A little about the legacy of Wade Phillips. During his time in Dallas he had a 35-23 record, and two NFC East Titles. Where that doesn't sound bad, if you're a fan of this team, those are just stats. We know what we saw on the field, and we know that it wasn't good. This season alone it has been more of an embarrassment to watch Cowboys games than the Buffalo Bills. At least they expected to be bad! If it was ever possible for a team to go backwards, the Cowboys have done that.This season has been a season of one problem, compounded by another. Poor offensive line play, stupid penalties, injuries, etc. It didn't seem to matter what the coaches said, or tried to do (if anything) this team has had a horrible lack of focus. Or so it seems by the performance on the field each week. The offensive line that was so good for the last 3 years all of a sudden showed their age (Slow off the ball, late getting blocks, or lapses in protections and pickups), and I think a lot of that is why Tony Romo had looked so tentative at the beginning of the season. Don't think he was tentative? Look at the film. He was never fully comfortable holding the ball for more than 3 seconds, and rarely took any shot down-field to stretch the defense because he knew he didn't have the time to wait.
So who is taking the reigns now that Wade's gone? Well... that responsibility goes to the supposed head coach in waiting, Jason Garrett. Before you mumble and grumble, I actually support this. This is exactly what we need as a fan. Jerry Jones has done everything he could to ensure that Garrett stays here, yet, as a fan we witness an anemic offense that cannot move the ball, or stalls out constantly. But this is Garrett's chance to show Jerry Jones, and us fans, why we should trust in him.
Jason Garrett now has 8 weeks to prove why he's Head Coach ready. We've all assumed that Jerry expects him to become the next Head Coach, but luckily we get a preview of this for the remaining half of the season. If he turns around a 1-7 start to a 4-4 finish without getting blown out, or barely winning with last second heroics, I'd fully expect Garrett to get the job. But if Garrett cannot turn this thing around, and gets us beat around more than we already have it's time to look outside.Yet with the way that this season is going overall, there could be several coach openings across the NFL and that's not a good thing for the Cowboys. For once, the Cowboys might not be the best place for a coach to go. Coming in here you have the personality of Jerry Jones to deal with. You will not have ultimate control of your team, or your coach selection. Did you know that Jimmy Johnson was the only Cowboys coach to ever be given control of his coaching staff? With that you probably lose any option of enticing a Bill Cowher, or Belleck, or Gruden from coming in. Jerry will want a puppet, and unfortunately that means that I don't believe this team will ever truly turn around until Jerry Jones passes away.
So Garrett? Show us what you can do. If you've ever wanted a legitimate chance to become a Head Coach this is the ultimate resume builder opportunity. First things first... Regroup this team! Get the Cowboys back to playing sound football. Then just make sure that we aren't putting an embarrassment out on the field with that Star on the helmet. That Star used to mean something special, and I hope we can get back to that.
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