The Dallas Cowboys parted ways with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan Friday with a statement from head coach Jason Garrett.
“This was not an easy decision because of how highly we regard Scott Linehan as a football coach and as a person," Garrett said in a statement released by the team. "He and I had some really positive, substantive and open discussions which took place in the latter part of this week, and we ultimately agreed that it would be in the best interest of all of the parties involved if we were to make a change at this (offensive coordinator) position.
"This was very much a mutual decision, and there was a great deal of common ground and shared understanding between both of us during our meetings. Scott has had an incredibly positive impact on our football team. He has been instrumental in the development and success of a significant number of our veteran and younger players. He is an outstanding football coach, a great friend and we wish him and his family nothing but the absolute best moving forward.”
There were big expectations for Linehan in his third season with quarterback Dak Prescott. In Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper's third season with Linehan as offensive coordinator in 2005, the former 1999 first-round pick threw for 4,717 yards, 39 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and posted a 110.9 passer rating. If not for Peyton Manning's record-setting season with 49 touchdown passes for the Indianapolis Colts, perhaps Culpepper would have been the league's best quarterback for 2004.
In 2011, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford's third season with Linehan, the former Highland Park Scot amassed 5,038 yards, 41 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and a 97.2 passer rating. Though Stafford did not make the Pro Bowl, like Culpepper did in 2004, it was somewhat due to the same circumstances. Aaron Rodgers was playing lights-out for the 15-1 Green Bay Packers, fresh off a Super Bowl victory, and Drew Brees was having another banner year for the New Orleans Saints. Nonetheless, Stafford's efforts were a huge part why the Lions finished 10-6 and made the playoffs.
Well, what about Dak in year three? Before the trade with the Oakland Raiders for receiver Amari Cooper, Prescott was on pace for 3,239 yards, which would have been the lowest among quarterbacks who started all 16 games. The passing touchdowns were on pace for 16, which also would have been the lowest in the NFL and absolutely unacceptable in an era of liberal passing rules. Even Prescott's interception total of 13, which was the current rate, would have been alarming because it meant his best ability, ball security, was compromised.
Even with the Cooper trade, Prescott finished with 3,885 yards, 22 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. The first two categories were hardly indicative of what a quarterback in his third year with Linehan should be capable of achieving.
That's just the results from Prescott. The production from running back Ezekiel Elliott was also damning.
With 1,434 rushing yards on 304 attempts, Elliott earned the NFL rushing title. However, his six rushing touchdowns were the fewest for a rushing champion since 1982 when running back Freeman McNeil of the New York Jets also crossed the plane just six times as a runner, and '82 was a strike year. That's right: In terms of rushing touchdowns, Elliott had essentially a nine-game total despite leading the NFL in yards and carries.
The Cowboys' red zone offense was also another area that cost Linehan his job. Dallas finished with the fourth-worst red zone conversion rate in the NFL at 48.0 percent. The only other playoff team joining Dallas in the bottom-10 were the Houston Texans, tied with the New York Giants for fifth at 50 percent, and Houston didn't even make it out of the wild-card round.
With weapons such as Prescott's legs, Elliott's power, and Cooper's hands inside the red zone, the Cowboys scored 24 touchdowns, the ninth-fewest in the NFL. Kicker Brett Maher attempted 18 kicks inside the red zone, tied for seventh-most in the NFL.
What if Dallas scores a touchdown on their first possession against the Texans on Oct. 7 instead of kicking a field goal?
What if the Cowboys go up 7-0 on the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 5, Cooper's first game with the Cowboys, instead of seeing Maher shank a 38-yard field goal?
The difference between wins and losses in the NFL comes down to a handful of plays, and the same is true for the difference between playing in the wild-card round and the divisional round.
Linehan had a good run in Dallas; it would be unfair to chalk up his entire five-season tenure as a failure. It was his influence that helped keep Garrett from abandoning the run, not just when it wasn't working, but when it was! Linehan didn't panic when quarterback Tony Romo broke his back in the preseason against the Seattle Seahawks in 2016. Instead, he helped a rookie quarterback guide Dallas to a 13-win season. What happened in 2018 was Linehan lost his discernment, his feel to call game.
Perhaps, just as Prescott was shell-shocked after his eight-sack game against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 12, 2017, Linehan was shaken by starting off the season with no All-Pro tight end, a receiving corps by committee, and an All-Pro center lost indefinitely with an autoimmune syndrome. At times, his play-calling, such as the third fourth-and-1 versus the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional playoffs, seemed he ignored these facts.
Other times, such as when Prescott and Cooper audibled out of his conservative play-call against the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium, Linehan didn't recognize what he had. Again, his abilities as a play-caller were diminished. He was the lone element after the bye week and Cooper trade that didn't turn things around.
Where the Cowboys go from here is another story. The way the organization sees it, there is a half chance they get it right on who they hire to replace Linehan.
"Decisions so often you're 50-50 on any decision," Cowboys owner, president, and general manager Jerry Jones told 105.3 "The Fan" [KRLD-FM] on Sept. 25. "It's when you let your good one go long and you stop as quickly as you can your bad ones. That's really the trick. No one is smart enough to do better than 50-50 in my mind. But you can make cut short going in a direction you don't want to go."
Whatever Dallas does, there is a 100 percent chance the whole football world will be watching.
Do you agree that it was time to make a move to get a new offensive coordinator or do you think the Cowboys should have kept Scott Linehan? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.