Costly Decisions

Cowboys interim coach Jason Garrett has done a good job in getting his players motivated, disciplined, and ready on game day for the past three weeks; but a few questionable decisions against the Saints on Thanksgiving may have cost his team the game. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)

Lost in all of the hubbub surrounding Roy Williams' costly fumble were some dumbfounding calls by interim head coach Jason Garrett.

Don't get me wrong, this is a completely different Dallas Cowboys team since Garrett took over for the marshmallow-soft Wade Phillips; but Thursday's loss against the New Orleans Saints may have been more the fault of the head coach than fans want to realize. In what ended up being a three-point game, every decision counts - especially in situations where points are on the line.

Flash back to the beginning of the second quarter of Thursday's game. Dallas used an 11-play, 50 drive to get to the Saints' 21-yard line with New Orleans leading 17-0.

Instead of having one ounce of confidence in your kicker and putting your team on the scoreboard for the first time all game, Garrett and the Cowboys decided to go for it on 4th-and-1. It appeared as though Garrett was going with the odds here (kicker David Buehler is only 1 of 3 on kicks 30-39 yards) but Buehler had made 5 of his last 6 kicks over the last few weeks, and giving the kid a shot in a low pressure situation (down 17-0) is the type of confidence-building kick he could use.

Not only was the decision to go for it in that situation the wrong call, I believe the play call in that situation with just as terrible. Garrett decided to utilize the strength and power of Marion Barber and the Cowboys' giant offensive line by... calling a toss play?

Tossing the football behind the line of scrimmage is a bad idea on 4th-and-1 in itself - it gives the defense that much more time to penetrate and snuff out the run - especially with a slow and unathletic line combined with a not-so-speedy Barber. The result of the play speaks for itself.

The line got absolutely no push at the snap, Barber was hit first behind the line of scrimmage before propelling forward to get back to the line of scrimmage for no gain and the Cowboys turned the ball over on downs.

Dallas scored six points to end the half, including a career-long 53-yarder from Buehler with time expiring. That extra field goal would have put a Cowboys lead, rather than a tie, only two touchdowns away and lets not forget the Saints won by only three points.

Fast forward to the last drive of the fourth quarter for the Cowboys.

Dallas drives 35 yards in six plays to the Saints 41-yard line with over a minute left in the game and two timeouts. The Cowboys decide to throw three straight passes at or behind the line of scrimmage, force-feeding Dez Bryant with the game on the line. One of the throws to the left side of the field was the result of an errant throw by quarterback Jon Kitna's, as he missed an open Bryant on the sideline.

Here's my question: with two timeouts in your pocket, why not run a draw play or some sort of run to keep the defense honest? Put Felix Jones in, run him on a delay up the gut and see if you can't get two or three yards to make it a more manageable field goal. If you do that on first or second down, that sets up play action and also routes over the middle because then the Saints linebackers and safeties have to at least respect the chance of a run.

Instead, Dallas was forced to rely on Buehler, the same kicker they wouldn't let kick a field goal from the 21-yard line, to have to kick one from 20 yards deeper. We all know how this turned out: Buehler had the distance but the 59-yard attempt sailed just left, and the Cowboys suffered their eighth loss in 11 games this season - the first with Garrett at the helm.

"The obvious thing to me as coach is our team continued to fight," Garrett said after the game. "Ultimately, we are not into moral victories. ...But I think, overall, the effort, the fight, all that stuff is what we want. We just have to clean up some of the things."

Hopefully Garrett kicks off the "clean up" process by practicing some self-reflection, especially with Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts (6-5) looming next on the schedule.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)