Dallas Cowboys News: Jason Garrett Favored To Become First Head Coach Fired In 2018 NFL Season

The Dallas Cowboys fell below .500 with their Week 5 overtime loss to the Houston Texans, sparking speculation that significant changes could soon be on the way. At the start of Week 6, Jason Garrett is the favorite to become the first head coach fired.

Garrett leads the way with +350 betting odds to lose his job before any of the league’s other 31 head coaches, via BetDSI. Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ head coach Dirk Koetter is second with +500 odds. He’s followed by Houston’s Bill O’Brien (+750) and Vance Joseph (+750) of the Denver Broncos.

Sunday’s loss, in particular, was a bad one for Garrett, who decided to put on fourth-and-1 from Houston’s 42-yard line with 5:40 left in overtime. The Cowboys chose not to run the ball, despite having the league’s leading rusher and one of the NFL’s top offensive lines. The Texans kicked a field goal on the ensuing drive to win the game.

“We were being outplayed. It’s time for risks at that particular time,” owner Jerry Jones said after the game, via the team’s website, regarding the decision to punt.

Before the start of the season, Jones said Garrett was not on the hot seat. Garrett has been the Cowboys’ head coach since the middle of the 2010 season, making two playoff appearances and winning just one postseason game. Dallas has a 68-55 regular-season record under Garrett.

The Cowboys have been no worse than average for most of Garrett’s tenure. The team has finished with a losing record in just one of his seven full seasons. In the last four seasons, Dallas has two NFC East championships to go along with three winning seasons.

Despite their slow start, the Cowboys are very much in the 2018 NFC East race. With the Washington Redskins’ loss to the New Orleans Saints on “Monday Night Football.” no team in the division has a winning record. Washington is in first place with a half-game lead over Dallas and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys are the only NFC East team with a divisional win, having beaten the 1-4 New York Giants in Week 2.

Dallas’ schedule doesn’t get any easier in the coming weeks. They’ll host the Jacksonville Jaguars and visit the Redskins before a bye in Week 8. The Cowboys don’t face a team that currently has a losing record until they visit Philadelphia on Nov. 11. Four of their next five games are against teams that made last year’s playoffs.