Cowboys Brass Should Evaluate Coaching Staff
By Shawn Lealos
All season long, the Dallas Cowboys kept things close in wins and losses. Even when their defense collapsed and the team gave up 51 points to the Denver Broncos, they had some nice turnovers and the offense played well enough to keep up. After losing at the end to the Detroit Lions, having to come from behind to beat the lowly Minnesota Vikings and then getting blown out by the New Orleans Saints, cracks are widening and Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said everything needed to be evaluated.
"Any time you're having the type of issues we're having, everybody comes under fire," Jones told the media. "That's to be expected. That's part of what accountability is."
Defensive Struggles
Despite the injuries on defense to players like DeMarcus Ware, Morris Claiborne, J.J. Wilcox, Sean Lee, Jason Hatcher and the recently departed Jay Ratliff, the defense has major problems. They are opportunistic and can get a lot of turnovers, but opposing offenses are shredding them. There have been four men to surpass 400 yards passing against them and Drew Brees almost hit that number on Sunday.
They have been able to hold off some great running backs this season, including Jamaal Charles and LeSean McCoy, but on Sunday, Saints RB Mark Ingram ran for over 100 yards for the first time in his career. The first person that Jones needs to look at is defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, a man who took an average defense and turned them into the worst defense in the NFL.
Offensive Struggles
Next up is the offense. This team can play fantastic, and their performance against the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions proved it. However, they played their worst game of the season against the New Orleans Saints and had trouble moving the ball against the Vikings, a team that just won their second game of the season November 7.
People like to point fingers at Tony Romo and blame the quarterback, and he did play horrible last Sunday night. He once again escaped turnovers, but he threw some horrible balls and looked very bad. However, Romo is not the problem here. The problem that needs to be evaluated is the play calling of Bill Callahan.
Everybody assumed that Callahan taking over the play calling from Jason Garrett was a good thing, because that allowed Garrett to pay attention to the full picture. However, his play calling is puzzling at best. The Cowboys and DeMarco Murray have run the ball well this year, but Dallas wants to call three or four times more pass plays than running plays, which gives explosive teams like Denver, Detroit and New Orleans all the time in the world to run up the score.
What it all comes down to
"The type of defense we're playing right now puts a lot of pressure on the offense," said Jones. But the offense's lack of production and inability to control the clock has exhausted the defense as well. There are problems on both sides of the ball that need addressed. It is not just Monte Kiffin's fault, although he really needs to go. It is not all Bill Callahan's fault, although the Cowboys need to find someone else to call plays.
Finally, look at the injuries – which are building and getting ridiculous. So many players have hamstring problems and that is all on the shoulders of Mike Woicik, the strength and conditioning coach. Stephen Jones pointed out Woicik's six Super Bowl rings (three from Dallas and three from New England), but there is something wrong with this team and he has to be evaluated when it comes to the continuing injuries.
At least the special teams is playing well. That is one positive.
For more Cowboys news and updates, visit Cowboys Central.
Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. He writes for a variety of national publications and has over 15 years of sports journalism experience. Follow Shawn on Twitter @sslealos. Examiner.com.
