Fansided

The Cowboys should see if Jason Garrett wants his old job back

By Nicholas McGee

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys walks across the field before the game against the Washington Redskins at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: Head coach Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys walks across the field before the game against the Washington Redskins at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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There has been little evidence Mike McCarthy is better than Jason Garrett

The Dallas Cowboys took a long time to fire Jason Garrett, and right now Jerry Jones must be wondering why he bothered.

Dallas dropped to 1-3 on the season with Sunday’s 49-38 loss to the Cleveland Browns, with Mike McCarthy showing little sign of being able to elevate the Cowboys to the ranks of legitimate contenders in the NFC through four games.

With the Cowboys defense hemorrhaging points — they have given up 146 in the first quarter of the campaign — it is tough to see what McCarthy has improved since he replaced Garrett.

His trip to Pro Football Focus during his sabbatical appears to have yielded nothing more than an understanding of when to go for a two-point conversion when attempting a massive comeback.

McCarthy has been no better than Garrett so far

But that is not an aspect of situational football that NFL coaches want to have to rely on and, were it not for the Atlanta Falcons’ lack of knowledge of the onside kick rules, McCarthy and the Cowboys would have nothing to show for his increased analytical awareness.

With Kellen Moore still around as the offensive coordinator, McCarthy cannot claim full credit for the Cowboys’ explosiveness on offense. Dallas had one of the league’s most potent offenses when Garrett was at the helm and the argument can be made that the only change McCarthy has instituted has been to make the defense actively worse by replacing Rod Marinelli with new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

The Cowboys were 16th in Football Outsiders DVOA on defense in 2019. They went into Week 4 ranked 17th in the same metric and appear likely to slide down the list after an embarrassing display in which Dallas could not stop the passing game or the rushing attack, with Odell Beckham Jr enjoying a monster day as a receiver and on the ground.

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Jones made no secret of how difficult it was to fire Garrett after nine seasons. With McCarthy providing little evidence the Cowboys will be a different team under his stewardship and Garrett’s tenure as New York Giants offensive coordinator going about as well as everyone expected, perhaps it’s worth the Cowboys owner picking up the phone and enquiring if the coach he has such affection for is willing to rekindle their relationship.

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