Posts tagged JasonGarrett at FanHouse

As we get ready for this week's matchup between bitter rivals Cowboys and Redskins, I exchanged e-mails with Dave Halprin from Blogging The Boys. Dave was nice enough to offer some insights on Dallas for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Sportz Assassin: As a Redskins fan ... I will humbly admit that Dallas is the best team in the NFL. Is there any flaw on that team right now?

Dave Halprin: We're as excited about the potential of this edition of the Cowboys as we've been in a long time. In terms of personnel, I would still have to say our secondary can be exposed on occasion; the Eagles did it a couple of weeks ago, but the window on that might be closing. Terence Newman has returned to the lineup in full health and played a great game against the Packers. Adam "Pacman" Jones is starting to round into form after his long layoff from competitive football and rookie Mike Jenkins is getting some valuable experience that should help his game. So this unit should be getting better as the season progresses.

The Cowboys also have problems with self-inflicted wounds like penalties that we are racking up in alarming numbers. It hasn't hurt us yet in the final score but somewhere down the road it could. We also haven't been getting enough turnovers from our defense, something I would like to see get better.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: We know that Tony Romo isn't a fluke. He stepped in last year and had another fantastic season, setting team records in the process. There are questions remaining about distractions (Romessica) and winning a playoff game (none in his two years) which Romo must answer if he wants to take a place among the NFL's elite. Dallas is putting all their eggs in that basket as the only fallback if Romo gets hurt is 39-yr old Brad Johnson who isn't quite the risk taker. Heat Index: 9

Running backs: It's rare when a team loses their starting running back and everyone is fine with the position. Julius Jones is gone, but rookie Felix Jones is in. Jones (Felix) will get a ton of carries this season to keep Marion Barber fresh. Barber, who only started the Cowboys' playoff game, is the NFL's version of Mariano Rivera -- he dominates late in games and finishes drives off. Jones and Barber will combined for that classic "lightning and thunder" combo and should be quite successful doing it in what supposed to be a more run-friendly offense. Heat Index: 7

Earlier this month, MDS pointed out a column from Jean-Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News, who wrote that Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips will leave the team in one of two ways come February 2009:

He'll either take this team loaded with talent and win the Super Bowl and ride off into the sunset afterward. Or the Cowboys will fall short of their goal, and Jerry Jones will give him a golden parachute to leave so he can promote Jason Garrett.

Now that training camp has started, Taylor revisits this story, one of the many subplots to a season filled with expectations in Dallas. After listening to Jerry Jones' season-opening press conference, Taylor is still convinced Phillips' tenure won't last more than two months into the next calendar year, and Garrett, the team's offensive coordinator, will ascend to his rightful place on the organizational chart.

Jerry praised Wade's leadership. And his work ethic. And his approach. Then Jerry took a breath and continued complimenting Wade's selfless attitude, his management of the team's egos, his immense experience and his track record of success.

None of it changed my mind. I still think Jason Garrett will be the head coach next season.

As Wade Phillips prepares to open his second training camp as the Dallas Cowboys' head coach, Dallas Morning News columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor has an unpleasant message for him: It will be your last. Taylor says of Phillips:

He'll either take this team loaded with talent and win the Super Bowl and ride off into the sunset afterward. Or the Cowboys will fall short of their goal, and Jerry Jones will give him a golden parachute to leave so he can promote Jason Garrett.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is obviously enamored with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and obviously envisions Garrett as a future Cowboys head coach, but I'm not so sure that Jones wants to get rid of Phillips that quickly. Jones basically wants two things out of a head coach:

1. Win more games than you lose.
2. Let me call most of the shots.

Phillips qualifies on both counts, and as long as he keeps qualifying on both counts, I don't see Jones pressuring him into leaving. But it says a lot about the Cowboys that Phillips enters the 2008 season with at least one local columnist saying that whatever he does, he's out of a job in seven months.

Presumably, a big reason the Cowboys were in the market for No. 2 wideout this offseason (leading up to the draft, anyway) was because of the uncertainty surrounding Terry Glenn. As that little drama continues to play out, Dallas is content to head into 2008 with Terrell Owens and ... everybody else.

Patrick Crayton was re-signed earlier this year and he'll compete for receptions with Sam Hurd and Miles Austin. But the team's true No. 2 option isn't even a wide receiver, which makes the conversation about Chad Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin more a contrivance than anything.

Tight end Jason Witten hauled in 96 catches for 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett apparently has bigger plans for him in '08.

Be prepared to see [Witten] split out wide at times this season.

He long has been the Cowboys' second-best receiver, but he is going to be asked to do more actual wide receiver things this year, which brings him back to his roots. He had arrived at Valley Ranch with a rep as a "pass-catching tight end," which Bill Parcells reminded him of almost daily. He did not mean it as a compliment. Witten, being Witten, responded by honing his blocking and becoming the best all-around tight end in the NFL. And he is.

And if he's not, he's certainly in the conversation.

This seems like sort of a big deal: the Patriots have hired Dom Capers as a special assistant/secondary coach. Weird. Last month, word on the street had Capers going to Dallas, presumably in an effort to line up Jason Garrett's coaching staff for when he inevitably takes over in 2009*.

And now, Capers joins the New England coaching staff. Double weird. New England head coach Bill Belichick issues press releases:

"I have known Dom for a long time and respect him tremendously as a coach, particularly defensively. To add a coach of his caliber is an outstanding opportunity for us. I look forward to getting to work with Dom and Dean [Pees] immediately."

Capers was the Dolphins defensive coordinator last season but was part of the housecleaning effort once Bill Parcells took over. He has experience in the 3-4 defense (a scheme the Patriots feature frequently) serving as the Steelers defensive coordinator from 1992-1994, and the head coach in Carolina and Houston before landing with the Dolphins in 2006.

Who knows why Capers chose New England over Dallas, but with Asante Samuel headed for free agency, there's no unit on the team in need of more attention than the secondary.

* Baseless speculation

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

The offseason roadmap for the Dallas Cowboys isn't as much as "what we need to do to get this team to the top" as much as it is getting over that little playoff hurdle and into a Super Bowl. When you look at it, the resources are all there. The question is getting the Ts crossed and dotting the lowercase Js.

1. Lame Duck – Let's see. How many times during the next year will we hear about Jason Garrett possibly replacing Wade Phillips as head coach? Not as much as you'll hear it if the Boys start struggling. Dallas has wanted Garrett to be in training for the head coaching job ... eventually. But like any other position on the field, the question will be when to let the young guy take the reigns. We all know that if Phillips has a problem with it, Garrett ain't the one who will be shown the door.

There are Cowboys fans still mad at Jerry Jones for firing Tom Landry. Certainly understandable. But much of the hatred directed at the Arkansas Hairpiece has softened over the years, particularly the '90s, when Dallas won three Super Bowls.

Still, fans are suspicious and probably for good reason. So too are the media. In today's Dallas Morning News, Jean-Jacques Taylor writes that the new staff Jones is putting together is more for the team's future head coach, Jason Garrett, than it is for incumbent Wade Phillips.

Taylor points to Dom Capers interviewing with the Cowboys for a spot on the defensive staff as a consultant or linebackers coach. You see, Capers was Garrett's hand-picked selection as his defensive coordinator had he taken the Ravens job. And since Dallas already has a defensive coordinator, Brian Stewart, this move seems fishy, at least according to Taylor. He also adds some other curiosities:

• Jerry has made Garrett the NFL's highest-paid assistant with a salary that's nearly as much, if not equal to what Phillips earns. We all know Phillips is going to spend all next season answering question after question about his future every time the Cowboys lose.

• Jerry hired Hudson Houck, a quality offensive line coach, who has more ties to Garrett than Phillips.

Taylor goes on for a few hundred more words, but you get the point. And i suspect Phillips does too. I don't think anybody will be shocked if when Phillips gets canned in a year's time and Garrett assumes the throne. And just like Marty Schottenheimer and the Chargers, it'll soon be forgotten if the Cowboys win, especially in the playoffs.

And the first piece of the puzzle falls into place. Okay, maybe that was a tad dramatic, but Browns head coach Romeo Crennel signed a two-year extension earlier today which will keep him in Cleveland through 2011.

Crennel's agent was looking for $5-million per, but the AP has him making closer to $4 million. Or, just a million more than Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and head coach Wade Phillips.

"We're pleased to get this two-year extension done with Romeo," Browns general manager Phil Savage said in a statement. "Romeo has proven that he can be a winning NFL head coach, and he has the respect of the players and of the entire organization."

Next up: the Browns hope to work out deals for quarterback Derek Anderson and running back Jamal Lewis.

After winning just 10 games in his first two seasons, Crennel led the Browns to a 10-6 mark in 2007 and just missed the playoffs. Cleveland hopes to build on that success next year, and keeping Anderson and Lewis will certainly help. The team will also need to bolster the defense -- specifically, the defensive line -- but with a few players at key positions, the Browns could be the AFC North favorite in a few months. Don't think anybody saw that coming.

When it comes to coaching vacancies, this off-season has been a buyer's market. Assistants Josh McDaniels and Jason Garrett turned down opportunities for head-coaching gigs, and Kirk Ferentz opted to stay at Iowa instead of pursuing NFL jobs.

But as FOX Sports' Jay Glazer writes, next year will be a completely different story.

While there were only four opening this off-season, a year from now, there could more than a dozen. Glazer lists the Seahawks, Eagles, Bengals, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Chiefs. Colts, Lions, Rams and 49ers as teams who could be looking for new head coaches for the 2009 season.

The Seahawks, Colts and Cowboys are in the process of lining up successors -- word on the street has Jim Mora, Jim Caldwell and Jason Garrett all set to replace incumbents, if not next year, eventually -- but the other nine teams will be looking outside their organizations for the next head coach.

Glazer points out that Browns' offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski could be next year's Garrett, and there's no doubt McDaniels will still top many owners' lists next spring.

Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, who is as deserving of a head-coaching opportunity as any assistant in the league, could finally get his shot. And while Gregg Williams probably isn't all that excited about losing out on the 'Skins job, he'll certainly get some interviews too. Other names that we'll certainly be hearing from: Tennessee's Jim Schwartz, Indy's Ron Meeks, and San Francisco's Mike Singletary.