After a 35-30 loss at home to the Los Angeles Rams to drop to 2-2 on the season, is Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett on the hot seat?
The Dallas Cowboys fell to 2-2 this weekend after a tough loss to the Los Angeles Rams. While freaking out over a 2-2 start to the season is never wise, it’s fair to start asking a few tough questions about the state of the Cowboys — like how warm is the head coach’s seat — following a heartbreaking loss in a game they had well in hand judging by their first half play.
Dallas stormed out to a 17-6 lead, but things changed following a muff by return-man Ryan Switzer. His mistake gave the Rams life and great field position. They took that position and made it a game again at 17-13. It may not have felt like much, but it was enough to keep the Rams in the game rather than snuff out the young team’s hope.
Even after that play Dallas had several chances to win, but it just felt as if they were simply out-coached by the Rams staff which features rookie head coach Sean McVay and former Dallas head coach and current L.A. defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.
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Phillip made several adjustments on defense that Dallas head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan couldn’t counter. The same happened to defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli who had no answers at all for the offensive game plan of McVay’s.
It’s sadly a common theme and Cowboys beat writer Mark Lane sent out a Tweet on Monday detailing how often it’s happened to Garrett by guys with little experience in the NFL as the head coach.
According to Lane, Garrett is 10-10 against head coaches in their first season and still has a losing record in his career without now-retired quarterback Tony Romo.
Sure, one tweet doesn’t mean Garrett should be fired, but is it fair to ask how much of the blame for the team’s constant sway in performance is on him? The simple truth is when Dallas is expected to be good, Garrett has a tough time delivering. When the expectations aren’t there — like in 2016 — he rips off 10+ wins.
As it stands now, Garrett isn’t on the hot seat and still shouldn’t be. What he does need to do, though, is learn to make better in-game adjustments and find a better feel for games.
One example is how it was late in the third quarter as Dallas was near midfield with a fourth-and-2 on their hands. Their lead had been whittled down to just five and the Rams had all the momentum. In that situation, Garrett needs to go for it and force the momentum to get back to his team. At midfield, it’s a gamble worth taking that running back Ezekiel Elliot can get two yards with the offensive line they have, even if they’ve been a letdown thus far.
Instead, the Cowboys punted and the tired, short-handed defense went back on the field and promptly surrendered a 53-yard touchdown pass to Todd Gurley as the Rams running back helped his team take the lead for good.
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Garrett has all the faith and trust from his team owner Jerry Jones that he needs. However, he has to learn to make simple adjustments and become more aggressive in order to avoid losing that. Another lost season with so much expectations may not be easily forgiven by Jones this time, especially after last season and with the talent at his disposal.