Four weeks after it seemed that Cowboys coach Jason Garrett could be a blowout loss in Philly away from getting fired on the spot, the Cowboys are surging, with four straight wins. And owner Jerry Jones seems to be fully behind Garrett going forward.
We think.
After referring to Saints coach Sean Payton as a “great coach” and adding “underline great coach,” Jones said this about the job Garrett has done: “Well, he’s won a big game tonight. I’ll just leave it at that. He won a big game tonight.”
Jones was later asked whether he was trying to be conservative in his praise of Garrett. Jerry apparently was flummoxed by the question.
“What?” Jones told reporters. “What? I’m not. Give him everything you should give him for having just beaten the top-rated team in the NFL. You’re the wordsmith. Give it to him. I’m serious. Give it to him, yes. Because we know how tough it is when it goes the other way. But give that to him, for sure.”
Jones could be hedging a bit because there’s still a chance that 7-5 becomes 7-6 next week against the Eagles and 7-7 a week after that at Indianapolis, with no guarantee that 9-7 nails down a playoff berth and potentially forces Jerry’s hand, if the Cowboys end up not earning a branch on the playoff tree.
Especially when there’s a “great coach” -- an “underline great coach” -- who could in theory be persuaded to become the first coach to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises, especially if he wins his second one with the Saints and Drew Brees decides to pull a John Elway/Jerome Bettis/Michael Strahan and walk away on top.
