PHILADELPHIA — The Dallas Cowboys like to call themselves America’s Team, but these days they could also star on an episode of “The Apprentice,” with Coach Jason Garrett trying to convince the team owner Jerry Jones that he deserves to keep his job.
Over and over during his 10 seasons of leading the Cowboys, Garrett has had his future with the club questioned by Jones, the N.F.L.’s most vocal owner, who also happens to be the team’s general manager. In the past several weeks alone, as the Cowboys dropped games to the Patriots, the Bills and the Bears, Jones has stoked speculation that he will replace Garrett, saying he will not stand for mediocrity and that he likes several college coaches.
Garrett’s tenure in Dallas will no doubt come up for review again after the team’s performance on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Cowboys and the Eagles entered the game with 7-7 records and the N.F.C. East division title on the line, though the Dallas franchise had more than just the postseason at stake.
In the end, the Cowboys lost a messy, injury-filled game, 17-9, to an Eagles team missing many of its best players.
“It’s very disappointing,” Jones said after the game. “We all expected to leave here as N.F.C. East champs. We’re not.”
With the win, the Eagles split the season series and can now win the division if they beat the Giants next week, no matter what the Cowboys do. Even if Philadelphia loses and the Cowboys end up winning the division, Jones may deem the season a failure given that Dallas made it to the divisional round last season and started this one 6-4.
Garrett has certainly had his chances. He has a .560 winning percentage, including three seasons with double-digit wins and just one season with a losing record. But Garrett, who was a backup quarterback during the team’s Super Bowl title seasons in 1993 and 1995, and was Cowboys’ offensive coordinator before he became coach, has a 2-3 record in the postseason.
The Eagles, despite missing wide receiver Nelson Agholor, running back Jordan Howard and offensive tackle Lane Johnson, started the game strong. Quarterback Carson Wentz, who overthrew several receivers, hit tight end Dallas Goedert with a six-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
The Eagles’ defense bottled up Ezekiel Elliott, who had just 9 yards in the first half. Quarterback Dak Prescott had several of his passes dropped, but he led the Cowboys far enough down the field that Kai Forbath could kick two field goals and the Cowboys could go into halftime behind, 10-6.
Dallas had the ball to start the second half and seemed to get over its early jitters. Prescott completed two passes to Elliott, who ran for two other gains. But with Dallas in a position to attempt a field goal at the Eagles’ 25-yard line, running back Tony Pollard fumbled the ball, which Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins recovered to extinguish the threat.
Late in the third quarter, Wentz came alive again, completing passes to tight end Zach Ertz, to receiver Greg Ward for 38 yards and to running back Boston Scott. Running back Miles Sanders ran the ball three times at the end of the drive, scoring on a 1-yard run to put the Eagles ahead, 17-6, as the third quarter came to a close.
The fourth quarter was no kinder to the Cowboys. Prescott continued to miss receivers, and was nearly intercepted by cornerback Avonte Maddox. After Eagles kicker Jake Elliott missed his second field-goal attempt of the game early in the fourth quarter, Prescott was sacked on third down, forcing Garrett to go for it on fourth-and-9 from Dallas’s 46-yard line.
Prescott made him look smart when he hit receiver Randall Cobb for a 17-yard first down catch. It was the kind of gutsy call Garrett was criticized for not making earlier this season. The Cowboys kicked another field goal to close the gap to 17-9 with eight minutes to go.
The Eagles tried to seal the victory on the next drive, but their effort was as messy as their topsy-turvy season. Wentz hit Goedert with a 22-yard pass, but fumbled and recovered the ball on the next play. Then he underthrew Sanders to end the drive.
On the Cowboys’ last drive, Prescott overthrew receiver Tavon Austin, who had a full step on his defender. Receiver Michael Gallup then let a pass fall through his hands. On fourth down on the Eagles’ 23 with 1:21 left, Prescott had Gallup one-on-one in the end zone, but cornerback Sidney Jones broke up the pass.
“Stats don’t matter,” Prescott said of his team’s talented roster. “It’s all about the best team out there.”
It was yet another dreadful performance by the Cowboys, who came into the game as the seventh best team in the league, according to EdjSports, a sports analytics company whose power index analyses N.F.L. teams’ offense, defense, passing and rushing.
The Cowboys are stocked with talented players. Prescott is ranked in the top five in pass completions, yards and touchdowns. Elliott (whom Jones made the game’s wealthiest running back with a six-year $90 million extension in the off-season) is fifth in yards gained. The team has one of the best offensive lines in the league, and its defense has given up the seventh fewest yards per game.
Their talent helps explain why, after the Cowboys lost 13-9 to the Patriots, Jones took aim at Garrett. “With the makeup of this team, I shouldn’t be this frustrated,” Jones told reporters.
Garrett was criticized for settling for a field goal late in the fourth quarter of that game when the Cowboys were down by a touchdown. Given the Cowboys’ popularity and their strong roster, Garrett’s decisions are scrutinized more than most coaches’. With the loss to an Eagles team that has struggled even more than the Cowboys, that scrutiny looks to be merited.
“Jerry Jones has a reason to be impatient,” Frank Frigo, EdjSports’ co-founder, said. “I definitely think there’s some meat on the bone about Garrett. He’s definitely been given a chance.”
Source: Football - nytimes.com
