First off, I want to thank readers for keeping the raillery to a respectable level. I was expecting worse, and I wouldn’t deny I deserve it. This is the most shocking and damaging loss I have ever watched as a Cowboys fan of 33 years.
But how did the Cowboys lose? The Landry Hat, using my real name, Dan, was on Sirius Radio’s Opening Drive this morning to talk about one thing: the coaching. Randy Cross, one of the show’s hosts, hit the nail on the coffin when he said I wouldn’t promote offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to head coach just for his playcalling. And if Tony Sparano wants to leave, then LEAVE! That was the worst performance all year of the Cowboys offensive line and you can easily link that to Sparano’s head being elsewhere, like in Miami. Instead of preparing for the game, Sparanoo was talking to his family about Miami. Good bye.
The defense was awful. The offensive line looked ugly. Tony Romo was pressured the entire second half. Receivers dropped two very important passes. Patrick Crayton, Mr. Big Mouth, stopped running a route in the final minute of the game. He dropped two passes. To me, this all has to do with coaching and preparing the players for a huge playoff game against a divisionall foe.
On Sirius Radio, I brought up the coaching and playcalling. During the success of the 90s Cowboys, there was one play that I cannot forget. This play was used when the defenses blitzed Troy Aikman. This play was almost always successful. It’s called the quick slant, and it was almost always thrown to Michael Irvin. Sometimes it went for the intended five yards, but Aikman avoided the sack. Sometimes it went for much more because Irvin could break away.
Fast foward to last night. We have a receiver like Terrell Owens, who some could argue is better than Irvin. Not one quick slant pass was thrown to avoid that incredible pressure from the Giants. In fact, it seemed as the pressure increased and the offensive line fell apart more, Tony Romo was still looking deep. The guys on Sirius Radio couldn’t agree with me more. The play calling on offense was questionable at best. The play calling was questionable at best for the last five games of the season.
So, now the season is over. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to make this team Super Bowl caliber. The Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game since 1996 and it’s downright painful. Will Wade Phillips be fired? He is 0-4 in the playoffs. Romo is 0-2. We know at least Sparano is leaving, and that’s fine with me. But should we fire defensive coordinator Brian Stewart? What coaching changes will be made, if any, in the offseason?
I certainly think several need to be made. Although I recommended Garrett become the head coach, I am not sure he is ready for it. I never was happy with Wade Phillips’ coaching style. I don’t see a leader in him and I think the Cowboys need more of a hard-nosed coach. Not another Bill Parcells, who is demeaning, but a Bill Cowher-type coach who would not tolerate mindless penalties. Eleven penalties in a playoff game, when the other team had only three, is just unacceptable. That’s coaching. Coaches prepare teams. Coaches ensure the players’ heads are in the game. Coaches call the plays. Coaches call the schemes.
Coming later tonight will the The Landry Hat’s first mock draft. This will be a key draft year and free agent offseason because the Cowboys are so close to being the best. We have the fourth youngest team in the NFL, and there is plenty of room to improve. I think the first bullett on the list is to search for some new coaching. It may not be Phillips who hits the road, but I’d like to see some improved playcalling for the 2008 season.
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Ok, so you deleted my last post on this site so, I will try one more time. Your pain and humiliation is so great that even my HUGE bag of salt to pour in your open words would not add to your pain. You called out all the right people but, one. You left off your knuckle head owner. Good old Jerry who purchased extra NFC Championship game tickets for he players families and left them in the lockers then leaked it to the press before the game that he had done it! I do not know who should feel like the bigger jackass this morning, the Cowboy’s players, coaches, owner, or fans who trusted those other three to correct the clear mistakes that were going on? This is a deep question that will keep me thinking for a while.
There are lots of people to blame for that loss. Overall I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for the ‘Boys this year.
Charles, I did not and do not delete posts. I am not sure what happened, but the Landry Hat keeps posts no matter how critical. Sorry.
Dallas had no deep threat. TO had a flat tire, Glenn is done, Crayton sucks, and the rest barely play.Dallas tried to ride Marion Barber to victory, and that worked for two quarters. The Giants made great half time adjustments, shut down Barber, and blitzed on passing downs. Romo did a fairly good job of bailing the offense out of a ton of 3rd-and-long situations, but he choked at the end.
It’s not how I would necessarily call the outcome,but that’s fine.
Again, you call on Phillips to be fired to get more attention. The funny thing is about this post is you criticize the offensive play calling. WADE PHILLIPS IS A DEFENSIVE COACH. He surely has veto power, but I suspect Jason Garrett is given some sort of freedom to run his offense.And if Wade Phillips is so bad, why hadn’t you said anything prior to the loss to the Giants.
Ryan, I am not going to go back and forth with you all day. I am not the only Cowboys fan who thinks Phillips is the wrong head coach. And I did early on criticize the hiring and I can prove it. However, through weeks 1-5 there wasn’t a whole lot to complain about because the Cowboys looked great. It seemed unbelievable. The loss to the Patriots brought some criticism because the defense seemed inconsistent. In December, I was trumping the team too much and ignoring the truth. I was being too much of a homer. But in hindsight it was obvious that the coaching staff failed to change the game plan from week 1. It tried to ride those waves all the way to Arizona and you just cannot do it that way in the NFL. Look at the Patriots. They hardly ran the ball at all and then these last few games the coaches changed the game plan up a bit and ran more. Wade Phillips, as the leader of the coaching staff, made absolutely NO ADJUSTMENTS to the game plan.
I am not sure how much freedom Jason Garrett has but I do criticize him. But if Wade doesn’t call the plays, he doesn’t call the defensive schemes and he doesn’t call the special teams plays, then what the hell does he do? He prepares the team to win. He evaluates talent. HE STARTED JULIUS JONES ALL YEAR LONG!!!! AND HE SAID IN AN ARTICLE HE DID IT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO KEEP Julius happy. Ryan….come on…I’ve laid out reason after reason. Maybe some, maybe most of the reasons are more connected to the assistant and specialized coaches. Fine. But The Landry Hat was never happy with the hiring of the coach. It’s tough to complain when you go 5-0 and then 13-3, but no true fan really wants to hammer the team until the season is over. So, I’ve learned from my mistakes. This coming season, as I said, there will be a new-reformed Landry Hat. I’m not going to homer my team anymore. I will be more upfront and honest. And I hope we have some new coaches to help me out.
Re: Chambers and deleting posts. As one of the most active and vocal Cowboy haters on this site, I can testify that never once has Landry ever deleted a post of mine. Even the scathing ones. Just for the record. Landry may be an arrogant and vocal homer who thinks the sun shines out of Tony Romo’s ass, but he does let people speak their mind here.
Dear Landry Hat: If free agent Todd Collins leaves the Skins, should they try and pick up Eli Manning?
No. The skins believe Jason Campbell is their answer. But riggosrag.com might answer that better.
Hey, Jason Campbell has the same number of playoff wins as Romo, and two fewer losses.
Not funny gehenna. not funny.