Jason Garrett entered the season with everyone believing he needed a playoff win to keep his job. Jerry Jones never sounded as if he needed to see his coach win a playoff game this season.
No matter, the heat is off Garrett.
He got his second career playoff victory since becoming the full-time coach in 2011.
“I think that this win against a very credible Seattle team will make people think more highly of Jason,” Jones said. “And you look around at all the teams that are on the search for Red October, trying to find them a head coach right now, and we’ve got one that has a lot of experience on our dime over the last several years. And I’d like to use it.”
Garrett’s contract expires after the 2019 season. He went into the 2014 season with one year remaining on his deal and won the division title and a wild-card playoff game, the last time the Cowboys won in the postseason.
Jones signed Garrett to a five-year extension that offseason.
After the Cowboys’ 24-22 victory over the Seahawks on Saturday night, Jones wouldn’t talk about Garrett’s contract situation. But he repeatedly praised the job Garrett has done.
“It is a feeling that I’m proud for him,” Jones said. “I know how hard he works. He’s right there with the hardest working coach that we’ve had, and that’s supposed to pay off. But he certainly has some things that he’s worked on, like all of us do, and he’s gotten much better at it. But I know that he’s worked real hard to put a team like this, young team on the field, a lot of his fingerprints are on this team, and so I’m proud that he’s having this success as a head coach.”
Garrett won coach of the year honors after the 2016 season, but the Cowboys lost to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers at home in the divisional round. Garrett now is 2-2 in the postseason.
The Cowboys have not played in an NFC Championship Game since 1995, which was the last time they won a Super Bowl title.