AP

Nine years ago, the Cowboys fired Wade Phillips during the season, elevating his presumed successor, Jason Garrett, to the head-coaching job. With Garrett’s tenure reaching drain-circling status, owner Jerry Jones has made it clear that he won’t be firing Garrett during the season (until he does), claiming that the team will have a “zero percent” chance of making it to the Super Bowl if Garrett is relieved of his duties.

That position doesn’t reflect faith in Garrett as much as it reflects a lack of faith in the options to take the reins on an interim basis for the rest of the season. Whether it would be Kris Richard or Rod Marinelli or Kellen Moore or Jason Witten (yes, some are suggesting that he should be the team’s next coach), Jones doesn’t see any of them as head-coaching options who would fare better than Garrett.

And so Jones will continue to try to pull the cord on the lawnmower in an effort to draw a winning hand with a 10 and four fresh cards. Applying public pressure on Garrett didn’t work. This week’s strategy entails supporting Garrett.

It will continue until the Cowboys are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention or bounced during the postseason, because (as Big Cat noted on Friday’s PFT Live) Jones has adopted a fan’s “it’s not over ’til it’s over” mindset regarding the possibility that the Cowboys can get to the Super Bowl and win it, even though they haven’t been to the NFC Championship in 24 years.

Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram asked Jones whether clinging to hope of a dramatic late run amounts to a fairy tale after last night’s game. He didn’t disagree.

“But it was a fairy tale when I got to buy the Dallas Cowboys,” Jones said, via Charean Williams of PFT. “It’s been a fairy tale life to me, so I have always dreamed out there on the edge. I really have. I’ve been confused many times between my dreams and reality. But have surprised my own ass by finding out there was some real reality in what a lot of people thought I was dreaming about.”

So there it is. Seven years after proclaiming that the goal is a return to gloryhole days, the truth is that Jones wants him some fairytale.