Jerry Jones’ style detriment to Dallas Cowboys, coach Jason Garrett, Troy Aikman says
Jason Garrett may or may not be coaching his last four games with the Dallas Cowboys, starting Thursday against the Chicago Bears.
He may or may not be in his last season with the Cowboys (6-6).
It all depends on how they do over the next month in keeping their one-game lead in the NFC East and whether they playoffs and win enough games in the postseason.
Owner Jerry Jones has gone from going scorched earth on the coaching staff after a Nov. 24 loss to the New England to saying Garrett is the right man to redeem the Cowboys over the last four games and fulfill a dream of reaching the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.
What’s certain is that Jones has not given Garrett the cover of job security.
Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s, said the team’s biggest problem is Jones and how he runs the Cowboys.
“There is a lot to this job,” Aikman said Wednesday as he was given the Heart of Dallas Award by the Dallas Influencers in Sports and Entertainment. “There is a lot he has to overcome. It’s not run traditionally the way most organizations are and that is to the detriment of the Cowboys. You can’t look at three playoff wins over the last 25 years and surmise that all the problems over that time have to do with coaching. I think you have to look at the top and say how are we doing it from the top. I think businesses do that. I think anyone worth their salt evaluate it from the top down.”
While Aikman believes the Cowboys have enough talent for a miracle finish, he understands that it might be time for a change in Dallas.
He says Garrett will be fine, no matter what, as he has proven himself as a person and coach with an 83-65 coaching record, three division titles and two playoff wins in less than ideal conditions.
“Jason is a heck of a football coach,” Aikman said. “He has done a nice job in Dallas. It’s the hardest job in football. It goes beyond just the playing field and what all has to be managed just to give your team a chance to have success. At some point in time, unless you are Bill Belichick in New England, it’s time for a change. But this story hasn’t been fully written. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did get on a run. They are talented enough to do it. Whatever happens down the road, I’m not worried about Jason Garrett. He will be fine. He has proven the quality of person he is, as well as the way he is as a head coach.”
Here are five things to watch as the Cowboys prepare for the Bears:
Cold and grass field
The last time the Cowboys played at Chicago in December was in 2013. It was 8 degrees at kickoff and the Cowboys never took their hands out of their pockets in a 45-28 defeat, when they gave up 490 yards and never forced the Bears to punt.
It is expected to be in the high 30s at kickoff Thursday night. But the Cowboys are taking no chances, especially after failing to do all they could to prepare for a cold and rainy game in a loss to the New England Patriots two weeks ago.
The Cowboys did not practice outside and quarterback Dak Prescott did not practice with a wet football or with gloves.
This week the Cowboys practiced outside for three days for the first time all season to try to prepare for the cold., as well as the grass at Soldier Field.
It is not supposed to rain but Prescott practiced with gloves just in case.
“It’s definitely about precipitation,” Prescott said. “Not something I’ll do just with it being the cold. My hands are fine, I’ll keep my hands warm, keep the blood in them, got the hand warmers and all that. Got it with the jersey. Won’t have problems like that.”
Better late than never.
Can Amari Cooper produce on the road?
Receiver Amari Cooper’s home and road numbers remain a mystery.
At home, he has 47 catches for 758 yards with five touchdowns. On the road, it’s 17 for 213 with two touchdowns. He was shut out against Patriots and three for 38 against the Lions in the past two road games, against two of the league’s premier cornerbacks, Stephon Gilmore and Darius Slay.
“I checked out the numbers actually I have significantly less targets on the road than I have at home,” Cooper said. “I think the numbers I have 60 targets at home and I have 32 on the road. So obviously the more opportunities you have in any setting, situation, you’re going to be better off. It’s just like basketball, you shoot the ball more you’re going to have more points. If you only have two shots then you only score four points.”
Cooper doesn’t think the Cowboys need to be more conscious about getting him the ball early and often.
“The reason I don’t go to the coaches and say I want x amount of targets on the road is I truly feel like we have so many playmakers on your offense that I don’t need 10 targets,” Cooper said.
But the facts are the Cowboys need Cooper involved as big factor in their success, either making plays or creating for the other receivers.
Cowboys need to get Zeke Elliott back on track
A cold weather game should mean the Cowboys will try to lean on running back Ezekiel Elliott.
That would be a welcomed return to normalcy for owner Jerry Jones, who believes the Cowboys have gone pass happy and lost their identity.
While Elliott is just 10 yards away from his third 1,000-yard season in four years in the league, he is coming off four straight games without a 100-yard rushing performance for the first time in his career.
Elliott is also averaging the fewest touches per game in his four NFL seasons.
Elliott had 12 carries for 71 yards in the 26-15 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving.
It’s not lost on Jones that the Cowboys are 31-13 when Elliott has 16 or more carries and the are 3-5 when he has 15 or fewer.
“We’re not quite obviously consistently taking the thing that we are the best at and running that down the other team’s throat,” Jones said. “We’re not doing that. We can do that, and that’s frustrating.”
Michael Bennett moving on from fiery talk
Defensive end Michael Bennett gave the Cowboys a fiery speech after the loss to the Bills, despite being here less than two months. There was a lot of screaming and cursing. Now Bennett wants to put that in the past and just go play. He says the Cowboys have the talent to close out the season strong. They just have to do it on the field.
“I think the mood’s been good,” Bennett said. “I think everyone just wants to win. When you want to win, there’s always going to be some chippiness. At the same time, I think everybody respects the amount of work each player puts in, the coaches put in. But we want great output. And the output is winning. That’s the most important thing and we’re trying to figure out what’s the best way of doing that. I think it’s just us playing our best football and putting our best foot forward.”
Bennett said it has been a time of self reflection for the Cowboys and that can be good.
“Losing makes you look into the mirror more and self-reflect on things you got to fix,” Bennett said. “Sometimes when you win you can overlook things but when you lose, the eye of the camera finds everything that’s wrong. so I think sometimes you’ve got to self-reflect and we’re at the moment where we’ve got to self-reflect and figure out how to put our best foot forward.
“I see us being able to play a complete game and I think it comes down to executing at a high level, regardless of the score. Whatever the adversity is, being able to overcome that. I think as a team we realize we’ve come up short a couple times. It’s time for us to just make the best of every game.”
RT La’el Collins ready for the challenge
Right tackle Lael Collins is playing the best football of his career. He has been the team’s best lineman all season, despite being bothered by a sprained knee.
But he will have prove it again on Thursday against Bears pass rush phenom Khalil Mack.
Collins shut out Mack on sacks when they faced each other in 2017 when Mack was with the Raiders.
“He is a good player, definitely one of the best pass rushers in the league,” Collins said. “It was a good battle. We left Oakland with the win. But that is the past. I have gotten better as the player. He has gotten better. It is going to be a good battle.”
Collins will have to be up to the task again if the Cowboys offense hopes to get something done.
Collins is looking forward to it.
“That is when you get to see what kind of player you are,” Collins said. “That is when you get to see who is the best. You play against the best. That is when the cream rises to the top.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 9:06 AM.
