Why Jason Garrett has no interest in changing the offense or coordinator Scott Linehan
No decisions have been made regarding the Cowboys coaching staff for 2019.
That much is clear.
But Jason Garrett is certain he is coming back for a ninth season, despite losing in the divisional playoffs for the third time in last five years.
And if had his druthers, he apparently would like maligned offensive coordinator Scott Linehan back to run his offense.
First and foremost, Garrett has no interest in changing the offense. He says the team’s run-based scheme, which was the foundation of the Cowboys’ Super Bowl title teams in the 1990s, can win in today’s NFL.
He points out that this is the same offense that former quarterback Tony Romo used to become the team’s all-time leading passer before being replaced by Dak Prescott in 2016. And it can be altered based on personnel.
“What we are going to do offensively, defensively and [in] the kicking game has a lot to do with the people we have on our team,” Garrett said. “We believe we have flexible enough systems to be able to attack in a lot of different ways. There have been times around here with the same offensive system where we threw the ball a lot. We threw the ball a lot. The passing numbers were high, week in and week out. We made a concerted effort to get stronger on the offensive line, bring in big times runners to be a more balanced attack. We believe in that. We believe we play our best offensive football when we attack defenses in different ways. It starts with run and pass.”
Garrett said the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams are both playing in the NFC title game on Sunday with largely run-based attacks. The Rams showed as much in rushing for 275 yards to end the Cowboys season in a 30-22 loss in the divisional round.
“There is a little bit of a misperception about the Rams,” Garrett said. “That the Rams are some kind passing team. The Rams are a running team. They are a really good running team. You saw that the other night. They get so much of what they do in the passing game off of what they do in the running game. You can make a similar argument with the New Orleans Saints.
“So we believe in running the football. The best teams are able to do that. We also believe in throwing it. We want to be able to attack in different ways. We believe our system allows us to do that. We will always try to feature our players and put them in the best situation so we can be as successful as we can be offensively.”
What’s also true about the Rams and the Saints is that they are also among the highest scoring teams in the league.
The Cowboys were a middle-of-the-pack passing team and struggled to score points, especially in the red zone.
The offense improved after a bye-week trade for receiver Amari Cooper, allowing Prescott to get more comfortable.
Garrett credits Linehan for fostering that progression.
“I thought we got better as the year went on offensively,” Garrett said. “I thought we were an inconsistent football team at the outset of the year. I thought we grew over the course of the season. I thought when the lineups got a little bit more solidified as the year went on, meaning Amari Cooper is a receiver, Michael Gallup is a receiver, Cole Beasley is a receiver, the other guys are fitting themselves in, I thought we started playing together on a consistent basis. I thought we grew. Scott created a good environment for those guys. We ran the ball well. I thought we were efficient throwing the ball for the most part.
“We certainly can get better in both of those areas. We can get better at situational football. We can get better in the red zone scoring more points. Those are all areas that we have to improve on, but I do think we got better in those areas over the course of the season. Scott was a big part of that.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 8:37 AM.
