By PFW staff
Jan. 14, 2008

The Cowboys’ brutal home loss to the Giants in the divisional playoffs means many things, few of them good. Not only has the team’s playoff drought run to 11 years and prevented the club from hosting an NFC title game, but now the team likely won’t be in the same form it was, going into the offseason. Offensive coaches Jason Garrett and Tony Sparano are believed to be leading candidates for the Baltimore and Miami head-coaching jobs, respectively.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after the game he felt as big a disappointment for this loss as he had for any other one he could remember. It was clear that Jones — and many others — believed this was the Cowboys’ most talented team since the Super Bowl-winning clubs of the 1990s and that he believed they, at least, were good enough to play in an NFC title game for the right to play in Super Bowl XLII.

Jones wouldn’t comment about Garrett and Sparano leaving, but he did throw his support behind head coach Wade Phillips in a brief statement, saying, “He’s our coach.” And though all signs point to Phillips returning, the possibility of Jones changing his mind at least has to be considered. The loss to the Giants was shocking. But was it Phillips’ fault?

Here are five areas where the Cowboys fell short in the loss:

Special teams: Other than Mat McBriar’s punting, the units were bad. The return teams hurt field position, and the coverage groups allowed a 45-yard kick return and a 25-yard punt return, the latter leading to the game-winning score.

Penalties: The Cowboys committed 11 of them for 84 yards, and the killer was that seven of them either gave the Giants a first down or — directly or indirectly — prevented the Cowboys from gaining one or scoring a touchdown. There were four procedure penalties by the offensive line and a 10-yard intentional grounding penalty. There were two weird special-teams gaffes: a holding on a punt out of bounds and an illegal block on Justin Rogers. Leonard Davis had an unnecessary roughness call, giving the offensive line five penalties, most of them in crucial situations.

Offensive play-calling: The run game had gained 113 yards on 20 first-half carries. In the third quarter, seven strong runs got the Cowboys in field-goal position, but from that point on Garrett called for only four more runs. Marion Barber was the best offensive player on the field Sunday, and yet he touched the ball only five times in the fourth quarter after being the centerpiece of a back-breaking, 20-play drive near the end of the first half.

Handling the Giants’ pressure: The second-half game plan for Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was to come after Tony Romo and make sure he could not set his feet and survey the field. The plan worked. Although Romo was sacked only twice, he was pressured and hit numerous times as the offensive line appeared worn down by the Giants’ speed and tenacity up front.

Owens’ health: Valiantly, Terrell Owens played through pain, catching four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. The Giants mostly single-covered him all game, and he had virtually no impact in the second half other than incurring a penalty from Corey Webster. The Cowboys were not the same team without him and Terry Glenn in top form.

So how much of this falls on Phillips’ head directly? Well, certainly the penalties go right to the head coach, especially the “unforced” ones. But Phillips pledged to his players back in November, after beating the Giants for a second time, that they must cut back on penalties, mostly the stupid ones. They knew what they had to do.

It’s not clear if Phillips ever said anything to Garrett about calling a more balanced game, but that could fall a little bit on the head coach. But other than that, this classifies as a team loss, as just about everyone in the locker room agreed.

What happens to Phillips? Will Jones try his best to keep Garrett? It’s not clear, exactly, but what is clear is that the Cowboys wasted a golden opportunity to play up to their talent and vie for their first Super Bowl in more than a decade.