Cowboys news: Jason Garrett, Cowboys coaching staff under fire after loss to New England Patriots

Cowboys make crucial mistakes, lose to Patriots 13-9 - Tom Ryle, BTB

The Cowboys failed to grab a huge road win against the Patriots. Tom recaps the loss.

The Patriots defense was as good as advertised, particularly when the Cowboys got into the red zone. Dallas’ defense was good for the most part, but still let Brady and company get just too many plays.

You have to wonder how things would have gone in better weather. And there were some penalties that were very questionable that hurt the Cowboys. But mostly, it was their own mistakes, another of the dreaded slow starts, and that dismal special teams performance that put this one in the loss column for Dallas.

They now have lost every game this season played against teams that currently have winning records. Garrett was arguably outcoached by Bill Belichick, but this one was more about some terrible execution on the field. There is not a lot else to say. The Cowboys played the Patriots almost even, actually outgaining them, but when you basically gift the other team ten points in the first half and lose by four, you can only look in the mirror to search for answers.

Cowboys fail in fourth big test of season, still control playoff destiny - Todd Archer, ESPN

We are nearing Thanksgiving, but the Cowboys still have yet to notch a signature win to hang its hat on. However, Dallas does control its playoff destiny.

The Dallas Cowboys are now 0-for-4 in big games this season.

There’s no other way to put it after their 13-9 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Winning at Gillette Stadium was going to be a chore. The Patriots have now won 21 straight home games. It was made even more difficult by rainy, cold, gusty weather that tamped down a Cowboys’ offense that had been the top-ranked unit in the NFL.

But just like games this season against the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys couldn’t come through with a breakthrough win.

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The best news for the Cowboys: Philadelphia, their only competitor in the NFC East, lost its second straight home game and is now 5-6.

At 6-5, the Cowboys are in first place in the division and continue to control their fate in the final five weeks of the season, but so far they have not passed any of their tests. Another one awaits on Thanksgiving when the 8-3 Buffalo Bills visit AT&T Stadium.

Jason Garrett’s Conservative Play-Calling Cost the Cowboys the Game - Liam McKeone, The Big Lead

Jason Garrett is under a lot of scrutiny after Sunday’s loss; the conservative play-calling from Garrett cost Dallas the game.

The Dallas Cowboys kept it close against the Patriots in New England, but ultimately couldn’t pull it out in a sloppy game that ended with the score 13-9. Much will be made about the controversial tripping penalty that cost the Cowboys a third-down conversion right after the two-minute warning, but in the end, there is one man and one man alone at fault for losing this winnable game-Jason Garrett.

Garrett’s conservative play-calling is what sunk the Cowboys. He chose to kick a field goal on fourth and three from the Patriots’ 28-yard line in the second quarter-- a relatively defensible decision, but getting aggressive would have paid off, considering the amount of trouble Ezekiel Elliott was giving New England’s defense early on.

NFL fans rightly crushed Jason Garrett for kicking a field goal late in loss to Patriots - Andy Nesbitt, USA Today

Perhaps Garrett’s most head-scratching decision was to kick the field goal when down seven late in the game.

The Cowboys trailed the Patriots by seven points and moved the ball down to the Patriots’ 11 yard line. Facing a fourth-and-seven with 6:04 left in the game, Garrett opted to kick a field goal, even though the Cowboys WERE DOWN BY SEVEN POINTS.

Troy Aikman talked the whole drive about how it was a four-down drive for the Cowboys because it was midway through the fourth quarter and they’re facing the best defense in the league. You had to get seven points on that drive. Just HAD to.

But then Garrett called the field goal unit on, the kick was good, and… the Cowboys went on to lose by four points.

Dez Bryant Has Telling Comment On Cowboys-Patriots Game - Andrew Holleran, The Spun

Dez Bryant was watching on Sunday, and the former Cowboys wide receiver took to Twitter to express his thoughts.

Bryant believes one team has the better players, while the other has the better coaches. You probably don’t need more than one guess here…

The Cowboys are one of the most-talented teams in the NFL, but Jason Garrett’s team just hasn’t put it together this season. The Patriots, meanwhile, are led by the greatest coach in league history.

Dez also had other thoughts during the game... he didn’t agree with the field goal call:

Bryant also says the Patriots know how to win. They have certainly proven that over the years.

Troy Aikman rips Cowboys’ coaching staff multiple times during fourth quarter - Stefan Stevenson, The Star-Telegram

Dez was not the only former high-profile Cowboys player with some thoughts during and after the game. Troy Aikman made it clear that he did not agree with the coaching staff’s decision-making on Sunday.

Troy Aikman ripped several decisions by the Dallas Cowboys’ coaching staff during a rough stretch in the fourth quarter Sunday.

“That’s poor coaching,” the Hall of Famer and FOX analyst said after Tony Pollard lined up on the goal line to receive a kick. Pollard nearly muffed the catch. He miraculously recovered the ball, preventing a disastrous field position situation for Dallas. Aikman predicted the short kick before it happened.

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A few moments later, with the Cowboys facing a 4th and 7 at the Patriots’ 11, the decided to kick a field to cut the deficit to 13-9. Brett Maher made the kick but Aikman didn’t like the call.

“I wouldn’t be settling for 3 here,” he said.

Questionable tripping penalty on Cowboys’ Travis Frederick vs. Patriots sends Twitter into a rabid frenzy - Joe Rivera, Sporting News

Some of the worst calls of the game were not coaching related; rather, the Cowboys were called for a pair of “tripping” penalties — one of which killed the Cowboys’ potential game-winning drive.

Fox’s NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira agreed with the call on the field, and Troy Aikman on the call for Fox did not. It wasn’t just Aikman, though: Many NFL voices and Tweeters of the universe took to the Tweeter machine to voice their displeasure with the call.

Bills’ Sean McDermott planning late night after win to prep for Cowboys - Matt Parrino, Post-Standard, New York

The Cowboys have a quick turnaround, as they welcome in the 8-3 Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving Day. Sean McDermott is already preparing to knock off Dallas on a national stage.

“I’m going back to work,” said McDermott, who has just a 100-yard walk or so to his office at the team’s practice facility where the film work on the Cowboys is set to begin just hours after the Bills’ eighth win of the season. “I’m going to go over there and change and try and grab something to eat and get back to work here. Not a whole lot of time.”

The Cowboys lost on Sunday to the AFC’s best team and the Bills’ division rival New England Patriots, 13-9. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was held to just 212 yards on 19 of 33 passing. That’s surely a recipe for success that McDermott will hope to replicate when the Bills travel to “Big D” to play on Thanksgiving for the first time since 1975.

“(The Cowboys are a) good opponent,” McDermott said. “(We play) at their place, a lot of tradition and it will be an opportunity for us to put our best foot forward. But they’re a good opponent. I think they lead the NFC East, is that right? Well coached, a lot of weapons on that football team, on that roster. So, it will be a big challenge for us.”

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Jerry Jones had some interesting things to say following the Cowboys’ loss. The Cowboys owner made his frustration about his team’s struggles known. Below are some of the comments from the man in charge:

Perhaps the most telling:

BTB Podcast

Our thoughts following Sunday’s loss.

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