Robert Deustch - USA Today
The 'Fire Garrett' Question: If Cowboys Problem isn't Talent, is it Systemic?
FRISCO - 23-32 for 338 yards and two touchdowns, in a 24-22 win.
Those were the numbers of 22-year-old, second-year quarterback, Sam Darnold, in his first start since week one against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
As a team, the 0-4 Jets, who ranked near the bottom of the NFL in nearly every offensive category heading into the weekend, amassed 382 yards of offense and averaged 7.1 yards per play.
Darnold was only hit twice in the game, both of which were sacks, but for the most part, his jersey was kept clean.
On the other side of the ball, New York hit Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott eight times, had 5.5 tackles for loss, and held the Cowboys 3.8 yards per rush on 34 attempts.
In fact, per our friend Bobby Belt, Prescott has been eight times in nine of his last 22 games, and 166 times over the last 27 games.
There is one common denominator in all of these statistics; The Cowboys are being dominated up front on both sides of the ball, and that fact is endemic of their three-game losing streak.
Many will point to the injuries to La'el Collins and Tyron Smith on offense. However, both of those players were active and healthy for the first 58 minutes of the week four loss to the Saints, in which they averaged 2.3 yards per rush on 20 carries, and Dak Prescott was hit seven times while averaging just 6.8 yards per completion.
Defensively, it is true that the Cowboys have not been at full strength either, with Tyrone Crawford hobbled, and Antwaun Woods missing the last few games with an injury of his own, and with a serious lack of depth behind those two players, those injuries have been magnified even further.
Still, the Cowboys have attempted to build their identity under head coach Jason Garrett as a team that controls the trenches, and it has become apparent over the three weeks, that, not only incapable of doing that but that both the offensive and defensive lines have become arguably their biggest weaknesses.
When you consider how heavily the Cowboys have invested in both of those areas in the last few years, that is a major problem.
Along the defensive line alone, the Cowboys have spent two premium draft picks in the last three seasons, both of which were major misses. In one instance, the powers that be passed on pass rusher T.J. Watt, to take on troubled defensive end Taco Charlton.
In the other, the team decided to select defensive tackle Trysten Hill, who has spent most of the season on the inactive list. Not due to injury or suspension, but because the organization does not feel he is ready to play at the NFL level.
Dallas also signed Tank Lawrence to a $105 million extension and traded a sixth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for defensive end Robert Quinn.
Likewise, along the offensive line, the Cowboys used a second-round pick on left guard Connor Williams, signed Zack Martin to an $84 million extension, La'el Collins to an extension worth $50 million in new money, and signed Cameron Fleming in free agency to help solidify tackle depth.
The results of those investments, at least through the vacuum of the first six weeks of this season, can only be considered a total loss.
The problem here is not necessarily a lack of talent either, but rather a systemic issue that has managed to trickle down from the top of the organization and the decision making of head coach Jason Garrett, down to the players on the field.
We can argue that Garrett has been the definition of mediocrity is tenure here, or we can argue that he's done some high-quality things that are above average. We can argue that Garrett's lack of willingness to adjust and evolve to the modern NFL game has cost the Cowboys in three consecutive weeks, or we can argue, no wait ... He's got young "boy genius'' Kellen Moore in charge of the offense and young "high-energy Kris Richard helping with the defense and isn't that "adjusting'' and "evolving'' and being "modern''?
We can argue that the season seems lost ... or we can argue that a win next Sunday at home against Philly actually vaults the Cowboys into a solid NFC East driver's seat.
So ... where can we agree? We can agree that while the Joneses are saying all the right, polite things about their hot-seat head coach, they are of the belief that they've assembled a championship-level roster. And that therefore, their final-contract-year coach - and his "process'' and his "system'' is the element that will be judged "non-championship-level.''
