With Jerry Jones still angry, frustrated, would Jason Garrett survive loss to Bills?
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones went scorched earth on coach Jason Garrett and his staff after Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots.
But Jones said he never thought about making a coaching change with Garrett.
Will he feel the same way if the Cowboys lose to the Buffalo Bills at AT&T Stadium on Thanksgiving Day?
Might a change come then?
Time will tell.
But what’s certain is that the time hasn’t soothed Jones’ anger.
Asked on his radio show this week how he feels about the coaching staff, he said, “The same way that I felt then.”
Jones is beyond disappointed now.
“Disappointed is not the word. There’s no question that we were given an opportunity; there were things we could have taken advantage of,” Jones said.
Jones says the Cowboys have too much talent for him to be this frustrated about his team.
That Garrett is in the final year of his contract and essentially coaching for his job in 2019 goes without saying.
A decision will come sooner or later.
“When you’re General Manager, which I am, those coaches are out there at my ultimate decision,” Jones said. “It’s very much within my realm of purview, if you will, to not only be standing there as an owner, but be standing there as the General Manager who put the staff there to begin with. People seem to think it’s particularly harsh to have criticism, and they think when you look at the other side of the field and call a job well done, that might mean that’s extraordinary criticism of the job you’ve done on the other side of the field.”
The Cowboys remain in first place in the NFC East with a 6-5 mark.
But nothing is guaranteed.
Garrett has five games to get this ship righted, starting Thursday against the Bills.
Of course, a loss to the Bills could send Jones over the edge.
Here are five things to watch against the Bills:
Witten says Jones’ criticism is fair
While some players, like running back Ezekiel Elliott, remain oblivious to the criticism of the coaching staff by owner Jerry Jones, there are others who heard him loud and clear.
Tight end Jason Witten said he would expect nothing less from Jones and that his criticism is warranted.
“Passion, emotion, the energy he brings, that is line 1 for Mr. Jones, I feel like from my perspective,” Witten said. “He wants to win. He expects to win. He feels like he’s put a great team together, which he has, and we haven’t played to our expectations of where we should be. That’s completely fair. I think it’s just the raw emotion of it all. He’s been around a lot of great football and knows what he wants it to look like.”
The pressure is on Garrett, but the players feel it, too.
“We’re the players,” guard Zack Martin said. “This thing goes all the way around. We’ve got to do a better job executing.”
Said cornerback Jourdan Lewis: “You’ve just got to go out there and win. At the end of the day, it’s not about defending yourself. You defend yourself by winning. That’s how we defend ourselves. We’ve got to go out there and prove him right. He believes in us. I mean, we still believe in him. So we go there and win games.”
Can the Cowboys finally beat a team with a winning record?
The line has been used so much this week, it has already become a cliche.
The Cowboys have no wins against a team with a winning record.
None.
The Cowboys (6-5) still remain in first place over the Philadelphia Eagles (5-6), but they have yet to beat a team with a winning record.
Their six victories have come against teams that are a combined 16-46-1. The Eagles are the best team the Cowboys have beaten.
The Cowboys’ other victories are over Washington (2-9), the Giants (2-9) twice, the Lions (3-7-1) and the Dolphins (2-9).
Their losses are to the Patriots (10-1), Jets (4-7), Packers (8-3), Vikings (8-3) and Saints (9-2).
Thursday’s game against the Bills (8-3) is one of two remaining on the Cowboys’ schedule against teams who currently have a winning record. They also play the Los Angeles Rams (6-5) on Dec. 15.
To get to the playoffs they will have to beat a team with a winning record, starting with the Bills on Thursday.
“With all that being said, you’re in the lead by one game, and you’ve got to be able to finish,” Witten said. “You’ve got to play good football this time of the year. You’ve got to start having that identity show up, and you can’t talk about it; you’ve gotta go do it.”
“You have to be a team that wins those games, and right now we’re not,” linebacker Sean Lee told reporters. “We need a find a way to do that ASAP because teams who win and get into the playoffs, and then win in the playoffs, they win close games. So we need to get there.”
Cole Beasley revenge game
This game has been circled on receiver Cole Beasley’s calendar ever since the schedule came out.
Beasley left the Cowboys in free agency after seven seasons with his hometown team and signed a four-year, $29 million deal with the Bills because he was unhappy with his role and didn’t like how he was used in the offense.
It has worked out great for him. He has 49 receptions for 525 yards and four touchdowns through 11 games, and is on pace to have one of the best seasons of his career.
“It’s all gone; I’m on a different team,” Beasley said. “The role is different now. I’m in a role that I wanted to be in anywhere at that point in time when I was trying to decide where to go. It’s been awesome. I’m getting to do exactly what I want to do here.”
“I made the right decision, it was the best move for me and I don’t regret it one bit.”
Beasley says now there is no ill will. But he had a lot of negative things to say about the Cowboys when he left.
“There’s a part of you that wants to win it a little more, maybe, I guess, but I want to win them all,” Beasley said. “So it’s really not that much different. It will be fun to go against a lot of guys that I’ve gone and practiced against over the last few years, so it will be cool to do that. I won’t be talking any, like, serious (stuff) to them, but it will be some joking around, trash talking.”
Amari Cooper bounce-back game
The Cowboys still have the No. 1 pass offense in the league, but they are smarting after a season-low effort against the Patriots.
Quarterback Dak Prescott had his worst performance of the season, which was exacerbated by his inexplicable decision to not wear gloves at the outset of the game in the rain. It was not good leadership, and he hurt his team.
The thing that hurt most was star receiver Amari Cooper being held without a catch in the game, a huge black eye on what has been a brilliant season for him.
But it was typical Cooper, who has struggled away from AT&T Stadium all season. He has 39 catches for 673 yards and five touchdowns at home, but just 17 for 213 and two scores on the road.
Good thing he is home Thursday.
Un-special teams under fire
The Cowboys special teams came under fire from owner Jerry Jones after a woeful performance against the Patriots because of muffed kicks, a blocked kick, a missed field goal and poor coverage.
The Cowboys special teams will draw more scrutiny Thursday against the Bills, who have one of the league’s most dangerous returners in Andre Roberts.
He is No. 1 in the league in kickoff returns, and the Cowboys have been bad on coverage all season.
“Their return guy, Andre Roberts, a big-time player, been a really good player in this league for a long time,” coach Garrett said. “It’s not only him, their whole unit. He’s the guy who shows up big as a returner. Challenges are everywhere. They’re good up front. They’re good blockers. He’s a really good runner. They’re aggressive with it. It will be a big challenge for our football team.”
Because it was a short week, the Cowboys did not devote any extra time to special teams in practice. Actually, they spent less time on it because they had less time.
“Yeah, we’ve just got to do a better job,” Garrett said when asked why the Cowboys have struggled in coverage all season. “Being fast, being physical, getting off of blocks and tackles, and we’ll continue to work on that.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 10:59 AM.
