Jason Garrett had the weakest response to Doug Pederson's guaranteed win
Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett hasn’t inspired much confidence lately with Dallas reeling from a three-game losing streak, including a loss to the formerly winless Jets.
With all that in mind, Cowboys fans probably would have liked a more pointed response to Eagles head coach Doug Pederson who guaranteed a win in the upcoming Sunday night matchup with Dallas.
Pederson said to 94.1 WIP on Monday, “We’re going down to Dallas, and our guys are gonna be ready to play. And we’re gonna win that football game, and when we do, we’re in first place in the NFC East.”
He later walked back on the guarantee (as if that changes what he already said). But just as the Cowboys did for much of the first half against the Jets, Garrett punted at the opportunity to hit back at the Eagles coach.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Garrett was asked for a reaction to Pederson, and he answered with a generic, complimentary response about the Eagles. He said via Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill Jr.:
“We are excited about the challenge. They are a great football team. We are going to focus on the challenge to play great football Sunday night.”
Sure, Garrett may not want any back-and-forth with Pederson to play out in the media, but he couldn’t have gone with a weaker rebuttal there.
Just look at the situation. The Cowboys are coming off an embarrassing loss. Jerry Jones publicly expressed his disappointment with the team’s past three weeks. Plus, now Garrett has a rival head coach essentially guaranteeing his fourth straight loss ahead of a nationally televised division game.
And that was his response?
This is the same boring Jason Garrett who hasn’t coached Dallas past the Divisional Round.