Why Jerry Jones' Endorsement of Jason Garrett Is Bad News for Cowboys Fans

From what I can tell, Jason Garrett is a nice fellow, and he seems to have Dallas' offense working well of late. But his complete mismanagement of games has shown that he is completely out of his depth as a head coach in the NFL.

Today, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones claimed the Garrett's job is safe despite the team's 7-6 record and its back-to-back losses that can be almost directly attributed to its coach's awful clock management.

Two weeks ago, Dallas was 7-4 and looked like a shoe-in for the playoffs. But the Cowboys' lead in the NFC East has gone up in smoke, and now, they are barely hanging on to a spot in the NFC's playoff picture.

Garrett's team has now lost five games in which they have had a fourth-quarter lead. That is absolutely inexcusable. 

Against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13, Garrett famously iced his own kicker with a timeout that nullified Dan Bailey's 49-yard field goal before he lined up and missed the next attempt. And that is just one of a number of questionable decisions he has made in the fourth quarter of close games this season.

The Cowboys have had issues with the secondary and fourth-quarter penalties, so it isn't all Garrett's fault. But the fact that Jones doesn't seem open to making a change at the top if things continue to slip away from his incredibly talented team should concern fans.

Jones went out on a limb to hire Garrett—who had no head coaching experience at all before taking over for Wade Phillips last season—and he seems intent on proving that it was the right choice. 

When a hard-headed owner like Jones wants to prove himself right, fans of the team are usually the ones who suffer.