Dallas Cowboys: No free pass for Jason Garrett in Week 14
But there’s one certain we already know: If the Dallas Cowboys expect to control their own destiny then they’ll have to win out to do so. One more loss – to anybody – almost certainly means a top-20 selection in the 2018 NFL Draft in Arlington next April and obviously no post season for the fifth time in seven years.
Think about that.
If this kind of setback comes to pass, another coaching regime needs to be helping the Jones family to get this team ready for what could be a big 2018 regular season, which in this case would come with a non-playoff schedule (See 2017 Philadelphia Eagles).
Or, Garrett actually leads one of the most talented rosters in the NFL to the postseason in successive years for the first time in his career.
It’s one thing if the Cowboys lose one of those last two games against the Eagles or the Seattle Seahawks, at least one of which will be in the playoffs, and likely both.
But to lose to a Giants team with potentially a lame-duck quarterback and no head coach would only confirm what many already think. There’s no ‘big game’ success in the history of Jason Garrett, period. He’s got a single playoff game victory as an OC (2009) and another postseason win as a head coach (2014). No, the résumé isn’t an embarrassment, but there needs to be more if you plan on having a long-term run as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
As Mac Engel of Star-Telegram points out this week, Jason Garrett is the 8th longest tenured head coach in the NFL right now. Interestingly, six off the seven who rank above him have won at least one Super Bowl.
Next: Are the Cowboys sidelining an offensive X-factor?
A trend like this is rare in today’s sports universe and unless Garrett has some assurances we don’t know about regarding how long his leash actually is, it would be ill-advised to blow the 2017 regular season just as the fourth quarter begins.