My Quick Thoughts on Cowboys at Saints 2013

(Bill Haber/AP)

• That. Was. An. Embarrassment.
• When you lose by 32, give up 625 yards, and allow the opposing offense to post an all-time NFL single-game record of 40 first downs, then your defense is going to come under the most scrutiny. And while the Cowboys’ defense has suffered a catastrophic amount of devastating injuries to critical personnel, the bottom line is they are not even putting forth a mediocre effort at this point. This squad is somehow managing to hit new lows with each passing week. And that ultimately falls at the feet of Monte Kiffin, whose glory days are fast becoming a distant faded memory.
• The biggest culprit on defense last night was Jeff Heath. Yes, he’s an undrafted small college free agent, but do they not tackle at small colleges? Heath was absolutely pathetic, and no matter how many apologies you want to make for the guy, he should be disgusted by what has to go down as one of the single worst games ever played by a DB in NFL history.
• Things really aren’t going much better on offense, either. The playcalling is completely lacking in creativity and innovation, as Bill Callahan simply cannot figure out any possible way to get his best weapon, Dez Bryant, the ball – especially when double-covered. Every other big-time wide receiver in this league regularly draws double coverage, yet somehow they still manage to remain part of their team’s offensive gameplan. For whatever reason, Callahan and the Dallas offense are unable to make the necessary adjustments.
• While we’re taking the defensive and offensive coordinators to task, the head coaching really needs to be called into question, as well. After last night’s loss to the Saints, the Cowboys are now 4-20 under Jason Garrett against teams with a winning record. Folks, that is flat-out unacceptable in every way, shape and form. Taking away the burden of calling the plays in order to allow him to be a “walk around” head coach was supposed to help him improve, but it has done anything but that so far this season.
• Given the frequency of injuries and the often inexplicably longer-than-normal recovery times from those injuries, it’s probably time to ask whether Mike Woicik deserves a significant share of the blame. His sole responsibility for this team is to ensure the strength and conditioning of their players, but given how fragile so many of these guys appear to be on a weekly basis, you have to question just how strong and conditioned they really are.
• There are really only two coaches on the Cowboys’ entire staff who are legitimately earning their paychecks this season: Rod Marinelli and Rich Bisaccia. It’s borderline miraculous what Marinelli has gotten out of the 17 different defensive lineman he’s had to use this year, many of whom were literally plucked straight off the couch in Home Depot’s employee breakroom. And Biasaccia deserves tons of praise for making sure his unit is ready to play and excel every week. Dan Bailey and Chris Jones may be the best kicker-punter duo in the league, and Dwayne Harris has to be considered the Cowboys’ team MVP this season. The return and coverage teams, both on kicks and punts, have been outstanding. If only the Cowboys’ defense tackled even half as well as their special teams, Kiffin’s unit would be under a lot less scrutiny right now.
• This team heads into the bye week with a very tenuous hold on first place in the NFL’s worst division. By the time they return to action on November 24 against the New York Giants, they very well could be looking up at the suddenly surging Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys seemed like a virtual lock to make the playoffs just one week ago, but now those odds appear to be growing longer by the minute. The next six games may be Jason Garrett’s last chance to prove his worth as an NFL head coach, because if the Cowboys can’t win this slagheap of a division, Jerry Jones likely won’t let his guillotine go unused.