Two years ago the Dallas Cowboys were in a different, yet somewhat similar, situation as they are today.
It was 2015 and the Cowboys had fallen apart. After losing their most important offensive player in quarterback Tony Romo on Thanksgiving Day, the Cowboys season was officially over. Sure, there was an outside shot they could have gotten themselves in with a late run, but no one truly believed it could happen.
Their next game? Monday night against the hated Washington Redskins. Most expected them to fold to the eventual division winners, and probably get blown out on prime-time for the world to see.
Instead they stood up and fought. In an incredibly ugly game the Cowboys found a way to get their only win without Romo that season, and though it was just their fourth and final victory of the season, it still felt good.
That team played hard for Jason Garrett. That team decided they had had enough of the losing week after week. And, that team won a divisional game on the road.
Fast forward to this week.
The Cowboys, once again, are coming off of an embarrassing Thanksgiving day loss which virtually ended their season. Like 2015 they now face the Redskins on national television for the whole world to see.
While this game doesn’t have much importance to the NFC playoff race, I do believe it holds importance for the future of the Dallas Cowboys. If this team is to come out flat, and suffer a blowout loss at home for the third straight week, there is no way this coaching staff should be safe.
The one area which I have always given Jason Garrett credit is for his teams fighting. Even during that disastrous 2015 season, you saw that undermanned team fight every week. They never quit, and they were rarely blown out. They certainly were not blown out in the ways the 2017 Cowboys have been, three weeks in a row.
So, I think we will learn a lot about the 2018 Cowboys Thursday night. Another flat performance could mean the end for the Garrett, Linehan, Marinelli trio as we know it.
Regardless I believe the Cowboys are in need of some change, and I think that change is coming at the coordinator level. Or, maybe that’s just my own optimistic view of how Jerry and Stephen Jones will handle the coaching situation creeping in.
Need a new defensive coordinator. The bend but don’t break philosophy has played itself out. One player, Sean Lee, should not handicap the entire defensive unit when he’s not playing. Changes and adjustments should be made to compensate and too many times during games this year that has not happened. It seems like the defense holds firm in the first half and then the second half they completely fall apart after the opposing team makes adjustments. Yes, the offense struggling doesn’t help, but tell that to the Jaguars, whose offense has been struggling all year and yet they win games with their defense. Besides Barry Church, I can’t name anyone else on their defense so don’t say it’s because they have better defensive players.
Wayne, I have actually been a fan of Rod Marinelli, but at this point you can’t argue with the results. It appears that change is needed, even if it will be hard to make those changes. Thanks for reading!
I have never seen the genius in Rod Marinelli that has been spoken about. I think the scheme he employs simply is not effective in today’s game. I am equally unimpressed with Scott Linehan. He is no genius. When you have the weapons he has or has had you should be lighting up the scoreboard. Yeah it’s tough being without Elliot and the injuries on the O-Line but when you are setting all time lows with the offense it is a direct reflection on the coaching. I am not sure I’ve seen a double axing of coordinators before so I think Garret goes with them. I am not sure who the right man for the job will be but change is needed. Rumors of Romo as HC are swirling and that could be interesting though not sure if there is any substance to that. Change is needed in Dallas and now is the time.
We were just freed from Romo… ;^)
A new staff? Garrett was friggin coach of the year last season. And now after losing thier best offensive player, injuries in key positions and three rookie starters in the defensive backfield you want to clean house and hire a new coach and start from scratch!?!?
Look at the most successful teams: pats, Steelers, packers etc. what do they have in common? They don’t change coaches every 4 years.
A bad season for the reasons I listed above and Your want to implement a change the entire offense by brining in a new coach an a new system, with a 3rd year qb??
Hiring a new staff and head coach is not only redicilous, it will set this team back 3 years. Stand pat. Get healthy. Draft a lb’s, de’s and re-sign Lawrence and Hitchens.
time to get rid of ginger
The ENTIRE coaching staff should go. He had 7 years and he has proven time and time again he is not a HC…he’s not the next coming of Landry that Jones thinks he is….. he’s just not. He the middle of the road will be HC for one or two teams and that’s it…….. he’s not a HC.
I think the most important thing in this and ALL remaining games is to keep Dak healthy. He has been taking a beating and our OL has never been the same since they let Leary go (and, believe it or not, Doug Free retired). If he gets seriously injured, then we’ve not only lost this season but next season as well. They better find a good Offensive Lineman in FA or the draft. Same thing with LB and we need a good to great DB. Safety, Corner, whatever.
Scandrick should be a dime back at this stage and age as his body is breaking down. Byron Jones may make a better Corner than Safety and this year’s draft is supposed to be deep at Safety and RB, another position we drastically need a quality backup at. I just don’t understand why New England contends EVERY year and we are always a roller-coaster team. I think the answer lies in Jerry Jones’ ego and lack of ability to judge talent on the coaching level, along with his failure to admit it. Marinelli should be a DL coach, not coordinator. Our DL plays well for the most part but our Secondary is poorly coached and not extremely talented. Our Linebacking Corps minus Lee is average to below average, although I suspect coaching has a hand in that, too. If we had a monster in the center of our DL I believe we would have an outstanding DL. Dallas’ approach to a great Offense is fine as long as you have an above average Defense at the very least. A very good D and a great O will win SB’s, but our administrative department ALWAYS has us between a rock and a hard place with the Salary Cap while teams like Philly are talerted AND deep. Maybe they should try the Money Ball approach or hire a guy like UW’s head coach, Petersen. He has excelled at every level, although I know it’s a big jump from college to the pro level. But he has resurrected first Boise State, then the University of Washington (I know because that’s my team). While I’d hate to lose him there, he has actually PROVED he can judge talent and get his players to buy into his vision. But Jones will stick with Garrett, whom I like but I think is better suited to Offensive Coordinator. Jones has proved his talent judging ability by firing Mike Zimmer because our Defense wasn’t great. Well, that turned out to be because our players sucked and Zim was doing a great job with what he had. Makes me wonder how much input ANY of the coaches have when it comes to acquiring talent. Jones should grow a pair like he had when he hired Jimmy and let Peterson evaluate potential players, two of his former players, one being Demarcus Lawrence play on our D Line.