Tag Archives: Jason Garrett

Callahan vs. Garrett

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Vernon Bryant/Dallasnews.com

A quick look at Bill Callahan’s career as an NFL play caller shows a very impressive resume. Rather than compare Callahan’s stats as an offensive coordinator with Garrett’s using yards as the barometer, we will simply look at scoring offense.  This is the area where Garrett, whose offense in yards has been very productive, has struggled.

When Callahan took the Oakland Raiders’ offensive coordinator job in 1998, the improvement was not immediate. The Raiders finished that season 22nd in scoring offense at 18 points per game. 1999 was a great turnaround as Oakland finished 8th at 24.4 points per game. 2000 was even better: 3rd at an astonishing 29.9 ppg. In 2001 they fell back to Earth with only 24.9 ppg, but still finished 4th in scoring offense. 2002 was a bounce-back year, as the Raiders were 2nd in scoring offense at 28.1 ppg. He was the head coach of the Raider team that went to the Super Bowl. In 2003, the team quit on him and Oakland only scored 16.9 ppg. That is 4 of 6 seasons in the top ten in the league, and 3 times in the top 5.

Garrett was handed the keys to the Dallas offense in 2008 when Tony Sparano left to allow him to run the entire show. Since then, they have finished 18th, 14th, 7th,15th, and 15th in scoring offense. The highest points per game average was 24.6 in 2010. Callahan’s best was 5.3 higher in 2000, and his second highest was 3.5 points higher in 2002. Garrett’s average points per game over the past 5 years is 23.28. Callahan’s average was 23.7 with the 2003 season included in which both the Raiders players and possibly Callahan himself didn’t have much interest in being successful. Without that season, Callahan’s average jumps to 25.06 ppg. In average league position, Garrett’s Cowboys rank 13.8th in the league, Callahan’s raiders 10.8.

On paper, Callahan calling plays should improve the Cowboys weakness on offense, scoring efficiency. If Callahan can be more consistent with the Cowboys, they could improve dramatically. If that happens, and Garrett improves as a game manager, Dallas could be facing a much brighter future.

Position Preview: Center

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Phil Costa Suffers Yet Another Injury

photo by nbcdfw.com

Travis Kvaal

While we wait for the Cowboys to hire a new defensive coordinator, we will be moving our position preview series to the offensive side of the ball  Unlike the Cowboys, we will start our position evaluations at the ball and move out from there.  Tonight is the center position.

Center is an extremely important position going forward for the Cowboys as they saw three different players start at least one game in the 2nd most important position along the offensive line. Here are my evaluations of the Cowboys’ options:

Phil Costa:  Your first choice center going into training camp was not healthy to start the year.  At the time, I thought that might be a blessing in disguise as the 2011 campaign did not convince me that he deserved another shot at the job.  The first game of the season didn’t change my mind as he got hurt on the 3rd snap of the season.  I must admit his perception was changed a bit as he mashed in games against the Ravens and continued the most dominate play of his career against the Panthers.  For the first time in his career, Costa looked like a starter; he was winning battles at the line of scrimmage, he was not snapping the ball over Romo’s head and he was calling out the right adjustments.  He was playing high-caliber football.  The bad news was that he only did it for 6 quarters, as he dislocated his ankle in the 3rd quarter of the Panthers game.  So here is the decision for Jason Garrett and his staff: does 6 quarters of good football make you comfortable going forward with Costa as your starter in the future?

Ryan Cook: Cook appeared in 13 games and started 11 this season.  To be honest, even though he played the position more than any other Cowboy this season,  I have less to say about him than the other two candidates.  I just don’t think he’s a good enough player to be the starter at center, or any position for that matter.  If they keep him as a backup next season I won’t be upset, unless the injury-prone Costa is the guy in front of him on the depth chart. Cook is just quality enough to play a lot of snaps on your offensive line if you expect to be a winning team. The main gripes about him are that he has a hard time reacting to a cadence on time – which causes pre-snap penalties – and he is simply not strong enough to stand up to interior defensive lineman.  There also seemed to be several instances where he and the guards could not get it together on inside twist stunts, and as the center, I put that on his shoulders.

Mackenzy Bernadeau:  Bernadeau started two games at the center position,  and he played much better than I thought he would, considering he had never delivered a snap in a game at any level.  His snaps were crisp for the most part (although I think he rolled one or two), and he did a decent job being in the way.  It looked like Romo was making most of the line adjustments with him and Cook.  The only real problem I have with Bernadeau is that at the guard position, he tends to lunge off the ball with a head-up player, and at center he seemed to be a step slow while concentrating on his snaps.  This could be a deadly combination if he’s installed as the full-time starter.  With a full training camp (which he didn’t have this season because of injury), he may be able to overcome these tendencies. I love his size and strength at the position, and the fact that if he is able to make the transition, the Cowboys could draft a guard and upgrade at two positions.

Verdict:  I think the Cowboys need to draft a center, preferably one in the mold of David DeCastro that is able to play guard as well (crosses fingers, Barret Jones). This would allow Costa, the rookie and Bernardeau battle it out for the two positions.  Then the Cowboys could plug the rookie in his best position and if Costa beats Bernadeau out of right guard, or Bernadeau beats Costa out for center, then so be it.

Goodbye Silver Lion

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(Photo by Tim Sharp, Caller.com)

Rob Ryan has overstayed his welcome in Dallas,  and Jerry Jones’ promise of big changes has landed not only at the feet of Skip Peete.  I was a fan of Rob when he was hired,  and I don’t know that I’m not a fan of him today.  I think he will be successful in future stops.  I like his schemes. I think he gets a little too exotic at times, and I have no idea how he so often put out 9, 10, or 12 men on the field.  I love his charisma, I love his attitude, and to be honest, I think I would have loved to play for him.

I don’t think he was hired by Jason Garrett – I think Rob Ryan is all Jerry. I think that the two personalities clashed more than once.  Garrett asked him to tone down the tough talk in year one, and asked him to tone down the blitzing in year two.  At full strength this season his defense was difficult to score on,  but couldn’t get a turnover to save their lives.  Late in the year, although injured, they were pitiful, needing Romo and the offense to score 30 to have a chance in most games.  Getting run over the way they did against Washington proved to be inexcusable,  whether or not they were missing 5 starters and a backup.

On a positive note, this move may allow the Cowboys to go back to a 4-3 defense, and really with the history of this club that’s what they should be.  The move would not only be about history, but also about getting the most out of the personnel currently at Valley Ranch.  Imagine a world were DeMarcus Ware and the sure-to-be-resigned Anthony Spencer never drop back in coverage.  Imagine Sean Lissemore, Tyrone Crawford, Jason Hatcher, and Marcus Spears as traditional defensive tackles.  All of a sudden the loss of Jay Ratliff and Josh Brent are no longer so crippling.  There is less need to find a giant nose tackle early in the draft.  Dan Connor could even be an option as a strong side linebacker.  This team has the parts to build a Jimmy Johnson era 4-3 built on sideline-to-sideline speed.

The decisions on the replacements of Skip Peete and Rob Ryan need to be made now - and by Jason Garrett.  You have to know which defense you are plugging players into before you go into the draft, even before you start your evaluations for the draft.  And I am really hoping the 4-3 is the direction that they take into the future.

The real question with a 4-3 is this: can Sean Lee and Bruce Carter play as well with 600 pounds in front of them as they did with 900 pounds in front of them.  I think the answer is truly yes.  While neither player is big on taking on blocks, both have the quickness and instincts to get around blocks and make plays. Also, they both seem to be perfect fits for a Cover 2 style base defense that drops linebackers in deep zones to make plays in the passing game.  I also really like the idea of Sean Lee being responsible for picking up backs out of the backfield as opposed to DeMarcus Ware pulling out of his rush, making the read and chasing someone half his size down the sideline.

4-3 or 3-4 is not the most important question in this debate though. The most important question is who is doing the hiring.  Now is Jason Garretts’ time,  and guessing by the rolling heads at Valley Ranch, that time is running short.  It is imperative for the future of the Dallas Cowboys that Garrett make these calls.  He needs to be given a real chance to succeed, with a running backs coach that doesn’t undermine him and a defensive coordinator that falls in line behind him.  Guys that he doesn’t have to wonder if they are more interested in building their resume then helping him win.  Guys that can mimic his message, and share his vision in building a football team.

His guys; not Jerrys’.