Thoughts on Wade Phillips Getting Fired

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Wade Phillips I feel for you man, but it was just time. You’re a nice guy, well liked by your players, and a good defensive coach (up until the last three games), but it was just time.

It’s not all his fault the Dallas Cowboys are one win better than the Buffalo Bills.  It’s not his fault the players are missing tackles, getting beat in coverage, dropping passes, forgetting assignments, and committing idiotic penalties.

However, something had to be done and in this case, Wade was the first to suffer those “consequences” owner/general manager Jerry Jones stated in his post-game interview with reporters after their Sunday night 45-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Before this year, Phillips seemed to be a lame-duck coach as soon as he was hired in January of 2007. Why?  Current interim head coach Jason Garrett was hired before Wade as the offensive coordinator when the team made the switch from the Bill Parcells regime.

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Jason Garrett: Constantly Questionable Play Calling

Read more great Dallas Cowboys Content from Ben at Blue Star Daily, Ben can also be found on Twitter @BenBulljive

Based off their performance against Redskins on Sunday night, the offense picked up where they left off from last season. Statically out-gain your opponent, but does not put up enough points to win the game.

The Cowboys racked up 380 total yards (277 pass, 103 rush) along with 24 first downs and had the ball for a total of 34:03. In all of these categories, the Redskins failed to match the Cowboys by gaining 250 total yards (161 pass, 89 rush) to go along with 17 first downs and a time of possession of 25:57.

So why do the Cowboys continue to lose games even with the offense statistically out-gaining their opposition? My answer would the constant questionable play calling by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

In his fourth year with the Cowboys, Garrett has been criticized for being too pass-happy instead of making this offense more run orientated using all three running backs to setup the pass.

For example, on the Cowboys lone touchdown drive in the third quarter, they effectively drove the ball down the field with a great mixture of run and pass to cap off it with a nine-yard touchdown strike to Miles Austin from Tony Romo.

After a sack by Demarcus Ware on the Redskins ensuing drive and with momentum on their side, you would think Garrett would call similar plays that resulted in a touchdown, right? At the beginning of the drive, that was the case by starting off with four straight runs picking up two first downs.

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Dallas Cowboys: Cause for Preseason Concern?

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With one more game remaining in the preseason, the Cowboys have been a hop topic for discussion since their horrible performance last Saturday in that 23-7 lost to the Houston Texans.

In that game, the Cowboys looked out of sync, discombobulated, and worn down as they were physically beaten by the Texans and raised some eye brows about the super bowl contender.

Will the red zone woes from last season carry over to this season? Can the offensive line hold up enough to keep Romo off his back? Or, can Alan Ball and Gerald Sensabaugh provide the consistent play at the safety positions this defense has desperately needed in past years.

So, here are four concerns for the Cowboys going into the last preseason game.  More importantly, these are areas they need to address with the regular season right around the corner: Read more