgraded to a priority for Coach Cupcake under his "more whatever" plan.
So for everybody screaming that The RH needs to go, get ready to regret that decision.
Kind of like Tony Sparano. In fact, The RH’s biggest mistake seems to be having too much faith in the Cowboys and QB Tony Romo specifically.
Or has everybody forgotten we are barely a year removed from The RHG being the NFL equivalent of the Maxim Girl of the Day? He was Spagnuolo. Everybody in need of a coach wanted to talk to him, and he had offers from Baltimore and Atlanta before Owner Jones stepped in and locked him up with promises of "you’ve got next."
The irony, of course, is why The RH said "no," well, why aside from the $3 million paycheck and what assuredly was the promise of being the next coach of the Cowboys. In his humble opinion, neither of those teams had franchise QBs in place.
He obviously subscribes to "It is all about the QB," and he believed the Cowboys had a franchise QB in Tony Romo. So he decided to stay put and supposedly became an idiot because Romo and T.O. said so after what happened in Philly.
Do you think The RH has any regrets?
Probably 457 of them now that Baltimore looks to have a pretty serviceable QB and a second-round playoff date, thanks to rookie Joe Flacco. And Atlanta’s Matt Ryan has flashed signs that he might just be better than Romo.
I say this not to join the knee-jerk chorus of those insisting Romo has proven himself unlikely to ever win a playoff game simply because he is currently O-fer in said affairs and looked worse than awful in what basically amounted to a playoff game in Philly. Nor do I join many in believing Romo’s failing is that he doesn’t get "it" despite what he said after the game.
His job is not to cry crocodile tears, like a certain receiver, to convey hurt and pain to fans.
His job is to be a leader, on the field, off the field, when assessing a debacle like Philly.
Romo obviously wants all of the fame, wealth and status of being the QB of America’s Team, but apparently none of the responsibility that comes with said title. Part of that includes being a leader, and a big hunk of being a leader includes not blaming "scheme" for what were, at least partly, your failures.
Forget T.O’s criticism of JG. He’s always whining.
When Romo heaved JG under the bus before embarking on his Very Simpson New Year’s celebration, that spoke volumes. He became a little like a certain initialed receiver.
What is sad is Owner Jones apparently had bought into what he and TO have been selling about scheme, thus completing The RHG’s fall to The Redheaded Idiot, aka The Scapegoat.
JG has a chance, though, since Bowlen is not done listening.
And if somehow he is offered the Broncos’ job, he’d be an idiot not to jump at the chance. Franchise QB or not. Because those things tend to be in flux, kind of like Gs.
Another season of "more whatever" is not likely to make him any smarter.