Alan Truex: Jerry tiring of Jason, must worry about the Texans
Updated, Tuesday, December 3, 2019
LLANO, Texas – As I watched the Houston Texans fly by the flu-ridden New England Patriots on Sunday night I wondered if the Dallas Cowboys are as good as Jerry Jones thinks they are.
From where I sit, the best football team in Texas is not the Cowboys. Or the Baylor Bears. It’s Deshaun, DeAndre and the Texans.
The Cowboys’ honcho could not have been soothed by his team’s latest debacle. The 26-15 Thanksgiving turkey – served in their home by the Buffalo Bills — was far less excusable than the 13-9 loss in Foxborough that inspired the most scathing review Jones has ever given a coaching performance.
The Foxborough flop was almost justified, considering the ‘Boys were facing Super Bowl champions in extreme inhospitality: wind-chill of 29 degrees. And another NFL officiating crew with collective brain freeze. The NFL office later admitted that two impactful 4th-quarter tripping penalties should not have been called on Dallas.
Jones was not buying any excuses. He told the throng of reporters he eternally pursues: “Fundamentals of football and coaching beat us.” It was a rant that seemed like restrained rage.
What’s distancing Jones from Jason Garrett, his coach of 10 years, is a belief that he and his son Stephen Jones have built the finest roster in the NFL.
The lack of Lombardi trophies is blamed on a coach who’s 18 games above .500 but can’t compete with the best in history, the taciturn, relentlessly enigmatic Bill Belichick.
Chris Simms, former NFL quarterback, said on Pro Football Talk: “Jerry has a point. If we flipped the teams and Bill Belichick coaches Dallas and Jason Garrett coaches New England, the Cowboys would blow out the Patriots.”
Granting that until this season the Patriots had another advantage besides coaching: Tom Brady over Dak Prescott, who’s good enough to push Tony Romo into the booth, but not good enough to beat the Greatest Of All Time.
Now that Brady is 42, perception is changing. As Simms put it: “Dak Prescott is better at this point in his career than Tom Brady.”
It’s true his receivers are mostly scrap, but Brady’s leadership, always impeccable, came under scrutiny at NRG. He didn’t help the self-esteem of his young teammates by getting captured on TV screens faulting their physical and mental quickness.
The Patriots were far less effective playing Houston than they had been a week earlier against Dallas. The 28-22 score was not indicative; the champs were outgained 418-276.
They were even outsmarted.
It’s folly to try a trick play on Belichick. But his protégé, Bill O’Brien, got a touchdown from quarterback Deshaun Watson grabbing a triple-option pitch as if he’s Lamar Jackson.
It’s difficult to imagine such daring from Jason Garrett. It was his team that was tricked Thursday, when the Bills scored on a double reverse pass from a wide receiver.
It’s also difficult to imagine Obie thinking of such dazzle, but Houston’s head coach of six years is finally acting like a head coach — inspiring others instead of doing everything himself. He generously credited his staff with designing the red zone special; all he did was say when.
After the game, he got a dead-fish handshake from Belichick, supposedly because of Obie’s tampering on the offseason with Patriots draft wizard Nick Caserio. The Texans have since abandoned that costly pursuit, and O’Brien was hoping he’s good again with his former boss. Didn’t look like it. Perhaps Belichick sees the Texans as a threat to his empire.
Not to make too much of the Patriots falling apart like a stale taco. They were so sapped by a flu epidemic that they flew south in two planes, one for the nine who had been too ill to practice.
But I can’t help thinking Belichick is shaken by the athleticism and speed of the Texans. Jerry Jones should be worried about losing his state.
Who do you want at quarterback, Prescott or Watson?
And for all the accolades won by the Dallas line, do you want blind-side protection from Tyron Smith, who’s already broken down at 28? Or would you rather trust Laremy Tunsil? He’s 25 and showing no ill effects from anything inhaled three years ago from a suspicious pipe.
Barring calamitous injury, Houston seems certain of a top-3 pass offense for the next three years at least. I can see why Jones is holding off on granting Prescott the contract extension he promised in September. Dak will make more than Kirk Cousins money– $28 million per year – huge cap hit.
Cousins is a cautionary tale. His passer rating is better than Russell Wilson’s, but he still bears the stigma of shrinking in bright lights. He’s 0-8 after Monday Night’s 37-30 thrilling but losing try in Seattle.
Prescott’s big-game resume is equally sparse. The Cowboys haven’t beaten a winning team this season. Not that it matters in the NFC Least. Dallas is leading at 6-6. Philadelphia is runner-up at 5-7 following an unfortunate encounter with the tanking Dolphins.
The Eagles have the softer close – two dates with the Giants, one with the Redskins, wrapped around the Cowboys on Dec. 22 at Lincoln Financial.
Romo, commenting for CBS, said, “The game with Philadelphia in Week 16 will determine the division winner. If they string together some wins in the playoffs, nobody’s gonna care about what happened here.”
That’ true, of course. If the ‘Boys clinch their division, they coast out the final week of the regular season. A short fuse finds a spark, they’re hot in January, Zeke finally in shape, Jerry backing out of the picture and videos.
But when you seriously ponder the Texans, 8-4 even with J.J. Watt and Lamar Miller out for the season, their future looks more promising than Jerry’s Cowboys. What used to be America’s Team struggles to hold onto the heart of Texas.
