bbgun
please don't "dur" me
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By Tim Cowlishaw
3:36 PM on Dec 4, 2019
Maybe this just feels like it happens a lot because I’m still shivering from the 2013 visit. But the Cowboys are back in Chicago for a night game the week after Thanksgiving, and to say anything is possible is understating the case.
The Bears could win (as they did in 2013). The Cowboys could win (as they did in 2014). And Cowboys fans could hope for the Bears to win.
I don’t really understand the third option, but I know it exists. There is a segment of the Cowboys’ fan base that is so far gone on the Jason Garrett question that victories that might lead to the head coach staying beyond the 2019 season are scarier than defeats that send the team below the .500 mark.
Like I said, I have never bought into this idea, which seems to crop up more in college conversations — lose just to get rid of a coach — even if I fully understand the frustration of the Garrett years. The man is 18 games over .500, better than average, but let’s say completely average when it comes to managing big games. Two recent losing ventures into the AFC East come to mind as the Cowboys cling to first despite a paltry 6-6 record.
The five coaches who have been in place longer than Garrett — New England’s Bill Belichick, New Orleans’ Sean Payton, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and Seattle’s Pete Carroll — all have won Super Bowls. Even the next two on the list after Garrett are Kansas City’s Andy Reid and Minnesota’s Mike Zimmer, and they at least have been to conference championship games with their current teams. Reid took the Eagles to a Super Bowl, too, and made it to five NFC title games in Philadelphia.
We just saw Carolina part with Ron Rivera, who got his job in 2011, the same offseason Garrett was having the interim tag removed from his lapel. Rivera’s overall record was similar to but slightly below Garrett’s win percentage. Yet he took the Panthers to a Super Bowl just four years ago. When you reach that game, you are viewed as a special coach, but if you fail to win, your time in that regard is limited.
See the status of Atlanta’s Dan Quinn for more information.
Even winning the ultimate game — the one we all know the Cowboys have not reached since the 1995 season, same as the NFC Championship Game — provides no long-term guarantees. The last two coaches not named Belichick to win Super Bowls are Gary Kubiak and Doug Pederson. Kubiak had several health scares that limited his desire to stay on as a head coach and he’s now an assistant head coach in Minnesota.
And Pederson, virtually handed the keys to the city after bringing Philadelphia its first Lombardi Trophy less than 24 months ago, talked this week of how disgusted he is with himself for allowing the Eagles to lose to Miami and remain one game behind Garrett’s Cowboys.
The point is, I understand the desire to move forward in Dallas. After a certain length of time, a new voice is necessary if only to renew hope among players and fans. As long as this team falls short of owner Jerry Jones’ fairy-tale dream in the postseason, we can anticipate a new coach in 2020. It should be noted that none of them — that means all the way to the top, which would be talking Belichick or Nick Saban or Urban Meyer onto the Cowboys’ payroll — come with any guarantees. Those first two names also fall into that same “fairy tale” category Jones discussed recently on his radio show although it appears Meyer would be interested.
So please feel free to enjoy the ride, as turbulent as this one might be in 2019. The 2007 New York Giants won the Super Bowl as a 10-6 wild-card team, beating the undefeated Patriots. The 2011 Giants won the Super Bowl as a 9-7 division winner. And the 2010 Seattle Seahawks won a playoff game as a 7-9 division winner.
I’m not suggesting there are similar qualities to be found in this year’s Cowboys team, but I can also assure you — as I do in this section every Friday — that I cannot predict the outcomes of NFL games.
Neither can anyone else.
The 2020 season and a new face in the center of the team photo will be here soon enough. Let things play out, and enjoy watching a December Bears-Cowboys game from the best view possible — the one in your living room.
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Sorry, Tim. I rooted for us to lose the last game of the '88 season for the long-term benefit of the franchise. This is another one of those moments.
