Radio Talk / Cowboy Coaching

Listening to the talk shows this week, the Cowboys have come under significant criticism.  Both Garrett and Ryan have been blasted on local and national shows.  I've heard Garrett mentioned as doing the worst coaching job in the league given talent and expectations, plus the 4th quarter failures.  I've heard less criticism of Ryan, but some have mentioned his failure to protect leads and the confusion that is apparent on the field at times.

One of my new favorites to listen to on the talking head circuit is Eric Mangini.  Obviously very smart and he gets his points across well.  He coached with Ryan and said he is incredibly smart and creative, but has to be reigned in at times in terms of his team's ability to grasp his ideas.  On another note, he talked this week about during his tenure with Belicheat and how they began to make a big effort at filling their roster with high character guys and feeling they could win that way.  Kind of interesting.

Back to the Cowboys, this week is shaping up as a referendum on the entire franchise from Romo, to Garrett, to management, to the roster, the whole 9 yards.  After the game failures this year, if we lose a 2-game lead with 2 to play and fail to make the playoffs, it will just be downright nasty around here. 

For me, I no longer have faith that they can rise to a big challenge.  Too many breakdowns in the defensive backfield, to many hits on Romo, too many red zone failures.  It hurts me to watch.  Just so average and so far from the stature that this franchise used to enjoy.  I will pull hard and hope for the kind of win that could propel the franchise forward into next year.  But these past few years make it hard for me to have faith.

S