The Cowboys got off to a red-hot start this season, and many were talking about them as Super Bowl contenders. Then the schedule toughened up, and Dallas has now lost three straight games. We heard earlier this morning that the Cowboys could make a coaching change after this season, and things certainly didn’t get better for Jason Garrett when he lost to the Jets Sunday. Speaking after his team’s loss to New York, owner Jerry Jones didn’t exactly offer a ringing endorsement. Asked about Garrett’s future with the team, Jones said “I’m not even coming close to those future type considerations,” via Jon Machota of The Athletic (Twitter link).
“I haven’t even glanced there in my mind about long-term future. I’m looking in the future as next week against those Eagles,” he continued. That’s obviously not a sign that Jones is very confident in Garrett, and things will get even worse if the Cowboys lose a pivotal divisional game to Philly next Sunday night. Garrett is in the final year of his contract as a lame-duck coach, and after the first few games it appeared he was well on his way to earning an extension. Things change fast in the NFL though, and Jones thinks his team is championship caliber and isn’t going to settle for anything less. For what it’s worth a Cowboys source said “absolutely not” when asked if Garret’s job was in immediate jeopardy, per Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That being said, Garrett’s seat is definitely starting to heat up.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Dolphins benched Josh Rosen during their close loss to the Redskins today, and Ryan Fitzpatrick provided a spark off the bench. Fitzpatrick led two late touchdown drives and had Miami within a two-point conversion of their first win of the season, but he won’t be holding the job moving forward. Speaking after the game head coach Brian Flores confirmed Rosen would remain the team’s starter next week against the Bills, according to Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com. Flores had said recently Rosen would be the team’s starter for the rest of the year barring injury, so this isn’t surprising. Still, Fitzpatrick undeniably played much better Sunday. Obviously winning isn’t the top priority for Miami right now so it sounds like they’ll continue to take a long look at the UCLA product, although it won’t be shocking if he gets pulled again soon.
- Speaking of quarterbacks getting benched, the Titans yanked Marcus Mariota from their loss to the Broncos, replacing him with Ryan Tannehill. After the game head coach Mike Vrabel was tight-lipped about his plans moving forward, and didn’t say who would start next week. Tannehill also told the media he didn’t know if he’d be under center in Week 7 against the Chargers, so stay tuned as we should have an update in the next day or two. Mariota had thrown for just 63 yards on 18 attempts with two interceptions before getting pulled. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal so even if he retains the starting job moving forward, it’s highly possible we witnessed the beginning of the end of the Mariota era in Tennessee today.
- In case you missed it, the Redskins are reportedly going to make a push to trade for Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
Brian Flores – Were not trying to win here….why would we start Fitzpatrick? Why do you think I went for 2 and called the worst play possible? We almost screwed that up and won today. Operation Suck for Tua is in full effect.
Did anyone else see the clip of the entire defense leave Coach Howdy’s high five hangin as they ran off the field today? If you missed it, check Twitter it’s a good laugh. If Sean Payton ran on on the field looking for a high five (not that he would ever because he’s a coach and Garrett is a cheerleader) I think his players respect him enough not to blow him off. My point is, it really looks like Garrett has lost this team. They haven’t come ready to play for 3 weeks now. I know they are dealing with injuries but NO just spanked them with a backup QB a few weeks back. Prescott once again looked pedestrian in a game where an elite QB might have been able to carry his shorthanded team to a win vs. an inferior opponent. Where’s all the Garrett supporters? Mediocrity Regins in Dallas!
It’s something of a miracle that Garrett has lasted this long. He probably should have been canned back in 2011 when he iced his own kicker (Dan Bailey) with 7 seconds remaining in a game against the Cardinals (who ended up winning in overtime).
Mariotta can sometimes flash enough brilliance that it keeps the Titans and their fans hoping he can become consistent, but he just isn’t good enough on the aggregate to be an nfl starter. Good locker room guy and I’d expect him to be a longterms backup that bounces around.
Mariotta got a bit of a raw deal there in Tennessee too, though. He’s routinely gotten crushed behind some pretty shaky offensive lines. That’s a really tough situation for a QB to thrive in. Also, has he ever really had a real receiving threat there? Legit question. Admittedly, I could be missing someone, since Tennessee doesn’t make a lot of national broadcasts- but I can’t think of one.
You’re right on both counts, but at some point Mariota has to start making the players around him better instead of the other way around. The Titans should expect no less based on where he was drafted and what the Titans have invested in him.
That’s not an unfair criticism. Mariota does bear some of the responsibility himself. He could help his line by getting rid of the ball quicker, cutting down on the hits. I just look at a guy who was sacked 42 times last season, and has played for 5 different OCs in his young career, and find it hard not assign the franchise some of the blame too. So while it’s fair for the franchise to expect lofty things of him, one could say they’ve also maybe owed him a bit better as well. I think he’ll be a quality starter somewhere outside of Tennessee one day, if he gets a fresh start.
The titans have two of the better bookend Tackles in the league. T.Lewan has been to multiple Pro Bowls, J.Conklin was All Pro as a rookie according to NFLReference.
Mariota doesn’t go through his progressions quickly, seems reluctant to go down field. He just seems unsure, indecisive and overly cautious!
It’s astounding just how blatantly obvious the Dolphins are being with the tank job here. I mean it’s one thing to go into a year knowing you’re going to be building, and play the young players. It’s another thing entirely to intentionally coach to lose a game. Miami had all the momentum going at that point, they merely had to kick an XP and take it into OT. So they go for two, and don’t even run a play that really has a shot to work? Lol.
Naturally they’re not going back to Fitz because he’s capable of winning games, and Rosen ain’t.
I feel like it’d be hilarious though after all this, if Tua was like, “Nah, I’m not going to play in Miami.” “I’m going to stay in school for my senior year.”
As if the Dolphins won’t have the #1 pick next year too
Huh, Tannehill did a pretty good job, he seems he would fit in real well in the Dolphins’ QB room…