DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys needed to deliver a message Thursday night in Chicago that the Jason Garrett-led team could get back to where they were a year ago. In in the 2018 season, the Cowboys went 7-1 in the second half and won a playoff game.
Needless to say, the only message received Thursday night was that changes are desperately needed in Dallas.
The Cowboys started strong for the second straight week and looked like they were turning the corner with a first-drive touchdown. Dallas even followed their 7-0 lead with their first takeaway on defense in a month.
However, much like the game on Thanksgiving against the Buffalo Bills, as soon as the scripted plays were finished, the contest got away from them and unraveled in humiliating fashion in front of a national audience.
Now, after the 31-24 embarrassment against the Bears, a third straight loss has really put a damper on their playoff aspirations despite still being the favorite in the NFC East.
Dallas could lose next week against the Los Angeles Rams, too, and still take the division with wins to close out the season against Philadelphia and Washington. However, with the Cowboys’ latest deflating loss to the Bears, is there much hope to presume they’ll win those games?
Dallas was down 17-7 at the half and 24-7 heading into the fourth quarter. For a team with a losing record who leads their division, is it time for the front office make a move at head coach?
The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. For the first three quarters the Cowboys were unable to get the Bears’ offense off the field, a unit that has been in the bottom five in almost every statistical category.
Offensively, the Cowboys came into the game tops in the NFL for yards per game and were facing the fourth-best defense in the league. And the Bears’ defense stood tall after the first drive where the offense was able to do what they wanted.
Dak Prescott didn’t play his best game by far. He wasn't helped by receivers who did what they have done all season -- make plays but suffer from ill-timed dropped passes. With Tony Pollard out with an ankle injury, Ezekiel Elliott was the only running back on the active roster and after eight carries in the opening drive, only saw 11 rushing attempts over the rest of the night.
When the Bears’ offense started putting points on the board, the top ranked Cowboys’ offense couldn’t keep up.
Thursday night’s game was far too reminiscent of a recent NFC North matchup on the road in prime time. In 2010, the Cowboys traveled to Green Bay and left with their seventh loss of the season. After that game, the Cowboys fired head coach Wade Phillips and named Jason Garrett the team’s interim head coach.
The Bears just handed Dallas their seventh loss of the year. So the big question is: should this be Garrett’s last game as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys? Jerry Jones has been vocal in praising his former quarterback, even going as far to say that he sees Garrett as a head coach in 2020, but did he mean elsewhere?
Garrett came into the season on the hot seat; he and his staff were on the final year of their deals. It was important that Garrett not only win a routinely weak division, but also make it beyond the divisional round for the first time since the 1995 season. Nothing that has happened so far this season would make anyone but Jones believe this Cowboys team will play in the NFC championship game. So, why wait?
By the second half on Thursday night, it appeared as if the Cowboys had flat out quit on their head coach. Giving Garrett the entire season seemed like a foregone conclusion, but that assumed the players would try for him.
Currently the Cowboys have a hold on their division lead. And will either maintain it or end up tied after Sunday, depending upon how the Eagles perform. Should that still be enough of a justification to keep Garrett in place and let him finish out this make-or-break year that already looks shattered?
During the game, former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman spoke briefly about replacing Garrett but questioned whether anyone on this staff deserved to be the interim. At this point, it's reasonable to ask who could replace Garrett, given the current state of the Cowboys staff.
The defensive staff hasn’t had their best season. Despite being in the top 10 in yards and points allowed, they've been gashed in the run game. On the offensive side, they have Kellen Moore in just his second season as a coach and Jon Kitna in his first year on an NFL staff.
The Cowboys obviously need a spark with a game against the defending NFC champion Rams and back-to-back games against division rivals to close out the season. The team has had the luck of playing in an underperforming division, where no team is above .500. At some point, the team has to quit hoping that others will keep losing and finally win a football game.
The body language throughout the contest on Thursday night said it all. It was the look of a team that had given up hope. Their will was just ripped away from them.
Every person has a breaking point, when they have had enough and look to make a change. The real question: what is Jerry’s breaking point and has he had enough? At this point, it looks like another season where a Jason Garrett-coached team is wasting their talent.
If there was a time to make a move, it might have already come and gone, but with the Cowboys not scheduled to play for 10 days, they have a chance to name a new coach before they suit up against the Rams on Dec. 15, a squad that could be the last team Jason Garrett ever coached against in the playoffs.
Do you agree that it’s time to bite the bullet and make a coaching change in Dallas? Share your thoughts with Patrick on Twitter @DraftCowboys.
