The Dallas Cowboys are going into this season in an odd position. After last season, it is hard for people to have intimidating expectations. The Cowboys were a disaster, and everyone saw there are a lot of different things they need to work on.
What makes it odd, however, is that talent was not the root of the problem last season. Most of the top players on the team either struggled to get comfortable, or could not get on the field at all.
The team was a mess last season, and they were never able to put things together on either end. Jason Garrett is not far off from a coach of the year award, but the Cowboys will only be so patient with him.
After last season, there should be little doubt that Garrett is coaching for his job this season, but there was still good reason to keep him around. With everything the Cowboys dealt with last year, making the playoffs may have been an unrealistic expectations.
The Cowboys were putting everything on some of the youngest players on the team, and they never established any consistent and stable play on either end. The Cowboys have to figure things out, and Garrett has done enough and dealt with enough to earn another opportunity this season. We have seen him succeed with the kind of pieces they have in place, but they gave also seen him fail on multiple occasions.
No matter what happens this season, the Cowboys will not be dealing with as much turmoil of last season. Because of that, there is no way the Cowboys can struggle without the team regressing, and regression with so much young talent is absolutely unacceptable from the coaching staff.
Now, however, there is going to be nothing for him to hide behind if the Cowboys struggle. They appear to be making decisions to make Dak Prescott’s life simpler, while putting even more focus on the running game with Ezekiel Elliot and their dominant offensive line.
Especially with Garrett’s history on the offensive side, there will be no excuses for him if it does not work this season. The Cowboys have all the pieces they need to be the most dominant rushing team in the NFL, and that is the standard right now.
There is nothing that can happen to this team that would excuse Garrett if this offense struggles like last season. It is on him to make sure they establish their identity and get all the talent on offense in a position to be great this season.
He has less responsibility on defense, but that side of the ball has struggled too much. This season, however, things feel different. Jaylon Smith could give them a dominant linebacker core with Sean Lee, Byron Jones is a difference maker in the secondary and Demarcus Lawrence is getting ready to dominate games.
A big different this season is that talent on defense, because the Cowboys have struggled on that end far too much under Garrett.
The Cowboys have talent on both ends, and they have good young pieces that were drafted by this team. This is the season when everything needs to come together for Garrett, because he needs to be held responsible if the team once again fails to put things together.
Injuries happen to every team every season, so even that would not be enough to save Garrett if the Cowboys struggle this season. He has proven that he is capable of having everything come together in a special way, because we saw that the year he won coach of the year.
If, however, he is not able to establish that kind of culture and situation for the Cowboys this season, it will be time for the Cowboys to move onto someone else. Garrett has been given his opportunities, and if his way and vision does not work this season, they will be better off putting their talent in the hands of someone else.
Being a coach in the NFL is a fragile thing, and Garrett’s ride so far has been far from smooth. It takes consistent dominance for a team to hold on to a coach for extended periods of time, and the Cowboys have already been more patient with Garrett than many expected.
With how good the Cowboys were in their strong seasons, however, and the work they have done drafting young talent, Garrett will be under more pressure this season than he has faced at any point in his career.
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