Jason Garrett’s Been in This Spot So Many Times It’s Scary. Like Scary Scary.

You probably don’t need reminding, but we’ve been here before. A talented but underperforming Cowboys roster led by Jason Garrett has arrived at a mid- to late-December crossroads. Their record isn’t great, but a single win will get them into the NFL playoffs, a place where strange and stranger things frequently happen.

The 2019 Cowboys are 7-7, a road win against the Philadelphia Eagles from a second straight division championship and a home playoff game, likely to be against the Seattle Seahawks or the San Francisco 49ers. The 2011, 2012 and 2013 Cowboys were all a game deeper into their schedules and a game better in the standings at 8-7, but they were all in the same spot. Win a divisional game against a similarly mediocre opponent, and keep playing past Week 17.

Three times in Garrett’s first three full seasons with the Cowboys, he had a chance to salvage an otherwise lost season by beating the Giants (2011), Redskins (2012) or Eagles (2013), and three times he failed, capitulating in comic fashion on national television.