Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks: A Tale of Two Teams
The handling of the Minnesota Vikings
Quite the jump in timeline from the offseason to the middle of the season, but the loss to the Minnesota Vikings exposed a lot about this team, specifically their coaching staff.
The Cowboys started very slowly and found them in an instant deficit to end the first quarter. The team came out slow for the nth time in a game and it happened in the worst way. The Vikings were able to use Dalvin Cook however they wanted and the Cowboys seemingly had no answer. A combination of poor tackling and poor play recognition led to a 14-0 deficit.
After the Cowboys seemed to have some momentum in the fourth quarter, quarterback Dak Prescott help the team travel 70 yards down the field in 5 plays. This was then followed up by 3 runs and an incomplete pass on 4th and 5. All these 4 plays happened after the 2 minute warning.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, they did.
The Cowboys sent Tavon Austin out to return a punt. Austin fair caught the punt when it looked like he had plenty of room to earn some field back for the team. With Tavon’s only job being punt returns, it is confusing why they weren’t clear on his role at this point in the game.
After losing the game by 4 points, the week was filled with questions regarding the Cowboys poor game management and special teams miscues. Unfortunately, all these questions resulted in Jason Garrett giving no clear answer while spreading the blame to others.
This loss showed the team’s true colors. It showed there was a lack of accountability within the building, a lack of adaptability, and quite a bit of stubbornness. It wasn’t the first time we experienced this as fans, but this was the last straw for a team expected to do so much more.
Shortly after that loss, we learned the Cowboys were not insistent on using in-game analytics to increase their win probability and have lacked the urgency we hoped they would have. The issue is that might not be the worst thing about what’s transpired this season.
Jerry Jones openly discussing coaching options while current head coach is employed
As a fanbase we have given Jerry Jones a lot of criticism. His stubbornness ruined a good relationship with Jimmy Johnson and has kept him from firing an incompetent head coach.
However, it also doesn’t help your head coach, who is coaching for his future job security, to openly discuss potential head coaching candidates. Jason Garrett has been known to be an excellent motivator of players by his team and others in the industry. How can one motivate others if his self-esteem is being depleted by Jones’s shenanigans.
To make matters worse, he’s letting him finish the season out when he could fire him and promote someone else to be interim head coach. It would make talking about coaches much easier and it gives his current coach the piece of mind to move on from a disastrous year.
Talk about beating a dead horse…
Through this turbulent Cowboys season, the Mavericks have been quite the opposite. Perhaps they are starting to run away with the title of “the model franchise of Dallas.”