After pitching a shutout at FedEx Field on Sunday night, what could we really have to complain about? These Cowboys secured a playoff spot, even if only a wildcard, they continued to play with some dominance in December, and they have a shot at winning the division next week in Arlington against Philly, if not a first round bye depending on how the Vikings and Cardinals play next week.
It’s a wonderful life, right?
Never mind Roy Williams dropping another pass. Or that spectacular drop sending the ball flying into the hands of a defender for the pick. He did catch a touchdown pass, so he’s vindicated, right? Right?
How about the repeated attempts to gain a single yard with Barber on the ground, we can just ignore that since the team won and got in the postseason, right?
See this is the problem with winning a game, even if certain major flaws were highlighted during this game, and they were, because they got the W nobody will say anything about it, and likely won’t do anything about it.
I get into this argument often with a fellow Cowboys fan – is Marion Barber worth what we put up for him? I think Barber is a great running back and all, but if we (ahem … Jason Garrett) continue to use him wrong, we’ll suffer as a team in the long run. That score very easily should have been 28-0 if not for the two stalls thanks to Barber running right into a wall that he, nor anyone else, could penetrate.
But hey, at least this way we got some confidence in Shaun Suisham. He wouldn’t have attempted a single field goal if not for one of those Barber stalls.
I mean I was sitting there watching them come to the line repeating quickly out loud “don’t run Barber.” And low and behold, it didn’t work. They ran Barber and failed to get the yards needed. That’s a problem.
Jason Garrett has been doing this since he got here though. First he was so stuck on Terrell Owens and getting him the ball, and now he’s stuck on making Barber into something that’s he’s not – a feature back.
Rumors keep circulating that we’ll be trading Barber next year. I mean we’ve got two backs that can easily pick up the slack and Barber’s salary isn’t getting any smaller, nor is the salary cap getting any bigger in the long run. I’m sure there are teams that would kill to have Barber in their backfield too.
It’s not that the guy isn’t a good rusher, he’s got skills, but we don’t use him right. We keep trying to force him up the middle even when the entire opposing defense is there waiting on him before the delayed handoff is ever delivered.
Why not go with a quick pitch to Jones on the outside? The defense was stacking the line and didn’t have anything for the outside lanes, why not let his burst pick up a measly yard? Good God man! Felix Jones could fart and pick up a yard.
But hey, everything is all peachy; we secured a playoff spot and head home to face the Eagles for the NFC East title.
All I know is that if we don’t stop trying to force Barber down the field, we’re not going to go far in the playoffs. That’s a mistake that will be taken advantage of in the postseason. We failed to get him across the line a couple of weeks ago, and we failed last night. It’s a failure that I place solely on Jason Garrett.
Rant concluded.
"Felix Jones could fart and pick up a yard." LOL
I kept yelling PLAY ACTION PASS on those plays, like they FINALLY did last weekend or weekend before? in the redzone. But of course, Garrett calls the run with Barber, and why the F are the pulling guards and all this fancy shit when there just trying to pick up a one yard gain? My hatred for Garrett continues every week haha.
Yeah it sucks pretty bad, and maybe part of it has to do with not having Colombo in there to help push the line, but plenty of teams pick up the one yard without Colombo, and we should be able to as well. The problem is that Garrett needs to understand you can't fit a square peg in a round hole, that some times you should just leave the immovable object the fuck alone and go around it.
I sincerely pray that he figures that out soon because we just finished the last game where that kind of shit is going to fly. From here on out, given that every team makes mistakes every week, that is the one mistake that will bury us in the playoffs. And we've done it enough lately to give the Eagles, Packers, Saints, and Vikings a good idea of where our weakness is.