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DMN: Cowlishaw: A few more big wins will make Jason Garrett 'the guy'

tr1

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/111510dnspocowlishawcol.22e9ea7bc.html

COLUMN By TIM COWLISHAW

That's Jason Garrett – Only Cowboys Coach Never to Lose a Game. As of right now, anyway.

Garrett received a game ball following the Cowboys' 33-20 destruction of the division-leading Giants. It was a game in which Dez Bryant and Felix Jones continued to carve out their roles in the team's present and future. It was a game in which the New Meadowlands Stadium crowd of 80,851 was far more upset about the outcome than the blackout that created an eight-minute delay in the third quarter.

The electrical problem got fixed. The Giants never got a handle on the Cowboys, a team they beat in Arlington just three weeks ago during a five-game winning stretch that, in many minds, established them as the NFC's team to beat.

Maybe they are less than that based on Sunday's events. But, from the Dallas point of view, isn't this something that should have happened more than once in the season's first half?

No need in beating up on Phillips after Jones and his players kicked him to the curb. But Garrett's no-nonsense direction brought the Cowboys back into focus Sunday as they looked a lot like the team that finished 2009 as the class of the NFC East.

"This is the way to start," Jones said, "but I wouldn't want to put more on it than that." :)

For the fans out in front of the Garrett bandwagon, Jones couldn't extend him beyond this season if he wanted to. League rules mandate a legitimate search that includes a minority candidate.

But, realistically, three or four games like this against the kinds of quality opponents Dallas faces down the stretch will prolong Garrett's tenure beyond this season.

It wasn't as if he made wholesale lineup changes in his debut. NFL rosters are thin enough that there aren't but a few positions on any team that can present real battles for the starting spot.

Felix Jones started at running back instead of Marion Barber, sparking speculation (that Garrett denied) about Barber having violated the new coach's dress code. Barber got carries on the second, third and fourth plays of the game, so it wasn't like he was punished, anyway.

Other than that it was the same Cowboys that Phillips coached. Only it was a far different team in terms of effort and production.

This wasn't a group that gave the appearance of packing it in at the first injury or sign of trouble. In other words, this wasn't the 45-7 Green Bay loss revisited.

The defense was outstanding against the run. Giving up big passing yards wasn't a problem since rookie Bryan McCann set a Cowboys record with a 101-yard interception return and Alan Ball wrapped up the victory by picking off another Eli Manning pass.

Jones and Barber ran for 4.5 yards per carry, Bryant produced an unreal highlight reel and Jon Kitna had his best game maybe of this century.

But you can't say Garrett was simply the fortunate benefactor here. Coaches get fired for players' mistakes, and they get contract extensions for players going all out for them.

As his boss pointed out, Garrett got his first win the hard way.

"The circumstances of the week, the change, the criticism * that took away the glamour of him being a first-time head coach," Jones said. "He didn't get the fanfare most coaches get with that first game."

Instead, he took over a sinking ship and kept it afloat. Or maybe to update the metaphor, Garrett simply got the engines started on the Cowboys' stalled cruise ship.

The ship isn't doing anything more exciting than limping back toward home (at 2-7), but at least the passengers (fans) aren't as testy as they were 48 hours ago.

As Garrett put it, "It certainly helps the credibility of the message. It was a good day for us for a lot of different reasons."

In two months, we may look back on this as the best day in the short-lived Garrett era.

But two or three more victories like this one would remove any "short-lived" aspect of Garrett's stay at the top.

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tr1

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Wow, I guess I watched a differnt game than this guy.

Despite the horrible INTs by Eli, they dominated the clock, made a mockery of the pukes' secondary, and held the pukes to limited running gains (35 of the 104 were by Barber on the last half dozen or so plays in the meaningless last drive.)

The Giants' o-line was decimated by injuries, yet the pukes had ZERO sacks.

It doesn't take long for the hype machine to gear up...

:rotflmao:

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Califan007 The Constipated

Califan007 The Constipated

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Wow, I guess I watched a differnt game than this guy.

Despite the horrible INTs by Eli, they dominated the clock, made a mockery of the pukes' secondary, and held the pukes to limited running gains (35 of the 104 were by Barber on the last half dozen or so plays in the meaningless last drive.)

The Giants' o-line was decimated by injuries, yet the pukes had ZERO sacks.

It doesn't take long for the hype machine to gear up...

:rotflmao:

I was praying the hype machine would get turned back on again, actually lol...

As for this part:

But, realistically, three or four games like this against the kinds of quality opponents Dallas faces down the stretch will prolong Garrett's tenure beyond this season.

I say let the Cowboys sweep the Eagles, and beat the Cardinals...that'll give Garrett a 4-4 record with Kitna as QB, and will help the Skins out in the process.

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Mr. Jones

Mr. Jones

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I'm all for them finishing 8-8 with their only other loss being to us... That would be perfect. Then they're stuck with Garrett :ols:

If Garrett is the type of coach to turn this team around and go 7-1 you might regret that wish later. I'm not sold on the guy yet myself, but the players attitude and effort were completely different than the last few weeks. The Cowboys were far from perfect, but they beat a team that was considered by many the best in the NFC going into the game.If the giants had been healthier I'm not sure the outcome would of been the same, Steve Smith always seems to destroy the Cowboys for example.

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KDawg

KDawg

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If Garrett is the type of coach to turn this team around and go 7-1 you might regret that wish later. I'm not sold on the guy yet myself, but the players attitude and effort were completely different than the last few weeks. The Cowboys were far from perfect, but they beat a team that was considered by many the best in the NFC going into the game.If the giants had been healthier I'm not sure the outcome would of been the same, Steve Smith always seems to destroy the Cowboys for example.

They're in the honeymoon phase. Give it time. He'll return to being the Garrett Skin fans know and love :ols:

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pjfootballer

pjfootballer

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Yeah, I think you can chalk this game up to the players "Wanting" to get Garrett his first win in light of the problems that they've had all year. They'll probably beat Detroit, but then have the Saints marching into Dallass. I think by Thanksgiving, they revert to their old ways. They still have Philly twice, Washington, New Orleans, Arizona, Indy and Detroit left.

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ouvan59

ouvan59

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I'm all for them finishing 8-8 with their only other loss being to us... That would be perfect. Then they're stuck with Garrett :ols:

That would be awesome!!! It's a cold day in hell when I root for the Cowboys but it must have been cold day there yesterday. I thought it was great that they were dancing and celebrating all over the field again. Nothing has changed and it's great.

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