IRVING, Texas --Win or lose, Jason Garrett will remind the media that he's not a perfect play-caller.
Two weeks ago, Garrett said he shouldn't have dialed up a running play to receiver Miles Austin near the end of the Cowboys' overtime win over San Francisco. This week, he said he could have called more running plays in certain situations with his team holding a 24-point lead early in the third quarter of their 34-30 loss to the Lions.
The Cowboys did have 13 of their 27 rushing attempts in the second half but gained only 48 yards (3.6 avg). Needing to preserve clock time, Detroit appeared to load up against the run, and Garrett also didn't want his offense going into a shell.
During that stretch, quarterback Tony Romo threw three interceptions that led to 21 Lions points in the Cowboys' 34-30 loss.
"In hindsight, some of the plays that went the other way, you say, 'Boy, I wish I'd run it there,'" Garrett said. "But you also have to call the game. We got out to an early lead in the game. We came out in the second half and scored another touchdown, and with 25 minutes left to go in the game you don't want to say, 'Let's just run it three times and punt it.'
"You still want to play football. You still want to make sure that you give the quarterback a lot of good answers to be smart with the football in everything that you do call."
