An emotional Jerry Jones announced following Thursday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills that Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett will not be fired.
Why? Because “it’s not the time for me.”
“I’m just not going to make a coaching change. It’s not impossible for us to do more than just show up in the playoffs,” Jones said, tears welling in his eyes.
In Dallas’ worst defeat of the season (yes, including the Jets game), they were outcoached and outclassed by a better, hungrier Bills squad, who moved to 9-3 on the year with the 26-15 blowout — score notwithstanding.
Losers of two straight, the Cowboys fell to 6-6 and are in danger of blowing the NFC East lead to the 5-6 Eagles, who own the common opponents tiebreaker. But Big D technically still controls its destiny with better-than-good odds of clinching a postseason berth.
For that reason, and for that reason only, Jones refuses to pull the plug on Garrett, his decade-old investment.
“I’m looking ahead at another ballgame,” he said, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. “I’m looking ahead at winning four or five straight and helping write a story they will talk about, how it looks like you’re down and out. And I mean that. That’s the way that I’m operating. Every decision that I make over the next month will be with an eye in mind to get us in the Super Bowl now.”
The Cowboys will hit the road in Week 13 to face the 6-6 Bears, who defeated the Lions on Thanksgiving. And much to the fan base’s dismay, it will be Garrett “leading” them into battle.
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Jerry Remains a Believer in Garrett
ESPN’s Ed Werder, upon conferring with a “high-ranking” source, reported prior to kickoff that Jerry Jones and VP Stephen Jones will allow Garrett to finish the season “no matter what.”
The former appeared to confirm that plan in his postgame press gathering, surprisingly throwing support behind his longtime friend/employee, whom he trashed through the media just days earlier.
“I know Jason very well. I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to spend a football life with him, so I know him very well,” Jerry Jones said, per the Dallas Morning News. “… Nobody wants Jason to go, and I’m going to tell you this right now, he’s got my back, too.”
Before the nationally-televised tilt, Dallas’ head honcho did a massive about-face on the increasingly criticized Garrett, saying, rather stunningly, that he’s a “master” at his craft.
“You won’t find anybody that knows how to do all the things to coach football any better than Jason Garrett does,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan.
Garrett Reacts to Bills Loss
Though apparently not a dead man walking, Garrett’s hot seat is cranked to scorching levels, nearly engulfing the 53-year-old. He’s self-aware enough to realize that Dallas has little margin for error if they’re to qualify for the playoffs and potentially save his job beyond 2019.
“You just have to get back to work. That’s the nature of the National Football League. It’s hard every week,” Garrett said, per ESPN.com. “You are going to deal with adversities over the course of the year. You’re going to have to deal with the successes over the course of the year. You have to learn from them and move on and get ready for the next challenge.”
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Cowboys’ Jones Makes Tearful Declaration on Jason Garrett’s Job