Cowboys Blow 23-point Lead, Garrett’s Job in Jeopardy
The Dallas Cowboys let the NFC East lead slip away with one of their worst second half performances in franchise history Sunday afternoon. The Cowboys blew a 26-3 halftime lead and lost 37-36 to the Aaron Rodgers-less Green Bay Packers.
If Dallas fails to make the postseason and Head Coach Jason Garrett is relieved of his duties by owner Jerry Jones, the coach has no one else to blame but himself.
Garrett, the often hands off leader, let his quarterback Tony Romo and Bill Callahan his offensive coordinator potentially determine his future with the Cowboys with some of the worst decisions seen on an NFL playing field.
It is very difficult to play at home, have a 23-point lead at halftime and lose. However, the Cowboys succeeded because of Callahan’s questionable offensive play calling and too many turnovers.
Just a couple of seasons ago, a similar situation took place at home against the Detroit Lions, when Dallas blew a 24-point lead in the third quarter to lose.
Leading by 23 points one would think the running game would be the way to eat up clock and keep the opposing offense off the field.
Dallas enjoyed success in the first half running with DeMarco Murray rushing for 93 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. However, when Dallas should have used him most Murray only had 7 rushes and 41 yards in the second half.
Why would a team throw so many passes, 48 in all, when they lead by 23, 19 and 12 at different stages of the second half.
From just over one minute left in the third quarter until just under three minutes left in the fourth. A period of approximately 13 minutes, the Cowboys passed the ball on 14 out of 15 offensive plays.
Garrett should have told is offensive coordinator and Romo to shut down the passing game and run the football. It was obvious that Green Bay had a tough time stopping Murray in the running game.
Murray had at least 4 yards or more in all but four of his 18 carries along with 4 rushes that totaled 10 or more yards. Murray only lost yardage rushing on one carry and that was early in the game.
However, Garrett decided to be passive in his role as the head coach and let Callahan and Romo decide the second offensive approach.
The last five minutes of the fourth quarter might be the worst of it. With just over four minutes left to play, Dallas had the ball and a 36-31 lead. The Packers had scored on four consecutive possessions and no one could think the porous Dallas defensive would stop them if they had another opportunity.
The way to win would be eating up the clock. Dallas was able to get one first down with just 3:00 minutes left on the clock. A pair of first downs more and Green Bay would not have much time if any to rally.
Murray ran the ball on first down for 4 yards and Green Bay stopped the clock at 2:58. NFL stats show that at that time, Dallas had 88% chance of winning.
Romo made a change at the line of scrimmage and audibled for a pass play, threw an interception and Green Bay went down the field and scored.
Things are not good in Cowboy Country today.
