Tennessee Titans expose unnerving fatal flaw to the design of the Dallas Cowboys
Not that any Dallas Cowboys fan needs another reason to be sick over the waste that was the Jason Garrett era, but watching Sunday’s AFC title game provided another punch to the face.
Mike McCarthy’s priority with the Dallas Cowboys was clearly stated on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, squeeze more out of his quarterback, update this offense, and be real about what he has on defense.
Garrett’s design never fit the talent of his team.
The new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys has the highest-paid running back in the NFL, and Zeke Elliott is one of the top three at the position. But what happened on Sunday clearly illustrated that’s only going to carry McCarthy just so far.
There was no better running back in the NFL this entire season, and in these playoffs, than Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, who, despite his greatness, can only carry a team so far.
This is how good Derrick Henry has been: He nearly made Ryan Tannehill a starting Super Bowl quarterback.
After 17 games of abusing opponents, Henry was stopped by Kansas City in the AFC title game. The Titans were defeated by the better quarterback as Patrick Mahomes has the Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1970.
Henry led the NFL in rushing with 1,540 yards during the regular season, and he single-handedly pushed the sixth-seeded Titans to upset wins at New England and at Baltimore to reach the AFC Championship. In Kansas City, he was held to just 69 yards on 19 carries. It was his worst game since Nov. 3.
The depressing element to Sunday’s development for the Cowboys fan is that the Cowboys and Titans function the same way.
Garrett built a team similar to the one he came to as an NFL player in 1993 — that dynasty Cowboys’ team that was anchored around Emmitt Smith. At that time, the NFL still functioned as a run-first league.
When Garrett entered coaching, and was the quarterbacks coach for Nick Saban, the latter tried to do the same thing with the Miami Dolphins.
Saban only stayed with the Dolphins for two years before he bolted for ‘Bama’s money, and brand.
At Alabama, Saban has built a team around dominant lines, and a run game that is so good the quarterback was never the focal point until Tua Tagovailoa arrived three years ago. One of Saban’s running backs was Derrick Henry.
In college football, Saban has proved you can win titles without the best quarterbacks.
In professional football, you have to have a top quarterback.
When Garrett became the Cowboys full-time head coach in 2011, he wanted to build an offense that controlled the line of scrimmage behind dominant lines, and an offense that won on the ground.
Even when it worked, it only worked to a point.
It never all aligned at the same time for Garrett and the Cowboys. When the offense was good enough under Tony Romo or Dak Prescott, the defense was not.
There was a flaw in the design.
The game has changed. Teams need good running games to advance to a Super Bowl, just not the best one.
In 2019, many of the top running backs didn’t make the playoffs. Zeke, Nick Chubb, Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette, Josh Jacobs and Joe Mixon were in the top ten in rushing and none reached the postseason.
Garrett was no dummy, but he could be appallingly stubborn.
It’s been said and written before, but what happened on Sunday was just another piece of evidence that Zeke isn’t enough.
Dak has to be better, and he is Mike McCarthy’s mission.
