Jason Garrett’s pregame prediction for Cowboys-Colts is haunting us

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - APRIL 16: NBC Sports broadcaster Jason Garrett talks on the sideline before the game between the New Jersey Generals and the Birmingham Stallions at Protective Stadium on April 16, 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/USFL/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - APRIL 16: NBC Sports broadcaster Jason Garrett talks on the sideline before the game between the New Jersey Generals and the Birmingham Stallions at Protective Stadium on April 16, 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/USFL/Getty Images) /
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Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is still haunting fans from beyond the grave, his specter sitting behind the Sunday Night Football desk pregame every time there’s a primetime game at Jerry World.

On Sunday’s broadcast prior to Colts-Cowboys, Garrett committed the cardinal sin: underestimating the opponent, or overestimating the Cowboys, putting himself in prime reverse jinx territory.

There’s nothing quite as unsettling as seeing an entire pregame show staff pick your team to win. Every Cowboys fan knew where Dallas stood ahead of this showdown with Indianapolis, gelling at the right time with only Jeff Saturday and his bizarre clock management standing in the way of a victory. But every Cowboys fan also got the exact same chills when they saw the NBC crew project extreme confidence in a Dallas victory, and those chills doubled in ferocity when Garrett delivered his prediction.

The Clapper probably expected some applause on set for this one, but at halftime, Garrett has instead been drowned out by the sound of one hand clapping.

“Cowboys by 40”. We wish, Jason. We wish we were watching “Cowboys by 40”.

Former Cowboys head coach Jason Garret thought Dallas was going to win by 40 vs Colts on Sunday Night Football

And he wasn’t kidding, either! Said it with a stone face. Said it whip-quick. He had “Cowboys by 40” locked and loaded for quite a while.

He’ll need one hell of a second half to save him.

Garrett seemed decidedly less enthused when the broadcast cut to him, Maria Taylor and Tony Dungy just before halftime, as he teased their upcoming segment with a sullen, “Jalen Hurts for MVP?”

Yeah, man. Jalen Hurts for MVP. A much safer prediction, and an equally harmful one to Cowboys Nation.

If Dallas pulls this one out, expect a chorus of “A Win’s A Win” to emanate from Arlington. But nobody likes to see a clean sweep of team logos on the bottom ticker of a pregame show, and nobody wants to hear a former head coach predict a blowout victory for the ages on Any Given Sunday Night Football.