FRISCO, Texas — From the 3-0 start that had folks wondering if the Dallas Cowboys were a Super Bowl team to the two three-game losing streaks that had some of those same folks wondering why owner and general manager Jerry Jones did not fire Jason Garrett, the season was always going to be a referendum on the coach.
With almost everything on the line Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox) against the Philadelphia Eagles (7-7), Garrett’s future is once again a central talking point, and he will go into the de facto NFC East championship game with quarterback Dak Prescott playing with a sprained right shoulder.
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If the Cowboys (7-7) lose, Prescott’s health will not matter. It will be another example of Garrett not having his team ready for the biggest of moments against an Eagles team that has been beset by injuries all season. If the Cowboys win, Garrett’s contribution will be shrugged upon by many that will await the next loss in a win-or-else moment.
This is the high wire Garrett has attempted to walk once Jones opted to not extend his contract beyond 2019.
Everybody is watching but only for what is likely to happen if he actually fell; not if he made it across the tightrope with the Cowboys in the playoffs for the second straight year and the third time in four seasons.
The narrative that follows Garrett started in one of these winner-take-all scenarios. Actually three of them.
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In 2011, he was the full-time coach for the first time. The Cowboys were 7-4 entering December and lost four of their final five games, including a Week 17 loss to the New York Giants that kept them out of the playoffs. The Giants went on to win their second Super Bowl in five seasons.
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In 2012, the Cowboys were 8-6 with two games to play and lost those two, including the Week 17 finale to the Washington Redskins. The lasting memory was Redskins QB Robert Griffin III consoling Cowboys QB Tony Romo, who was intercepted late to decide the game.
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In 2013, the Cowboys were 7-5 entering December and lost three of their final four games, including the final game of the season to Philadelphia at AT&T Stadium. Kyle Orton started that game at quarterback because Romo had back surgery five days after some fourth-down heroics against Washington made the finale mean something.
Three losses in division-deciding games. Three straight 8-8 finishes.
The Cowboys have not finished 8-8 since 2013, but the consensus is Garrett has been nothing but a .500 coach, even if he has an 84-66 record and has won division titles in three of the past five seasons.
A victory Sunday might not earn Garrett an extension from Jones, but never has eight wins mattered so much in the Garrett era.
“We have a lot of different experiences. All of us do. Those years, but certainly years after that when you’re in the playoffs,” Garrett said. “The biggest thing you have to do is you have to focus on each day’s preparation to get yourself ready to go.”
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Stephen A. Smith contends that Jason Garrett and the Cowboys showing up against the Rams makes their losses against weaker opponents look worse.
For all that Garrett has not done, mostly not advancing past the divisional round of the playoffs, especially when the Cowboys had the best record in the NFC in 2016, his players continue to play hard for him.
Last week’s win against the Los Angeles Rams was the Cowboys’ most complete showing since they beat the Eagles in October at AT&T Stadium, 37-10. Both games snapped three-game losing streaks and at least temporarily righted the Cowboys.
Jason Witten, Sean Lee, Tyron Smith, Chris Jones and L.P. Ladouceur are the only three players on the roster to experience the previous Week 17 heartaches. Tyrone Crawford, who is on injured reserve this season following hip surgery, was a rookie in 2012. Travis Frederick and Jeff Heath were around for the 2013 disappointment as rookies.
In 2017, the core of the team was part of the Week 16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks that took away the Cowboys’ ability to control their own fate. That team won its last game to finish 9-7 but missed the postseason.
For Witten, he can still picture a pass that was just behind Miles Austin late in the 2013 loss to the Eagles and a protection breakdown against Washington.
“There’s just certain things that happen that are just more important now than ever when you play in these games,” Witten said. “Those small details, more than just the hype of winning a division, that’s what’s going to allow you to be successful.”
That was Garrett’s message in 2010 when he took over for Wade Phillips as the interim coach, and it remains as he gets ready to coach the 154th regular-season game of his career Sunday.
“I feel like his job is always in the news since I’ve been here,” Heath said. “He’s never taken a different approach, in my opinion. Whether it’s a preseason game, regular season, postseason game, Wednesday practices, Thursday, Friday, his message is the same and guys really buy into his message.”
Prescott sounded as if he was reading straight from a Garrett script.
“Don’t allow this week to be bigger than your normal preparation. Do exactly what you have to do to get yourself ready for the game. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” the quarterback said. “Be the person that you are that prepares each and every day and make sure you go out there and execute the same you would any other Sunday. Because that’s what we need.”
What Garrett needs most is a win even if a loss would not knock the Cowboys out of the playoffs.
Now more than ever, this looks like his final stand, the ninth life in his ninth season.
“I think anybody who’s involved in the NFL just absolutely loves it, the opportunity to play on Sunday, coach on Sunday, in any game,” Garrett said. “And certainly when the stakes get higher toward the end of the year, just an exciting time for all of us.”
Source : ESPN
