Jason Garrett says Dallas Cowboys make adjustments during the game

This press conference was over a week ago, and after watching it, I was surprised these comments didn’t make a bigger splash. Maybe no one noticed, but I did.

To me, Garrett’s responses are almost shocking because they fly in the face of his reputation as a coach. It looks like the second questioner felt the same way I did, coming back to question Garrett, almost as if he’s saying, Are you sure you’re not doing this a little differently?

But Garrett stuck to his line that he’s always made adjustments and makes them throughout the game. His answers raise a few interesting questions:

1. Was Coach Garrett really being honest? The Cowboys have obviously improved dramatically at adjusting during the game. So maybe he was just trying to throw shade at the accusations themselves.  Maybe he was trying to say the accusers were always wrong, and that the problem was always execution, not the coaching.

Or …

2. Maybe Garrett was subtly saying the poor play in the third quarter last year was really the fault of former offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. He didn’t come out and say that exactly. But if we take Garrett at his word, that he’s always been trying to adjust, what other possibility is there? Linehan was calling the plays. Was he not listening to his boss?

Either way, it appears that newly elevated offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is at least partially responsible for the Cowboys’ improvement at adjusting throughout the game. This is great whatever the reasoning.

It’s also very refreshing to hear Garrett speak this way. Notice that in his comments, the Cowboys coach poo-poohed the idea that the staff would wait until halftime to make an obvious adjustment. As someone who found the Cowboys difficulties in the third quarter last season very frustrating, this comment is like a ray of sunshine in a dark room. It’s very, very encouraging.

Perhaps none of these comments matter in the larger sense.  Most fans don’t even care what the coach says in press conferences. Most don’t even watch these Q&A sessions. They just want to see the squad play well on Sunday.

The bottom line is that America’s Team has been one of the best in the league so far this year in the third quarter (at least until they played the New Orleans Saints). One of the Cowboys’ largest liabilities of last season has turned into a great strength.

One last point: Before the season, there was one pundit who said that Garrett might be able to improve his coaching in the adjusting category. Me. I even suggested he call his mentor, Nick Saban, coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, and ask his advice.

Which leads me to my final question: Are you reading this, Coach Garrett?  Did you take my advice?  Or is this just a suspicious coincidence?

I may never get an answer to this question. But that’s okay. No matter how these changes have come about, the Cowboys are playing a lot better. The coaching looks better, and the offense is light years better. All of this makes me want to break out in song.