The bar seems official now, Jason Garrett must reach NFC Championship Game to stay with Cowboys

It hasn’t exactly been said, but we’ve known what Jason Garrett has to do this season for a long time. When the Dallas Cowboys lost in the Divisional Round a season ago, Jerry Jones said that he wanted to see improvement in order for Jason Garrett to earn a contract extension. Taking that literally, it has long made sense that the NFC Championship is the place that the Cowboys must reach in order for things to remain as they have been.

While this has been assumed it hasn’t exactly been said aloud, certainly not by Jerry Jones or Stephen Jones. On Saturday, though, Ian Rapoport reported on NFL Network that it is in fact his understanding that it’s NFC Championship Game or bust for Jason Garrett.

Again, this isn’t exactly new information to any of us. Plus this is all really subjective at the end of the day. What if the Cowboys reach the NFC Championship Game because of a missed field goal from the team they play in the Divisional Round, for example? What if it’s a missed call or a penalty that gives them the final edge? It feels uneasy to throw out such a bar to reach when there is so much necessary context.

These are questions that we still need answered. Until Jason Garrett is gone or has a contract extension, nothing is really known, but it does appear that the title game must be involved.

There are three wins separating the Cowboys from that point. Will they get them? We’ll see.