Empty the Bench

Forget Dallas Cowboys fans: Jason Garrett owes Marion Barber III owners an apology. Barber’s miniscule production on Sunday cost a lot of us a win, but it wasn’t Barber’s fault.

It’s easy to deride an OC when he doesn’t give you the fantasy results you want. Every week we see fullbacks and backup tight ends stealing coveted touchdowns from our fantasy studs, touchdowns that we feel are owed to us. But the fact of the matter is they call plays to win games and the exploits of our pretend fantasy leagues and the imaginary points involved do not and should not have any bearing on their decision making (even if the monetary implications of said leagues are very real).

It’s when an offensive coordinator doesn’t call plays in the best interest of his team and it kills our fantasy players that we have a legitimate gripe. When the Dallas Cowboys get stunned at home by the Washington Redkins in a two-point loss and a healthy Marion Barber only gets 8 carries, we’re justified in calling Garrett out.

I mean, come on! 8!

The Redskins didn’t stop the Cowboys from running the ball–the Cowboys just didn’t even try. You can’t win football games by calling only ten running plays compared to 47 passes. It’s inexcusable. Christ, Barber is the most physical running back in the league! He’s a goddamn animal. The man is a bona fide sadomasochist. Feed him the ball!

And what the hell happened to Felix Jones? The rookie is averaging a ludicrous 8.2 YPC this season and he doesn’t even touch the ball on offense? Really? Terrell Owens had more carries than Jones for chrissakes.

Dallas lost the time of possession battle 38:09 to 21:51 because of this bizarre and sudden refusal to run the damn ball, and fantasy owners were left holding the bag. Marion Barber III tallied just 37 total yards of offense. In a week where his projected Yahoo! Rank was 2, that’s about as disappointing as a healthy first-round pick can be. Don’t blame Barber, though, because it’s hard to get into a rhythm and wear a defense down when you only touch the ball once or twice a quarter. Garrett knows that.

Jason, you let us down. You, kind sir, are ETB’s Sean Hammock of the Week for Week 4.

Past Sea Hammocks of the Week:
- Week 1 Sea Hammock – Tom Brady
- Week 2 Sea Hammock – Hurricane Ike
- Week 3 Sea Hammock – Ronnie Brown

Jason Garrett Photo Credit: Icon SMI