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Cowlishaw: 'Really dumb' decision at end of half dooms Cowboys
02:04 AM CDT on Monday, September 13, 2010
COLUMN By TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News
wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
LANDOVER, Md. – Sometimes 60 minutes of football comes down to one terrible decision by the offensive coordinator. Sometimes one chorus of "Hail to the Redskins" after a touchdown is all that it takes.
The Cowboys gave the Washington Redskins seven points on the last play of the first half, and in a game in which both offenses were supremely challenged, that was the difference.
Dallas was a 13-7 loser at FedEx Field on a night when, well, you can't say the Cowboys deserved to win, but they certainly weren't destined to lose.
Not until one ridiculous call, anyway.
In a situation where the only reasonable thing for the Cowboys to do was to have Tony Romo take a knee, Garrett called a pass play. This was 64 yards from the Redskins' goal line and with four seconds to go in the first half.
And instead of heaving a deep ball, Romo threw short to Tashard Choice. Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall stripped Choice of the ball, recovered the fumble and ran 37 yards for Washington's only touchdown of the night.
The game would end with Garrett and the offense getting a chance at redemption – one final shot at the Washington end zone from the 13-yard line. But a holding call on tackle Alex Barron kept Romo's final pass to Roy Williams from meaning anything.
There was some measure of justice in that. You simply don't deserve a shot to win when you make a call as brutally bad as the one the Cowboys called at the end of the half.
Garrett had called a strange game already, focusing on lots of screens and quick passes to receivers at the line of scrimmage. He seemed to lack faith in the Cowboys' retooled offensive line being able to hold off the Redskins' pass rush for more than two seconds.
And in some cases, it looked like that was a safe assumption.
But given that, there's no reason to try to throw a short pass and hope that Choice goes 64 yards with it. Down 3-0, the Cowboys would have looked like a team just waiting to get started in the second half.
Down 10-0, they looked like a team in trouble. And they were
Coach Wade Phillips said the team had had a "Hail Mary" type pass called from the 46 and that when a penalty moved the ball back to the 36, they should have just called it off.
"That's my fault," he said. "We should have taken a knee."
No one argued with him, although Phillips is much more responsible for defensive lapses than for offensive meltdowns in the Cowboys' coaching structure.
"They've got to take a knee," ex-coach Tony Dungy said on NBC at halftime. "Not smart football."
Former safety Rodney Harrison was even stronger in his condemnation of Garrett's call.
"What are they thinking? There's absolutely no chance of scoring," Harrison said. "This has to be one of the dumbest plays I've ever seen."
In football, there are times to gamble and times to play it safe. A high-risk, no-reward play at the end of the first half can be deadly.
Does anyone recall last year's BCS national championship?
Texas was struggling with freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert in for the injured Colt McCoy. At their 37, Texas called timeout 15 seconds before halftime so that Gilbert could attempt a shovel pass. Alabama's Marcell Dareus intercepted the pass and ran for a touchdown – one the Crimson Tide would sorely need when the Longhorns would cut the lead to three points in the second half.
Maybe Phillips should have saved Garrett from repeating the Texas' mistake. On most NFL teams, you would probably look at it that way.
But the Cowboys are different. (Garrett being hired before Phillips back in 2007 pretty much illustrates that.)
And we know that Garrett is paid about $3 million a year to be one of the smartest coordinators in football, not someone who needs to be told the difference between a good idea and a really dumb, game-losing idea.
• • •
02:04 AM CDT on Monday, September 13, 2010
COLUMN By TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News
wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
LANDOVER, Md. – Sometimes 60 minutes of football comes down to one terrible decision by the offensive coordinator. Sometimes one chorus of "Hail to the Redskins" after a touchdown is all that it takes.
The Cowboys gave the Washington Redskins seven points on the last play of the first half, and in a game in which both offenses were supremely challenged, that was the difference.
Dallas was a 13-7 loser at FedEx Field on a night when, well, you can't say the Cowboys deserved to win, but they certainly weren't destined to lose.
Not until one ridiculous call, anyway.
In a situation where the only reasonable thing for the Cowboys to do was to have Tony Romo take a knee, Garrett called a pass play. This was 64 yards from the Redskins' goal line and with four seconds to go in the first half.
And instead of heaving a deep ball, Romo threw short to Tashard Choice. Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall stripped Choice of the ball, recovered the fumble and ran 37 yards for Washington's only touchdown of the night.
The game would end with Garrett and the offense getting a chance at redemption – one final shot at the Washington end zone from the 13-yard line. But a holding call on tackle Alex Barron kept Romo's final pass to Roy Williams from meaning anything.
There was some measure of justice in that. You simply don't deserve a shot to win when you make a call as brutally bad as the one the Cowboys called at the end of the half.
Garrett had called a strange game already, focusing on lots of screens and quick passes to receivers at the line of scrimmage. He seemed to lack faith in the Cowboys' retooled offensive line being able to hold off the Redskins' pass rush for more than two seconds.
And in some cases, it looked like that was a safe assumption.
But given that, there's no reason to try to throw a short pass and hope that Choice goes 64 yards with it. Down 3-0, the Cowboys would have looked like a team just waiting to get started in the second half.
Down 10-0, they looked like a team in trouble. And they were
Coach Wade Phillips said the team had had a "Hail Mary" type pass called from the 46 and that when a penalty moved the ball back to the 36, they should have just called it off.
"That's my fault," he said. "We should have taken a knee."
No one argued with him, although Phillips is much more responsible for defensive lapses than for offensive meltdowns in the Cowboys' coaching structure.
"They've got to take a knee," ex-coach Tony Dungy said on NBC at halftime. "Not smart football."
Former safety Rodney Harrison was even stronger in his condemnation of Garrett's call.
"What are they thinking? There's absolutely no chance of scoring," Harrison said. "This has to be one of the dumbest plays I've ever seen."
In football, there are times to gamble and times to play it safe. A high-risk, no-reward play at the end of the first half can be deadly.
Does anyone recall last year's BCS national championship?
Texas was struggling with freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert in for the injured Colt McCoy. At their 37, Texas called timeout 15 seconds before halftime so that Gilbert could attempt a shovel pass. Alabama's Marcell Dareus intercepted the pass and ran for a touchdown – one the Crimson Tide would sorely need when the Longhorns would cut the lead to three points in the second half.
Maybe Phillips should have saved Garrett from repeating the Texas' mistake. On most NFL teams, you would probably look at it that way.
But the Cowboys are different. (Garrett being hired before Phillips back in 2007 pretty much illustrates that.)
And we know that Garrett is paid about $3 million a year to be one of the smartest coordinators in football, not someone who needs to be told the difference between a good idea and a really dumb, game-losing idea.
• • •
