Garrett's direct approach gets through to 'Boys

Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware(notes) appreciates the simplicity of the weekly message from interim coach Jason Garrett.

"When we come to work on Wednesday, he lays it out very directly," Ware said, with an almost odd sense of excitement about a team meeting. "It's just really easy for everybody to understand the message. Here are the four or five things we have to do to win the game.

"He puts it up on the board, goes over it, explains it and then we go out to practice and that's exactly how we work on it. If the message is that I have to stop this guy, we have guys put on a jersey and work hard to make sure they simulate whoever that guy is so I know what to expect.

"By the time we get to the game, it has been repeated so many times that I just know it. This is what we have to do to win. … I know it doesn't seem like anything big or complicated, but that's what he does and it works."

Under Garrett, the Cowboys are 4-2, having relatively recovered from an atrocious, coach-firing 1-7 start. With Arizona up this week and Philadelphia in the season finale, Garrett should end up at least 5-3 and has a solid shot at a 6-2 second half, considering that the Cowboys only lost by three points to the Eagles on Dec. 12.

While some of the stats for the Cowboys aren't a whole lot better than when the team was careening (the defense is still inexplicably inconsistent – ranked second-to-last in points allowed), the bottom line is a stunning improvement. During that six-game run, the Cowboys have beaten two playoff contenders (the New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts) on the road and lost by only three points to two others (New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia) at home.

Sure, there's a good argument to be made that Dallas shouldn't have been so bad to start and that all Garrett is doing is winning games that should be won anyway. But when you consider the fact that the Cowboys are doing this with backup quarterback Jon Kitna(notes) running the show instead of Tony Romo(notes), there's reason to believe that Garrett might have done enough to secure a promotion to the full-time gig.

Of course, that is a results-driven perspective, which doesn't necessarily examine what's actually going on. While the results are important (they are the bottom line, after all), determining whether someone is a good coach takes more than just looking at eight games from a team that's playing with nothing on the line except pride.

What Garrett has done best is show the kind of communication skills that work best over time: simple, direct and clear. He has also done things to inject competitive fun into a dreary situation. All players are now required to stay for the special teams’ portion of practice, watching and cheering during what is usually the most competitive time in practice for players who primarily live on the edge of the roster.

"He's not yelling and screaming," center Anthony Gurode said. "But you know he means what he says. If he says, 'It has to be done this way, he means that.' Guys get the message."

Said tight end Jason Witten(notes): "We all know how to play and we know what it's like to be a pro. But even at this level, you need to be reminded, 'Hey, this is the expectation, do it.' You wouldn't think so, but sometimes people think, 'Hey, I got it, don't worry,' but really you forget some of the little details."

Those who watched and listened as former coach Wade Phillips mumbled his way through media sessions know that Phillips left the details for the players to police. His variations on the theme of "the players know what it takes" weren't wrong, but they were hardly forceful. Phillips was the coach who everybody liked, but not necessarily feared.

To this day, no one in the Dallas locker room speaks poorly of Phillips. They couch their comments about Garrett with dutiful respect for Phillips, partly because they realize that his failures were basically a reflection of their shortcomings to be more responsible to their job. That's why Garrett hasn't had to do anything truly extraordinary to be effective.

That said, for those who had watched Garrett on HBO's "Hard Knocks" in 2008, there was a feeling that Garrett would be a coach who couldn't help but want to get face time and share with the world his Princetonian brilliance. Instead, Garrett has shown his superior intelligence by doing what he can to diffuse it. Since taking the Cowboys job, he has declined numerous requests for individual interviews. He has frustrated the local media with his dummied-down answers and his failure to stop after the cameras are turned off to give the beat writers a little time on the side.

Garrett isn't being a jerk about it and he is even somewhat self-effacing. During a news conference last week, he was asked about one of the worst moments of the 1-7 start. It was Garrett's decision to call for a screen pass just before halftime in the first game against the Washington Redskins. Rather than simply run out the clock, Garrett called for a screen pass from the Cowboys' 36-yard-line with 11 seconds left, leading to a fumble that was returned for a game-altering touchdown.

"Poor decision, shouldn't have called the play," Garrett said, directly but with no defensiveness.

Such is the way that Garrett now communicates with his players. There's no reason for pomp and circumstance right now, it's just about getting a team straightened out after a horrendous collapse.

"He's not telling us we're some great team right now, but he's expecting us to play the way we all expected we were supposed to play from the start," Ware said.

Glimpse at the future?

To those fans who are always looking for what's behind Door No. 3, last week's games may have provided some interesting fodder for the future of the league.

Tebow only threw 16 passes against the Raiders.
(Jason O. Watson/US Presswire)

Courtesy of an astute observation from crack researcher/Tulane University sophomore Jesse Schwartz, there were six rookie quarterbacks who either started or played significant time, headlined by the first start for Denver's Tim Tebow(notes). That also included the Minnesota Vikings' Joe Webb(notes), who came in to throw 26 passes when Brett Favre(notes) suffered a concussion on Monday night.

The results weren't pretty from the short-term view. Those six went a combined 1-5, the lone victory coming from Carolina's Jimmy Clausen(notes), who just happened to be taking on fellow rookie John Skelton(notes) of Arizona in a game only their mothers could love. Also on the losing end was the St. Louis Rams' Sam Bradford(notes), the only one of the lot who is clearly on a path to greatness. The Cleveland Browns' Colt McCoy(notes) had the best statistical day, completing 19-for-25 for 243 yards (he was the only one with at least 200 yards passing) and two touchdowns. Tebow was a reasonable 8-for-16 for 138 yards and one touchdown pass, not to mention a 40-yard run for a score. Overall, the group completed 93-for-162 passes for 1,028 yards, five interception and four touchdowns. Most telling, they were sacked a total of 16 times. Those numbers aren't awful, so there's hope.

Top five
1. New England Patriots (12-2): The best part of Dan Connolly's(notes) 71-yard kickoff return was the way he held the ball. It was perfectly awful and perfectly wonderful, simultaneously.
2. Atlanta Falcons (12-2): Here's some incentive for Monday night: The Falcons have a chance to help keep the Saints out of the playoffs, which would be a huge boost to their cause.
3. Chicago Bears (10-4): There's just something about this team I don't like that much, even when it wins decisively. Then again, what do I really know?
4. Philadelphia Eagles (10-4): Great comebacks make great stories, but not necessarily great teams. The Eagles have a chance to get to the Super Bowl, but need to get better.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4): As is typical of this season, my Nos. 3, 4 and 5 teams from last week all lost. Despite that, I still like what the Steelers are doing overall.

Bottom five
28. Cincinnati Bengals (3-11): Yeah, yeah, you won the latest Battle of Ohio. Whoopee! Actually, the best news is that we don't have to hear any more drivel from T.O.
29. San Francisco 49ers (5-9): How is it possible to be one of the worst teams in football and still have a chance to make the playoffs? Seriously, this is a joke.
30. Arizona Cardinals (4-10): Really and truly, the entire NFC West deserves to be in the bottom five. Of all the ugly losses, getting beat by Carolina is ridiculous.
31. Denver Broncos (3-11): The Broncos are one of those teams where you look at the roster and think, "Wow, where do I start to rebuild?"
32. Carolina Panthers (2-12): Before taking them out of the bottom spot, I'd like to see if they'd beat Arizona on the. … What am I talking about? I don't want to see those teams at all.

This and that

Blount wasn't selected in this year's draft.
(Mitch Stringer/US Presswire)

• Thanks for Tampa Bay Buccaneers PR guru Jason Wahlers for pointing out this interesting stat: With wide receiver Mike Williams and running back LeGarrette Blount(notes) currently leading all NFL rookies in receiving (880) and rushing (777), respectively, it would be the first time since 1968 (Cincinnati with tight end Bob Trumpy and running back Paul Robinson) that a team had two different players lead all rookies in rushing and receiving yards.

• Miami Dolphins staffers continue to be baffled by the intense emphasis on things that have nothing to do with football. "It's like, 'Hey, get those football players back, we have to get the dancing girls on the field,'–" a non-coaching staff employee said, referencing an instance during the Dolphins' Dec. 5 home game against Cleveland. Without Bill Parcells around to stand up to owner Stephen Ross and CEO Mike Dee, there is concern that the rebuilding process will take longer than anticipated.

• Just wondering, but last week when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he would announce something shortly on the Brett Favre case, did he mean before or after Favre was so completely injured that it no longer mattered?

• Just dreaming here for a second, but my Christmas wish right now is for Atlanta to get the No. 1 seed in the NFC and Philadelphia to overtake Chicago for the No. 2 seed. Then, if they both win in the second round of the playoffs, Michael Vick(notes) would visit Atlanta with a berth in the Super Bowl on the line. Talk about hype.