The Dallas Cowboys’ season is over. Now, team waits for final word on Jason Garrett.
There will be no dream ending for the Dallas Cowboys and coach Jason Garrett.
The season ended as it was, a nightmare rife with unfulfilled expectations, resulting in tears of regret and failure welling up in the eyes quarterback Dak Prescott and tight end Jason Witten.
Prescott felt for the only pro coach he has ever known and disappointment of the season. Witten might have played his last game in the NFL.
Never mind the 47-16 victory against the Washington Redskins in the season finale at an AT&T Stadium filled with fans hopeful for a miracle.
There was little joy for the Cowboys.
The Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) made the effort moot with a 34-17 victory against the New York Giants, clinching the NFC East title and a trip to the playoffs, officially eliminating the Cowboys from postseason contention.
The Cowboys fittingly finished 8-8 and now must wait for the official word on Garrett’s fate.
Owner Jerry Jones said there was no timetable on a decision.
“What I wouldn’t do, in anything I’m saying here tonight, is shut any door,” Jones said. “I really want to make sure I’m clear about that and communicate that: There’s no door shut here tonight. None, anywhere, is shut. This is not what that is about shutting a door of an individual. I’m not doing that here.
Jones acknowledges he has a decision to make.
“Yes, but what I wasn’t going to do is have a discussion on that tonight, address that one here this evening,” Jones said. “I’ll be doing that in the near term. There’s no reason why I can’t in some near-term basis.”
There is no question what Garrett wants.
“I want to be coach of the Dallas Cowboys. We will see what happens,” Garrett said.
Does he think he will get an extension?
“I have no idea,” Garrett said.
He came into the season in the final year of his contract with the mandate of getting to the NFC title game or the Super Bowl to secure a contract extension.
But a 3-0 start was followed by losses in eight the next 12 games, including a 17-9 setback to the Eagles in Week 16 that would have secured the division title and a trip to the playoffs.
It forced them to head into Sunday hoping for help from the Giants that they did not get.
“Obviously, a very disappointing way to end,” Jones said. And of course not being able to get in the playoffs creates a very disappointing time or event that’s very disappointing for everyone concerned. This has been a serious disappointment. Not expected, did not expect it. Planned on being right here in the playoffs. All of the goals that we had, we aren’t getting pursue because of today and Philadelphia’s win. We played good enough to pursue it, but again this really is a result — not how we played today, as how we didn’t play throughout the year.”
The Cowboys tried their best to control what they could control Sunday, including their play on the field and the information on the scoreboard.
The players did their part, jumping out a 20-3 lead, thanks to 13-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Ezekiel Elliott and a 33-yard run from Elliott.
The Redskins made it 20-10 at halftime on a 6-yard pass from Case Keenum to Steven Sims, and then got a field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter to narrow the lead to 20-13.
But Prescott gave the Cowboys some distance with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup.
Prescott showed his toughness and competitiveness on the drive with a 23-yard run on a third-and-2 play that included a stiff arm with his sprained right shoulder and then running over a defender at the end.
It was the continuation of a monster final performance from Prescott and just the beginning of one from Gallup, who followed the leaping 4-yard touchdown reception over two defenders with an acrobatic 32-yarder when he did a 360-spin out of a tackle and ran up the left sideline.
Gallup capped his day with a 45-yard score on a slant.
Prescott’s four touchdowns on the day gave him a career-high 30 for the season, and his 303 passing yards gave him 4,902 for the season, just shy of Tony Romo’s single-passing record of 4,903.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 122 yards, marking his seventh 100-yard game of the season.
And the Cowboys scored more than 30 points for the eighth time; not coincidentally, all were wins.
In the end, they were empty stats and all for naught in a seemingly fitting end for Garrett in Dallas.
“I don’t now if I’ve ever ever been disappointed after a win, to be honest,” an emotional Prescott said. “But that was tonight. It was unfortunate and disappointing. I think that’s the best word for it, the best description for the locker room. It hurts.”
Prescott said Garrett told the team after the game “to just stand tall through success and adversity, and be the man that you are. He said never change that. It was felt throughout the team. We’re thankful for him.”
Garrett said he was disappointed in the season but “damn proud” of his players and how they played against the Redskins.
For the record, he finished his ninth season with 85 wins and 67 losses, three division titles, two playoff wins and four 8-8 finishes. The Cowboys failed to make the playoffs in six of Garrett’s nine seasons.
Now, they wait for the official word from Jones.
This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 6:52 PM.
