The Dallas Cowboys had a glorious opportunity to gain some ground in a tight division race but laid an egg against the Titans on Monday night. The 28-14 defeat was a shocking result considering all of the variables that favoured Dallas coming into the game. They Cowboys were coming off of a bye week and facing a team with a losing record and an offense that appeared to be worse than their own. It was at ATT Stadium, where the Cowboys were undefeated this season up until that point. The team had just acquired a 1st round pick for a legitimate #1 WR Amari Cooper and fired struggling OL coach Paul Alexander. And, on top of all that the Redskins had lost on Sunday opening the door a little wider for a division title run. The Cowboys had good reason to get up for this game and came out flying on their first drive, were gifted 2 fumbles from the Titans, and yet they were only up 7-0. Then, the wheels came off and now the Cowboys are 3-5 and the season appears to be over. After 8 fruitless years, will Cowboy fans finally see Jason Garrett fired?
For the time being the answer appears to be NO!
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones said no scenario would lead him to making an in-season coaching change:https://t.co/5llOtI0aqm
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 6, 2018
What about the OC Scott Linehan, surely he has to go right? Apparently not.
In the wake of the #DallasCowboys‘ loss, Jerry Jones says that he is “not anticipating any more coaching changes.”
📰 https://t.co/JbjeIE3Z27 pic.twitter.com/Zl1EJeILt7
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 6, 2018
If Jason Garrett’s job is safe and Scott Linehan’s as well, that then is surely an indictment on Dak Prescott. Our young QB will be up for a contract extension and he just played arguably his worst game of his professional career on Monday night. That does not seem to be the case either.
“Dak is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. He’s young, and he’s going to get extended.” -Jerry Jones
MORE → https://t.co/X2HoEsMQCQ pic.twitter.com/ILUYKHLVGt
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 6, 2018
So what gives then? Surely, that performance and the overall performance this season are not acceptable for this organization. Fear not Cowboys fans, changes are coming but just not likely this season.
Jerry Jones has had a lot of patience with Jason Garrett. Most Cowboy fans had wanted him fired years ago but Jerry stuck with him and continues to stick with him so much so that he is the 2nd longest tenured coach in team history behind only the legendary Tom Landry. Jerry Jones typically has a lot more patience with “his guys” than he has with outside hires. Jerry Jones first move as the new owner of the Dallas Cowboy was to fire the great Tom Landry and replace him with his college teammate Jimmy Johnson. Johnson went 1-15 in his first season but Jerry stuck with him and went on to win 2 Super Bowls. When Johnson was let go it was because the two friends had a personal falling out and not based on performance. After Johnson, Jones hired another Arkansas man Barry Switzer but did not fire him after finishing 6-10 in his final season. It was Switzer who resigned following that dreadful campaign. Then there was Dave Campo who was Jerry Jones former DC. Campo lasted 3 seasons despite finishing 5-11 in each of them.
When it comes to guys that he has hired outside of the organization or his circle of friends, Jerry Jones has shown far less patience. Bill Parcells is the only one of such hires that Jones has not fired. Parcells resigned after leading the Cowboys to the playoffs for the second time in his four year stint with the team so Jerry Jones did not have any reason to fire him. That should have also been true of Chan Gailey who was fired after 2 seasons despite making the playoffs in both of them. When Jones hired Wade Phillips to replace Parcells he had a former player and a young offensive mind named Jason Garrett waiting in the wings. As soon as things went south for Phillips in 2010, Jerry Jones pulled the trigger mid-season and it has been Garrett’s show ever since.
Jerry Jones will not fire Jason Garrett in 2018 like he did Wade Phillips in 2010. Aside from the fact that Jason Garrett is “his guy” and Philips was not it also apparent that there is no young “Jason Garrett” waiting in the wings as there was in 2010. At least not offensively anyway. Kris Richard is a name that keeps coming up as a potential replacement for Garrett but he is a defensive guy. What Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys need is an offensive guy. In the short term they need a guy that can come in at least call plays this season because despite appearances the Cowboys are still alive in the NFC East. Aside from Linehan and Garrett there is no one else on this staff that would have the knowledge and experience to handle play calling duties right now. The most likely scenario is that WHEN the Cowboys miss the playoffs this season, Jerry Jones will seek out an offensive co-ordinator and head coach that he believes will help Dak Prescott. There are many Cowboy fans out there that do not believe in Dak and those numbers are growing as he continues to struggle. I remain one of the few that still believe he can be a good quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. He has certainly regressed from his rookie season but unless I see what he can do given a more competent coaching staff, I cannot write him off just yet. The same cannot be said about Garrett who has had more than enough opportunities now with multiple personnel and coaching changes. This season will be the last straw for Garrett. So mark this date in your calendar: December 31, 2018. It is the day that Dallas Cowboys fans will finally see Jason Garrett fired.
All data and statistics obtained and verified from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
