Jerry Jones says he won’t assess Jason Garrett until Dallas Cowboys’ season is over
If you were shocked and pleasantly surprised by what transpired at AT&T Stadium on Sunday you were not alone.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admittedly didn’t see Sunday’s shocking 44-21 victory against the Los Angeles Rams coming.
Ever the optimist, Jones wasn’t feeling good about his fantasy of a dream ending for the Cowboys following the team’s embarrassing and disappointing 31-24 loss to the Chicago Bears on Dec. 5 — a game he acknowledged wasn’t as close as the score.
So while Jones understood the math of the Cowboys being in control their own destiny for the NFC East title and the playoffs, the team, losers of three straight, four of the last five and seven of 10, had shown him nothing to truly believe a turnaround was possible.
But that was before Sunday’s shellacking of the Rams (8-6), last season’s Super Bowl runner up, who were peaking for a playoff berth of their own.
It was the Cowboys’ first win of the season over a team with a winning record.
“That loss against Chicago set me down pretty hard,” Jones said. “We have had other disappointing losses. But I didn’t expect that against Chicago. I didn’t expect Chicago to play as well against us as they played, not to take anything away from them. I must tell you our team played above my expectations. I am really proud of them, just as much above my expectations tonight as we played below expectations in Chicago.”
Now that the Cowboys finally got a signature win, the dream is back alive for Jones. The Cowboys can clinch the NFC East title and clinch a playoff berth with a win at the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday.
“A win like this has that credibility as far as that old adage that once you see a player do it, you know they can do it; once you see a team do it, you know they can do it,” Jones said. “It went right for us. This is a great way for us to not get over but for us to put in perspective what the last three or four weeks have meant and how to pull out and make something good happen. It is possible for this team to be part of a team that they can remember all their lives in a positive way.”
Jones is not just talking about making the playoffs, he is talking about winning in the playoffs and reaching the Super Bowl for the first time since their last title in 1995.
That is what is going to have to happen for coach Jason Garrett, who is in the last year of his contract, to keep his job. Speculation has swirled about potential replacements during the recent skid but Jones plans on making no decisions until the season is over. And the season is not over, as the Rams’ win suggests.
“I don’t know,” a prickly Jones said when asked if he is now reassessing Garrett’s future. “That implies that I’d concluded and had assessed the future, and that’s not correct. So I had not reached that point, and wouldn’t under any circumstances until this season is over. What it does remind me is the season’s not over. That’s a plus thing.”
And if they beat the Eagles and get in the playoffs, Jones believes anything can happen and dreams can come true.
“You know that I have that as a common thesis as I stand here with you, as someone who’s had a dream and lived a dream,” Jones said. “I certainly, if anyone can, believe that those kinds of things can happen to you. I don’t have to think that it’s something you read about or it happens to somebody else. I’ve had it happen to me in many ways in my life. Yes, I think we can live a dream here and have some good things happen.”
The dream is alive.
