Playing the Dallas Cowboys Blame Game
Well folks the bye week is officially over. We’ve all had ample time to bash on the Dallas Cowboys and what they have not been able to do to this point in the season. We’ve seen brief moments of greatness mixed in with a healthy dose of anxiety and grief. It’s tough being a Cowboys fan these days isn’t it? At times we think the defense is going to prop up this team and give the underachieving offense enough support to win ball games. At other times we think the offense is just about to break out and show their true potential. None of the above have been fulfilled and we sit collectively with our hands held out, hoping the ‘Boys will deliver.
So who’s to blame for this mess? It’s pure insanity that this team is not 4-0 or at least 3-1. Rather, they are hanging on to a very ugly 2-2 record that could have easily been a 1-3 record.
Oct 1, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee (50) talks with cornerback Brandon Carr (39) during a timeout from the game against the Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
Let’s start at the top. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones lives life 90% of the time with rose-colored glasses. He tries to find the diamond in the rough, or the player that is underachieving, and throws money at them hoping time spent in the circus that is Valley Ranch will make them into a prized possession. We all can probably count on one hand the times this has worked out. Pacman Jones? Nope. Tank Johnson? Not really. Roy Williams? Are you kidding me! Well he’s been at it again with this latest string of free agent signings. Of course Brandon Carr is a beast, and the only free agent acquisition that has been worth the money. As for the rest of them, there have been no real positive results on the field. Signing one player that pans out from an entire free agent class is not a victory, no matter how good that one player is.
Next up to the plate is head coach and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. When blame gets kicked around very rarely do you hear his name thrown into the mix. It usually gets put directly on Jerry Jones or defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, or a combination of the two. Garrett seems to be an afterthought when the media tries to find the root of the problem. Let’s not forget he has had his hand in most roster moves since he was appointed head coach, especially the ones made this last offseason. And the ones he hasn’t had much of a say in, he’s sat idly by and let Jerry do his handy work. If you don’t have the guts to stand up for your team then you should never be put in as the head coach. Bill Parcells would have never put up with this kind of funny business.
Along the same lines, Garrett needs to always be in the player’s heads. I can only speculate if he is or not, but when coaches like Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson were at the helm, they were the undisputed masters of their domain. It was their way or the highway. It seems like, at times, Garrett’s preaching of, “mental toughness,” and “playing the game the right way,” have an effect on the team, but at other times they seem to not be on board with the system. Can’t we get 21 more Sean Lees on this team already?
Last but not least there is our beloved Rob Ryan. Before he was hired he was touted as a great defensive-minded coach that has never had the talent to put a top-10 product on the field. Well there are no excuses now. There is talent flowing out from every position. This defense should be the number one rated unit in the league. Again they’ve shown flashes, but games are still being lost. Where’s the unit that held the New York Giants to a field goal after a Tony Romo interception was taken back deep into Dallas’ territory? Where is that fire? It better come here real soon, because that may be the only thing that keeps this team afloat for the remainder of the season.
In the end I don’t think the answer is to blow up this team and coaching staff. Dallas has a lot of young players that are possibly stars in the making. With that being said, adjustments need to be, and hopefully have been, made or die-hard Cowboys fans will be in for a long and excruciating remainder of the season.
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