For the sake of the sanity of every Dallas Cowboys fan out there, 2014 will be the season Jerry Jones needs to fish in a playoff fishing hole or finally cut Head Coach and former Cowboys backup quarterback Jason Garrett loose.
Garrett has had three consecutive 8-8 seasons since taking over for Wade Phillips midway through the 2010 season. The young head coach has had more than enough time to turn his 'Boys into winners. There's certainly nothing wrong with an inexperienced coach growing into the job, but neither he nor the team seem to be making much progress.
Each season under Garrett has been the same story - just as soon as the team puts together a praiseworthy performance they turn around and lay an egg. Last season the Cowboys would have taken the division over the Eagles if they had beaten Washington on the road in Week 16 and then defeated Philadelphia at home in Week 17. They did well to go out and beat the Redskins, but they followed that right up losing the most important game of the year to the Eagles.
The Cowboys have been as inconsistent as their record in terms of offense, defense and overall play-calling with Garrett running the show. Jones has great respect for Garrett, who has enjoyed a mysterious reputation as a smart offensive mind. But the mediocre record and lack of playoff appearances are hard to ignore. I do credit Jerry Jones for learning patience in guiding his football team, but it's clear from some of the things he has said since the season ended that he has decided that it's time to start demanding results:
"Some people, unless they know for sure what the check is going to be at the end of the week — they may be brilliant and they may be talented but — they don’t function as well because they need to know what it’s going to be. I’m not talking about the amount of the check; they just need to know that it’s going to be there. And they are a lot better at what they do. Others, though, by not knowing, the Mississippi riverboat gambler would be the epitome of that, he doesn’t know if he’s going to win the hand when the card turns up or get thrown overboard. He’s at his charming best, he operates the very best." - Jerry Jones.
Garrett has a very high tolerance for ambiguity. It’s a great quality. He’s very disciplined and very organized as well. Not to mention he is tremendously smart. But he’s unique in that with all of that, he can basically play option quarterback and string it out until the last move is made and then make his decision. That’s not a good quality. If Garrett is relieved of his duties, the Cowboys would offer the highest-profile coaching vacancy in the NFL.