You can blame whoever you want but let’s start from the top and blame Jason Garrett for another Dallas Cowboys defeat. Garrett, together with Scott Linehan made one bad call after another and had led Cowboys to 21-12 loss vs. uninspiring Seattle Seahawks. The Cowboys are out of playoff race, while Seahawks still have a chance if they beat Cardinals and Falcons lose in Charlotte. Also, if you are passing by AT&T Stadium, you can still see Ezekiel Elliott waiting to carry that ball to the end zone from five yards distance.
After the last week win over Oakland Raiders, Cowboys were still in the playoff race. By the time their Sunday game started they already know that two results went their way. Falcons lost to New Orleans while Lions dropped the ball in Cincinnati. This put Cowboys in an excellent position to reach the postseason. The only thing left to do on that Sunday was to beat the Seahawks.
They started fairly good. Prescott wasn’t great, but he held Cowboys in the game until the fourth quarter. On the other hand, Linehan and Garrett weren’t on the same page as Prescott and Elliott. The later one, coming fresh from his six-game suspension was eager to get some yards to his name. While he was heavily used in the first half, in the second one, he had only three carries. When Cowboys entered inside Seahawks 5 yard territory, they didn’t hand the ball to Zeke. They had four and goal, 5 yards from the end zone and they didn’t run the ball. The first play was Prescott rush for one yard. The second attempt was an incomplete pass by Dak. This time, same as us, even Pete Carroll thought that Cowboys need to run the ball. After a holding penalty to Jason Witten and a sack Cowboys decided to shoot the field goal, but this time Dan Bailey failed to deliver.
When asked about these calls Garrett said: “The first down play was a run-pass option. They loaded up the box. The second down play was a play we liked.”
With Garrett calling the plays, the responsibility lies with him. Maybe it is the time for Jerry Jones to relieve him of all that burden. His decisions led the team to a few unpleasant defeats during his tenure. Just look at yesterdays game, or the playoff last season when they left too much time for Aaron Rodgers. Bad decision making and lack of time management skills are what Jason Garrett is missing.
In seven seasons that Garrett was the head coach, Cowboys had missed the playoffs five times. Seahawks are the first team in last fifty seasons to win a game despite having more penalty yards (142) than total yards (136) on the night. Not to mention, that they were without their Legion of Boom secondary leaders, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman. Everything was pushing on Cowboys side they just decided not to embrace it.
After the game, Prescott commented: “It’s frustrating. It will be hard to get over it, and I’m sure I will get over it in time, but now is not the time.”
Even with all the hardship that Cowboys had this season they still were close to the playoffs. In recent weeks, everything, including luck was on their side. Their opponent was beaten up both with injuries and with last round result vs. LA Rams, all they needed was to play a hard running game on them and win out. It’s just that Jason Garrett was having none of it!
With the rise of form in recent weeks, Cowboys would be a tough opponent on the road for any team they would face. The playoff-bound teams have Jason Garrett to thank for Cowboys missing the postseason.
