Cowboys put themselves in tough position

Packers 37, Cowboys 36

Everything was neatly laid out for Dallas on Sunday evening. The Eagles had lost to the Adrian Peterson-less Vikings, 48-30, in a 1 p.m. game. That meant all the Cowboys had to do was beat the Packers to guarantee a defacto Week 17 NFC East championship against the Eagles in Arlington, regardless of what happens this weekend with Cowboys-Redskins and Eagles-Bears.

And, oh, the Cowboys were up 26-3 at the half. Surely they would cruise to a win, rendering the Washington game basically meaningless so they could gear up for the Philadelphia game on Dec. 29.

Nope. Dallas had something else up its sleeve.

The Cowboys blew the 23-point lead with a terrible combo of epically bad defense and horrendous play calling and decision making. It was probably the worst loss I have witnessed as a Cowboys fan and there have been a lot the past decade or so.

The main thing I want to address is the play calling. DeMarco Murray ran the ball for 134 yards on just 18 carries. He averaged seven yards per carry. He had almost 100 yards in the first half. When you are up 23 at the half and your running back and offensive line are playing well, you would think the main priority in the second half would be to run the ball and run the clock. But for some reason, the Cowboys declined to do this. Murray did not even run it 10 times in the second half. Absolutely inexcusable. Some of the blame should fall on offensive coordinator/play caller Bill Callahan, some should fall on head coach Jason Garrett,

Bill Callahan

and some should fall on quarterback Tony Romo.

We have all heard by now that the first interception Romo threw was an option play where Romo could run the ball or change the play at the line and pass the ball. For whatever reason, with three minutes left, he decided to pass the ball instead of run the ball and thus the clock. He said after the game that he saw that Green Bay was stacking the box to stop the run so he thought a pass would be more effective. The play was there. If he had hit Miles Austin earlier in the route, or thrown it deeper than he did, Austin might

Jason Garrett

have caught the ball or at least it would have been an incompletion. Instead, he waited too long to throw the ball and then threw the ball behind Austin. To his credit, Green Bay's Sam Shields made a great play on the ball to make the pick.

But all that is beside the point. Even if the pass had succeeded or there hadn't been an interception, it was still a poor decision by Romo. He has to know that late in the game with a lead, running the clock is more important than getting the ball down the field. Sure, if Romo hands the ball off, the worst that can happen is Murray fumbles and the Packers recover. But that is unlikely and Murray probably would have just gotten no gain or lost a couple yards. That is more desirable than a pick or an even an incompletion that stops the clock. I have defended Romo a lot this season. He has had a good season overall and is not one of the reasons that the Cowboys aren't better than they are. He threw an untimely interception against Denver that cost Dallas the game but without his exploits in that game the Cowboys would not have been able to keep up with the Broncos. But his changing that play to a pass at that point in the game was stupid and a major reason Dallas lost. Maybe Dallas would not have gotten a first

Tony Romo

down and would have had to punt the ball. The Packers might have driven it down the field on the terrible defense anyway and won the game. But Dallas maybe could have gotten a few more first downs running the ball and won the game. We won't know because Romo changed the play and threw the pick.

Callahan should receive some blame because he calls the plays. He should have been running more throughout the game given how effective Murray was. If Murray had gotten into more of a rhythm and gained even more yards, maybe Romo would have been less likely to change the play to a pass. Also, why would Callahan give Romo an option at that point? Or was that not necessarily Callahan's call? Perhaps the structure of the offense and the playbook and the fact that Romo has a lot of say this year means he can change any play. If that is the case, then I blame Callahan a little less and blame Romo more. But if Callahan gave Romo the option of changing the play, that is on him.

Garrett shoulders some of the blame, too, because he is the head coach. The play calls go through him and he gives them to Romo. He should explain to Romo the game situation and, in that particular instance, explain to Romo how important it is to run the ball and run the clock. Romo is caught up in the heat of the game and knows the defense can't stop the Packers. He is feeling pressure to push the ball down the field and score again. Garrett should step in and emphasize to Romo that the wise choice would be to run the ball. Also, Garrett probably had a more accurate idea of stats and just how good Murray was during the game. He could let Romo know that to show his QB how effective running the ball had been. Another thing: could Garrett hear or tell that Romo was changing the play? Maybe Garrett could have stepped in and called timeout to calm Romo down, collect the offense, and again impress upon everyone the need for five to six solid runs to finish the game out. There are certainly ways that Garrett can influence the game in a positive way and he needs to do that because he is the head coach and it is his job. He needs to dictate the flow of the game and make sure the best plays are being called and executed. At the end of the day, his job might be on the line (Romo just signed a big contract -- he isn't going anywhere for awhile) so he needs to do it right.

Dallas needs to run the ball more. Period. Murray has been one of the NFL's most effective runners this year and the Cowboys are under utilizing him. He is healthy and playing great. He is almost at 1,000 yards for the season. He is averaging 5.5 yards per carry, which ranks third in the league, second only to Andre Ellington for RBs in that category (Russell Wilson is also ahead of Murray). Murray is averaging more yards per carry than the Eagles' LeSean McCoy, who is leading the NFL in rushing. The difference? McCoy has carried the ball 269 times compared to just 178 for Murray. Murray's 977 yards is 10th in the NFL and no running back ahead of him in yardage has carried the ball less than 236 times. The Cowboys must feed Murray more regularly. What they did to him Sunday was a crime. I'm sure Murray was upset and if I were him, I would try to seek a trade after the season unless the Cowboys reiterated their commitment to him.

Instead of relaxing the next couple weeks and game planning for the Eagles, the Cowboys are basically in a must-win game on the road against their biggest rivals. And the Redskins looked pretty good on offense against the Falcons after inserting QB Kirk Cousins for Robert Griffin III into the starting lineup. The Dallas defense will probably be hard pressed to keep the Redskins from scoring less than 28 points. Dallas is going to have to play one of its best games of the season to win. I'm sure Washington wants nothing more than to try to spoil Dallas' season. If the Cowboys lose, and the Eagles win, the division is theirs and the Week 17 game -- which was looking more and more like the NFC East title game -- will be meaningless and Dallas will surely finish the season 7-9 and with a home loss to the Eagles.