Ragged loss at New England angers Cowboys owner/GM
Could it finally be happening?
Could it be that Dallas Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones — finally — has joined practically the entire North American fan base of America’s Team in concluding that Jason Garrett is no longer the answer at head coach?
None of us has any scientific data on which to agree on this, of course, but we must all know by now that few pro sports coaches of Garrett’s longevity (he’s in his 10 th year guiding the Cowboys) ever have been as despised as Garrett is in the 2010s by Dallas diehards.
Quick, do you know of a single Cowboys fans who still backs the guy? Just one? Or, even more to the point, who didn’t want Jones to fire Garrett’s butt some seven or eight years ago?
Look, I’ve met Garrett a few times informally, and briefly, at NFL meetings over the past eight years — and he’s about the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.
He’s just having a hard time, still, in getting the Cowboys to win anywhere near as many games as the team’s once-spoiled fans expect, and as Jones demands. Never mind that Jones-the-owner believes Jones-the-GM once again has assembled a talent-soaked roster worthy of winning a Super Bowl.
Following yet another frustrating loss, on Sunday at cold-and-rainy New England, Jones’ criticisms of Garrett and his coaching staff were as sharp, as direct, and as repeatedly underscored as anyone could remember.
More on that below.
First, know that Garrett is in the last year of his latest Cowboys contract, meaning Jones doesn’t technically even have to fire the red-headed former pro QB, who had a cup of coffee in the ’80s with the CFL’s old Ottawa Rough Riders. Jones can just choose to not re-sign him.
In that event, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday and again Monday that if the New York Giants move on from struggling second-year head coach Pat Shurmur after the season, then the Giants would be a released Garrett’s preferred next job destination.
Right, with a hated Cowboys rival.
And the interest would be mutual, Rapoport reported, citing the Giants’ interest in Garrett as a back-up plan several years ago, late in Tom Coughlin’s reign as Giants head coach from 2004-15.
Garrett as Giants head coach would be a double-whammy dream come true for most Cowboys fans, of course. Maybe now for Jerry, too.
Although it’s true Jones never soon walked away from any scrum of microphones pointed purposefully at him, he had a lot to say Sunday night outside the visitor’s locker room at Gillette Stadium.
“It is a significant setback for our team,” he said of the 13-9 defeat. “We needed this win against an opponent like this. We haven’t had one … And so we dig a hole (as) we look at the rest of the schedule.
“You’ve really dug your hole back when you were playing the (New York) Jets, and those guys … That’s what you get.”
Jones meant the 6-4 record Dallas had entering Sunday’s game against the defensively dominating but offensively stumbling Patriots. Now that Dallas is 6-5, they’re still only a game up on the even more shuffling Philadelphia Eagles (5-6).
Jones eventually was asked about coaching. In tipping his hat to Bill Belichick and his Patriots staff, Jones then went there. He actually, finally did, with stinging words of criticism for Garrett and his staff.
“We went up against an opponent that gets it together,” Jones said. “We have had a tough time coordinating how we put our offence and defence out there and have them play excellent, both at the same time. And we also know that special teams … on a sloppy day can rule the day. And they’ve got a coach that knows how to play this game. He did a good job today.
“When you come into New England on a day like today, against this team, in this era, and you need to win this to establish what you’re about on the season, you’ve dealt yourself a pretty narrow window to come out of here smiling.
“I think you’re going to get out-coached during this era when you come to New England. I do. But my point is, don’t get yourself into such a spot as you have to beat him, and beat them on a day like today.”
As Jones sort of rambled, as he does, between salient points he suggested his frustration lay in Sunday’s wasted opportunity — and the feeble all-around manner in which his Cowboys played, compared to the Patriots.
“I’m just really frustrated. I thought we could come up here and play better in all three phases … We got what I think we should have expected out of our defence, but in the other two phases we can’t come up here and play like that.
“Make no mistake about it. This was a bigger game for us than it was for the Patriots, in the win column, and we had a chance to really establish something. There’s no gratification here (in nearly winning). That’s not the point.”
Asked specifically about his confidence in his coaching staff, Jones said: “I don’t think there’s a game that a coaching staff couldn’t do better in. I just don’t like it that we’ve had so many, as I’m standing here tonight.”
For his part, Garrett was asked on Monday during his weekly radio spot on 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas what his response was to Jones’ comments, and he of course pulled out one of his trusty, fading, dog-eared, crinkled bromides.
“All I can say is we obviously always want to win,” Garrett said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the job done yesterday.”
Does Garrett believing the Dallas coaching Sunday in New England wasn’t up to par?
“We always can coach better, we always can play better. And that’s the way we look at it … There’s plenty of stuff we need to correct. We have to get our eyes forward for this game on Thursday against Buffalo.”
Speaking of which, the Cowboys opened as a 7.5-point home-field favourite against the 8-3 Bills — the middle game of Thursday’s annual U.S. Thanksgiving NFL tripleheader (4:30 p.m. EST, TSN and CTV2 via CBS).
Expectations remain ever high for America’s Team.
What if the Cowboys beat Buffalo, and finish December with a flourish? Even if they eke their way into winning the bad NFC East, they’ll play host to a wild-card playoff game on Jan. 4-5 weekend, probably against one of Seattle, Green Bay, Minnesota or San Francisco.
Then what if the Cowboys win a playoff game or (at most) two? We all know what would happen. Jerry would fall in love with Jason again.
Which, as one Cowboys diehard told me Monday, would be the worst-case scenario for the team’s fan base.
FIVE FAST FACTS: Green Bay was 1-for-15 on third downs at San Fran … New England has now won 10 games for an NFL-record 17 straight seasons … In his last two games Pittsburgh QB Mason Rudolph has thrown one TD and five picks … Ryan Tannehill is 4-1 as Titans starting QB … San Francisco and Seattle are the last two teams undefeated on the road.
TAKING A KNEE: You don’t look well. You look ill. Some virus might be building inside you right now, which could keep you home all day Thursday.
Oh, and coincidentally, here’s my annual reminder that Thursday is U.S. Thanksgiving, on which a tripleheader of NFL games kicks off on the ol’ widescreen at 12:30 p.m. EST with Chicago at Detroit, followed by Buffalo at Dallas (4:30 p.m. EST) and New Orleans at Atlanta (8:20 p.m. EST).
Pass the remote, the chicken soup, the pumpkin pie. And enjoy.
Josh Allen’s production tops Brady’s since Week 4
Josh Allen has been a more productive quarterback than Tom Brady since the last week of September?
Yup.
Including New England’s narrow, defence-dominated, 16-10 win at Buffalo on Sept. 29, 20 th -year Brady and the Patriots offence have struggled far more than we’ve come to expect this century.
At the same time, second-year Allen and the Bills offence has been more effective than we’ve come to expect this century.
To the point that Allen has thrown more touchdown passes against the same number of interceptions, and has rushed for far more yards and touchdowns to boot.
A comparison since Week 4:
TOM BRADY, Patriots
- 60% completions
- 4 games with sub-56% completions
- 8 TD passes
- 5 interceptions
- minus-1 yard rushing
- 2 TDs rushing
- 10 TDs responsible for
JOSH ALLEN, Bills
- 59% completions
- 3 games with sub-56% completions
- 12 TD passes
- 5 interceptions
- 282 yards rushing
- 5 TDs rushing
- 17 TDs responsible for
Perhaps we should check with cosmos experts to see if Earth is spinning properly on its axis.
Chiefs optimistic Tyreek Hill can play vs. Raiders
Kansas City had a bye this past weekend. Good thing.
Star receiver Tyreek Hill might not have been able to play with the hamstring injury he suffered the previous Monday against the Los Angeles Chargers in Mexico City.
But on Monday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he’s “optimistic” Hill will be able to play in Sunday’s big game against the Oakland Raiders.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “Listen, I’m optimistic. I know how he loves to play the game.”
Broncos might activate, start rookie QB Lock
Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio is mulling another quarterback switch.
After moving on from 12 th -year veteran Joe Flacco to Brandon Allen a month ago, Fangio said rookie Drew Lock might make his NFL debut to start Sunday’s game against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.
Lock has been on injured reserve all regular season, after spraining the thumb on his right throwing hand in late August.
In April the Broncos drafted Lock 42 nd overall, in the second round. The club has until next Tuesday to activate Lock this season, as an IR player designated to return.
Might the Broncos do it this week?
“It’s possible, yeah,” Fangio said. “As far as this week goes, all options are on the table. We’re just going to make that decision here in the next few days.”
Could Lock start against the Chargers?
“Possibly, yeah,” Fangio said.
Allen was terrible in a 20-3 loss at Buffalo, failing to connect with a single wide receiver after the game’s first four minutes.
QUARTERBACK RANKINGS
All 32 starting QBs, after Sunday games, with last week’s rankings in brackets:
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City (1). Idle in Week 12.
- Russell Wilson, Seattle (2). 24 TDs, 3 INTs, 9-2 record.
- Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay (3). Got, got, got, got no time.
- Drew Brees, New Orleans (5). Raises ’19 COMP % to 75.7.
- Tom Brady, New England (4). Tough year getting tougher.
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore (6). Played Monday night.
- Deshaun Watson, Houston (7). Big-time plays in big win vs. Indy.
- Derek Carr, Oakland (8). First clunker game since Week 2.
- Dak Prescott, Dallas (9). Expected tough day vs. Patriots.
- Kirk Cousins, Minnesota (10). Idle in Week 12.
- Matt Ryan, Atlanta (11). Bucs sacked him six times.
- Philip Rivers, LA Chargers (12). Idle in Week 12.
- Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco (15). Sixth 70+% COMP.
- Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis (13). Struggling against zone.
- Carson Wentz, Philadelphia (14). In dire need of playmakers.
- Kyler Murray, Arizona (16). Idle in Week 12.
- Sam Darnold, NY Jets (19). 607 pass yards, 6 TDs last 2 weeks.
- Josh Allen, Buffalo (18). More production than Brady since Week 4.
- Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee (21). Completing 72% of passes.
- Baker Mayfield, Cleveland (24). 8 TDs, 1 INT in November.
- Nick Foles, Jacksonville (17). No defence, no chance.
- Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay (20). First pass picked, then shone.
- Jared Goff, LA Rams (23). Played Monday night.
- Kyle Allen, Carolina (26). Stopped the bleeding at Superdome.
- Daniel Jones, NY Giants (25). 21 completions for only 150 yards.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami (22). Overwhelmed in Cleveland.
- Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago (28). Just not happenin’.
- Dwayne Haskins, Washington (30). Did enough with Lions gifts.
- Jeff Driskel, Detroit (27). Pretty awful all the way around.
- Ryan Finley, Cincinnati (32). Hey, he’s keeping team in games.
- Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh (31). Bench beckons? Probably.
- Brandon Allen, Denver (29). 0 completions to WRs after 4 minutes.
THIS WEEK
Quick thoughts on Week 13 games (all on Sunday unless noted):
- Bears at Lions , Thursday, 12:30 ET: Alas, yet another meaningless tripleheader kickoff in Detroit.
- Bills at Cowboys , Thursday, 4:30 ET: Biggest TV audience for a Bills game in ages. Time to shine.
- Saints at Falcons , Thursday, 8:20 ET: Now serving for Thanksgiving dessert: Saints revenge.
- 49ers at Ravens , 1 ET: This game should be shown in every home in North America.
- Redskins at Panthers , 1 ET: Not much at stake here unless your name is Ron Rivera.
- Jets at Bengals , 1 ET: New York suddenly hot. There goes a decent chance for Bengals to win first game.
- Titans at Colts , 1 ET: Both teams are 6-5 in AFC South. Winner can either tie or stay within a game of Houston.
- Buccaneers at Jaguars , 1 ET: Battle of Upper Florida and a 5-7 record. Woohoo!
- Raiders at Chiefs , 1 ET: Oakland got drilled by Jets but can tie Chiefs atop AFC West with a win.
- Eagles at Dolphins , 1 ET: Philly’s schedule gets mighty easy now, starting with this one.
- Packers at Giants , 1 ET: Firm-as-jello Giants defence just what the doctor ordered for Rodgers and the Pack.
- Rams at Cardinals 4:05 ET: Arizona will have had two weeks to prepare for NFC West rival Los Angeles.
- Chargers at Broncos , 4:25 ET: Surely Philip Rivers can look better than Brandon Allen, who was awful in Buffalo.
- Browns at Steelers , 4:25 ET: These keen but friendly rivals have at it again, just two weeks after Garrett-gate.
- Patriots at Texans , 8:20 ET: Seriously, New England’s offence better start finding a pulse.
- Vikings at Seahawks , Monday, 8:15 ET: Seattle still has a good shot at first in NFC West.
BYES: None. All done.
@JohnKryk
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