Dallas Cowboys owner must let either T.O. or Garrett go
by Jean-Jacques TAYLOR
IRVING – This is not the time for Jerry Jones to lie to himself.
First, he should tell the yes men who surround him to shut up. Then Jerry must make his toughest decision in a decade.
Jason Garrett or T.O. must go.
They can no longer coexist because T.O. doesn't respect Garrett as a play caller and play designer, and Garrett doesn't have the personality to command the receiver's respect.
So Jerry must choose: T.O. or Garrett.
No one said it would be easy. This is what leaders do. They make tough decisions when others don't have the courage to do it.
Then they deal with the fallout.
Unlike Jerry's foolish decision to maintain the status quo and keep Wade Phillips as the head coach, the owner can't ignore the growing chasm between T.O. and Garrett.
Keep them together and it will result in a season more disastrous than the debacle we watched in 2008 as hard as that might be to believe.
There are reasons to keep T.O. because he can still be a dynamic player, though he had only two games with more than 100 yards receiving this season. Still, he finished with 1,062 yards and 10 touchdowns, despite Tony Romo missing three games.
The litany of reasons to let him go is considerably longer.
T.O. is a declining player, and we all know he will absolutely be the last person to know it and accept it.
You don't need the expensive, petulant receiver to go 9-7. And you certainly don't need him to go 0-2 in playoff games. T.O. considers himself the ultimate difference-maker, a player who makes the difference between winning and losing.
Have we really seen that? Dallas is 10-10 and its last 20 games.
T.O. is a charismatic leader, and the Cowboys have no one in the locker room or on the coaching staff who can usurp his power, which allows him to undermine Garrett and others.
If he's not here, then Roy Williams can be the No.1 receiver and Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton can be the second and third options, which is fine because tight end Jason Witten will catch 80 to 90 balls.
More importantly, Romo can go through his progressions without wondering whether T.O. will go ballistic after the next play. Or series. Or game.
The problem, of course, is that Garrett has only been a coordinator for two seasons.
There's no guarantee he will be the next offensive guru no matter how much Troy Aikman, Daryl Johnston and others tout his intelligence and preparation. We must judge him by what we see.
No more, no less.
What we saw this season was an unimaginative offense that failed to make adjustments after defenses figured it out in October. We saw Tony Romo's obvious regression, and we saw poor judgment in keeping Brad Johnson as the backup.
Don't forget, the offense also faded last December. We can't assume it was an aberration.
Maybe Tony Sparano, who handled the protections and the running game, was the genius behind Garrett. Based on the success Sparano had as Miami's head coach and the Cowboys' empty numbers this season, the question must be asked.
None of that should make you comfortable picking Garrett over T.O., but a choice must be made.
Garrett has interviewed with Denver and reportedly interviewed with Detroit, but he shouldn't get either one of those jobs based on his performance this season.
A year ago, after he turned down head coaching jobs with Baltimore and Atlanta, Jerry made him the NFL's highest-paid assistant coach. One bad season shouldn't change Jerry's conviction about Garrett, especially since he's already missed out on hiring Sean Payton and Sparano, or is says more about Jerry than it does about Garrett.
We know T.O. is on the decline; we're not sure about Garrett. That's why choosing Garrett makes the most sense.
IRVING – This is not the time for Jerry Jones to lie to himself.
First, he should tell the yes men who surround him to shut up. Then Jerry must make his toughest decision in a decade.
Jason Garrett or T.O. must go.
They can no longer coexist because T.O. doesn't respect Garrett as a play caller and play designer, and Garrett doesn't have the personality to command the receiver's respect.
So Jerry must choose: T.O. or Garrett.
No one said it would be easy. This is what leaders do. They make tough decisions when others don't have the courage to do it.
Then they deal with the fallout.
Unlike Jerry's foolish decision to maintain the status quo and keep Wade Phillips as the head coach, the owner can't ignore the growing chasm between T.O. and Garrett.
Keep them together and it will result in a season more disastrous than the debacle we watched in 2008 as hard as that might be to believe.
There are reasons to keep T.O. because he can still be a dynamic player, though he had only two games with more than 100 yards receiving this season. Still, he finished with 1,062 yards and 10 touchdowns, despite Tony Romo missing three games.
The litany of reasons to let him go is considerably longer.
T.O. is a declining player, and we all know he will absolutely be the last person to know it and accept it.
You don't need the expensive, petulant receiver to go 9-7. And you certainly don't need him to go 0-2 in playoff games. T.O. considers himself the ultimate difference-maker, a player who makes the difference between winning and losing.
Have we really seen that? Dallas is 10-10 and its last 20 games.
T.O. is a charismatic leader, and the Cowboys have no one in the locker room or on the coaching staff who can usurp his power, which allows him to undermine Garrett and others.
If he's not here, then Roy Williams can be the No.1 receiver and Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton can be the second and third options, which is fine because tight end Jason Witten will catch 80 to 90 balls.
More importantly, Romo can go through his progressions without wondering whether T.O. will go ballistic after the next play. Or series. Or game.
The problem, of course, is that Garrett has only been a coordinator for two seasons.
There's no guarantee he will be the next offensive guru no matter how much Troy Aikman, Daryl Johnston and others tout his intelligence and preparation. We must judge him by what we see.
No more, no less.
What we saw this season was an unimaginative offense that failed to make adjustments after defenses figured it out in October. We saw Tony Romo's obvious regression, and we saw poor judgment in keeping Brad Johnson as the backup.
Don't forget, the offense also faded last December. We can't assume it was an aberration.
Maybe Tony Sparano, who handled the protections and the running game, was the genius behind Garrett. Based on the success Sparano had as Miami's head coach and the Cowboys' empty numbers this season, the question must be asked.
None of that should make you comfortable picking Garrett over T.O., but a choice must be made.
Garrett has interviewed with Denver and reportedly interviewed with Detroit, but he shouldn't get either one of those jobs based on his performance this season.
A year ago, after he turned down head coaching jobs with Baltimore and Atlanta, Jerry made him the NFL's highest-paid assistant coach. One bad season shouldn't change Jerry's conviction about Garrett, especially since he's already missed out on hiring Sean Payton and Sparano, or is says more about Jerry than it does about Garrett.
We know T.O. is on the decline; we're not sure about Garrett. That's why choosing Garrett makes the most sense.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:16 PM
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