Darkness closing in on the long tenure of Jason Garrett

midswat

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By Tim Colinshaw

ARLINGTON -- The only honest way I can begin a column about Jason Garrett is the same way the film Last Flag Flying ends, which is with a Bob Dylan lyric that the Cowboys head coach would appreciate (in other circumstances).

"It's not dark yet ... but it's getting there."

The lights are barely flickering on the Cowboys season after an embarrassing 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers which came on the heels of similar implosions against the Atlanta Falcons (27-7) and Philadelphia Eagles (37-9). At some point, everyone needs to step beyond a comfortable company line saying Atlanta is getting back to Super Bowl strength, the Eagles may already be there and the Chargers were better than their 4-6 record.

Who cares? The Cowboys didn't compete with any of them.
Owner Jerry Jones did all he could to avoid providing Garrett a vote of confidence because he knows how that sounds. Those tend to be the last words we hear from general managers or athletic directors before coaching searches commence.

"I really think this coaching staff is tops," Jones said. "I think Jason is able to do everything he's learned as a coordinator and coach the last few years. I feel good about the staff, and I'm not equivocating about that."

Jones said he must look in the mirror, which is a fair assessment of the overall situation. The Cowboys have lost three straight games without Ezekiel Elliott by enormous margins, and that's on the construction of this roster as much as it is the game management of it.

Still, the current numbers are alarming beyond any normal sense of things. The Cowboys went 10 quarters without a touchdown for the first time in club history. They scored in single digits in three straight games for the first time in club history.

Garrett got this position when Wade Phillips was fired after the Cowboys began the 2010 season with a 1-7 record. They were getting whipped at the end, but the current team has lost the last three games by more points (70) than Phillips' club did in his final three (62 points).

Bill Parcells' 2004 team lost three straight games by 20 or more and by a total margin of 71 -- a figure these Cowboys avoided only because in the final two minutes Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers did more kneeling than Jones ever thought he would allow in this stadium.

While Rivers shined with statistics that called into question whether Dallas even put a defense on the field -- 434 yards passing, three touchdowns, no sacks, 82 percent completions -- the Cowboys were sluggish once more and Dak Prescott was at his worst at the wrong moments, throwing two interceptions including another pick-six.

I can't say Garrett was in a reflective mood in his postgame news conference (that has never happened and presumably never will), but he seemed aware that this team had turned a dangerous corner.

When I asked how he viewed his role in this team's demise, he hesitated only a moment before saying, "Obviously we've got to get it right. That's my job and that's our job as a coaching staff. We haven't done enough on either side of the ball to allow our team to compete in the last 30 minutes."

Oh, those final 30 minutes. The Cowboys are setting records for dismal second-half performances, too. They led the Falcons and Eagles before being outscored 47-0 in the third and fourth quarters. On Thanksgiving, the Chargers held a 3-0 lead at the halfway mark before having their way in the second half by a 25-6 margin and, as mentioned, passing on a final touchdown at the 2-yard line which felt, in some sense, like the final insult.

On their way to a 5-6 record, Anthony Lynn's Chargers didn't want to run up the score on Dak, Dez, DeMarcus and the rest of the 'Boys.

While Jones tries to tell himself all is right with this staff, the career numbers suggest that this can't last forever. Garrett is one of nine head coaches who have been in their current post since the start of 2011, his first full season.

Six have won Super Bowls and a seventh (Carolina's Ron Rivera) at least made the trip.
The other two are Garrett and Marvin Lewis, and one role you want to avoid at all costs is being compared to how the Cincinnati Bengals do things. Garrett at least has a single playoff victory while Lewis has none in Year 15.

I don't think Garrett is going anywhere no matter how far the Cowboys miss the playoffs. But I also expect them to win a couple of games at some stage. And if that doesn't happen and the blowout losses mount and the Cowboys' record book continues to get rewritten and the home crowd boos grow even louder, then logic says inertia is not the answer. Change will happen.
In other words, it's not dark yet. But it's getting there.
 

midswat

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When I asked how he viewed his role in this team's demise, he hesitated only a moment before saying, "Obviously we've got to get it right. That's my job and that's our job as a coaching staff. We haven't done enough on either side of the ball to allow our team to compete in the last 30 minutes."
Garrett is asked a question about HIS role, and he responds with a "we."

Gutless coward who won't accept any blame.


Garrett is one of nine head coaches who have been in their current post since the start of 2011, his first full season.

Six have won Super Bowls and a seventh (Carolina's Ron Rivera) at least made the trip.
The other two are Garrett and Marvin Lewis, and one role you want to avoid at all costs is being compared to how the Cincinnati Bengals do things.
Disgusting and inexcusable.
 

Cotton

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Garrett is asked a question about HIS role, and he responds with a "we."

Gutless coward who won't accept any blame.
But but but Stephen said that being accountable for his own fuckups was one of his best attributes.
 
D

Deuce

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He has every excuse in the world to reference why this team sucks this season. Marinelli will probably “retire” and Garrett will be given another season to screw up.
 

Chocolate Lab

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"I really think this coaching staff is tops," Jones said. "I think Jason is able to do everything he's learned as a coordinator and coach the last few years. I feel good about the staff, and I'm not equivocating about that."

Jones said he must look in the mirror, which is a fair assessment of the overall situation.
And there it is.

Maybe after the Redskins embarrass us he can tell the Love Field credit card story.
 

boozeman

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And there it is.
Goddammit. He is so fucking predictable. He does the same fucking shit after each and every failure.

He will be telling us how he will be taking that man in the mirror to the woodshed soon.
 

boozeman

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He has every excuse in the world to reference why this team sucks this season. Marinelli will probably “retire” and Garrett will be given another season to screw up.
That is exactly what will happen.

Then will then do the laziest thing possible and promote Eberflus.

Laziest. Front Office. Ever.
 

p1_

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I hate to admit that the thought of losing more games sounds appealing in a sick and twisted way. But yeah, if there's a good chance Garrett goes, I say, gulp, do it!
 
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Deuce

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That is exactly what will happen.

Then will then do the laziest thing possible and promote Eberflus.

Laziest. Front Office. Ever.
I never watch First Take. It makes me physically ill listening to them spew nonsense. But I did today and props to Kellerman for calling out Stephen Jones. He said he gets credit for picking Martin over Maziel and other things, but the inability to have depth and make up for the Tyron loss is on him too.
 

boozeman

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I never watch First Take. It makes me physically ill listening to them spew nonsense. But I did today and props to Kellerman for calling out Stephen Jones. He said he gets credit for picking Martin over Maziel and other things, but the inability to have depth and make up for the Tyron loss is on him too.
Absolutely.

And Goof Son is just like his goddamn father. He is just as shockingly optimistic about everything. He is part of the fucking problem, not hope for the future.
 

Texas Ace

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But but but Stephen said that being accountable for his own fuckups was one of his best attributes.
Yup.

Here's another example:

 

DLK150

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I hate to admit that the thought of losing more games sounds appealing in a sick and twisted way. But yeah, if there's a good chance Garrett goes, I say, gulp, do it!
Eff it, go full Dave Campo for the season. 5-11 or bust! I took my dog out earlier wearing a DC sweatshirt(For some reason) and a woman walking her dog said "Cowboys?" then started laughing. Records be damned, I think we're has big of a joke as the Giants with a few more wins.
 

midswat

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DLK150

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Jason Garrett is a stupid unaccountable dickhead, that's why.
 

p1_

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Jerry Jones gives Jason Garrett 'vote of confidence'

By Kevin Patra
Around the NFL writer
Published: Nov. 24, 2017 at 08:01 a.m.

The Cowboys lost their third game via blowout in three weeks on Thanksgiving, plunging Dallas to 5-6 and putting their playoff hopes on life support. After addressing the team in the locker room, Jerry Jones insisted he's still behind Jason Garrett and the coaching staff.

The owner rebuffed questions about Garrett's job security following Thursday's 28-6 failure versus the Chargers.

"No. Just no. Again, I don't step out of the dressing room and evaluate the coaching position at all," Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Candidly and I don't even want to say it so that somebody might repeat it. Absolutely not. We've got some things that we're not playing good. We're not a good team right now. We can be a good team. I'm not even going to talk about anything positive but there are things if you want to look at them. We've just got to get everybody to just sit here and grab a hold, get back and let's see if we can't do better and win some games."

Dallas has been outscored 92-22 in the three games without Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys have also missed Tyron Smith for two of those games, Sean Lee for two and a half, and Zack Martin for the second half of Thursday's game. Despite missing key pieces, Jones believes the team still has depth and that the men coaching them are right for the job.

"Well, I think that again, I've got a lot of optimism for our talent," Jones said. "I do. Now we all know that it has to get better, has to get together. I really think this coaching staff is tops. I think Jason is able to use everything that he's learned, as coordinator, as coach over these last years, and we've just got to get it together. I frankly, guys, have had some of real losing moments right before really knocked it out of the park."

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan have received rave reviews in the past for their work handling middling depth on D and a young quarterback on offense. The recent collapse on both sides of the ball, however, has both men answering questions about the lack of adjustments and has put Garrett squarely on the hot seat.

The Cowboys have been outscored 72-6 in the second halves of their three-game skid, which speaks to the adjustment problems. However, Jones reiterated he's confident in his coaching staff.

"No. No, absolutely not. And I mean it, no," Jones said. "I think we've just got to -- I feel about this staff the same way I feel about my mirror -- that's what if there's some changes made, don't change what's in front of the mirror, because I can change what you're doing that the mirror is seeing. Candidly, I'm really not shaken. I'm disappointed, but there's no shake here.

"What I'm reluctant to do here is say a affirmative thing about our staff, and look like that endorsement. I don't want to look like they're getting the proverbial endorsement. That's not what's happening. The vote of confidence, yes, I want to say it the best way I can. That's not what I'm saying. I feel good about our staff, I'm not equivocating about it, and this isn't the negative vote of confidence at all. I feel good about it."

The normally impulsive owner could change his mind if the season continues to swirl down the drain with another string of blowout losses. For now, he'll stick with Garrett, the hand-picked coach he's groomed for years to get him through the tough times in which they're currently stuck.

"I really do believe in the old San Francisco gold miner that quit right before the next pick, and the guy came behind him and hit it and found it all," Jones said. "So I think you keep going."
 

Cotton

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Yup.

Here's another example:

I’m so done with that loser. How anyone can defend him or any of this coaching staff at this point is mind-boggling.
 

Cotton

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God damn, I hope Jerry Jones dies in a horrific car crash tomorrow. I very well may be back to the 2008 CFR level of done.
 

DLK150

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God damn, I hope Jerry Jones dies in a horrific car crash tomorrow. I very well may be back to the 2008 CFR level of done.
Only if the rest of his family dies with him, this horrific era has to go away with the quickness. I thought the drought from the late 70s to early 90s was bad but the last twenty something years make that look like a walk in the park.
 

lostxn

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I’m so done with that loser. How anyone can defend him or any of this coaching staff at this point is mind-boggling.
I really am not hearing any analysts defend him anymore. Is even Schitty been? There is just no excusing the current state of affairs.
- failure to help out an obviously deficient LT against the Falcons even as the sacks piled up
- failure to make 2nd half adjustments on offense in 3 consecutive games
- trotting the same offense out every week despite the fact teams have figured it out and it's not working. The CBs are running our WRs routes right with them.
- failure to make in-game adjustments as our offense and defense get pilloried in the second half

I blame Dak a lot but Garrett is far more to blame. He needs to go. Period.
 

junk

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Eff it, go full Dave Campo for the season. 5-11 or bust! I took my dog out earlier wearing a DC sweatshirt(For some reason) and a woman walking her dog said "Cowboys?" then started laughing. Records be damned, I think we're has big of a joke as the Giants with a few more wins.
Why did you make your dog wear a Cowboys sweatshirt?
 
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