ARLINGTON, Texas _ There is nothing left for owner Jerry Jones to do.
And everyone knows what needs to be done.
Coach Jason Garrett has to go.
It may not make a difference now, following Thursday's 26-15 loss to the Buffalo Bills in what was simply an embarrassing performance on Thanksgiving Day, but it must be done.
The coaching was bad.
But the players were awful as well, as they opened the game with an easy 75-yard touchdown drive, only to give up 26 straight points to the Bills (10-3), whose victory against the Cowboys was their first win over a team with a winning record all season.
Moving on from Garrett could at least give this lifeless team a kick in the butt with four games left.
The Cowboys (6-6) remain in first place in the NFC East, and the playoffs are still possible with the Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) also floundering.
There is no reason to believe that anything else will make a difference.
The Cowboys still have no wins over a team with a winning record.
But it's more than what's going on now with a Cowboys team that seemingly quit on Garrett for the first time since he took over as coach midway through the 2010 season, after a blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers when they quit on Wade Phillips.
What goes around comes around.
Jones has reportedly said he will keep Garrett until the end of the season, no matter what.
But that would be pointless.
He is in the last year of his contract, and there will be no extension after the season.
Moving on now will at least let the players know there is a standard, and that the continued passivity and mediocrity that typified Garrett's time with the Cowboys will no longer be accepted.
More than anything, it might prevent the mess that showed up on Thanksgiving from happening again over the final month.
The Cowboys opened the game with a beautiful and seemingly easy 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by an 8-yard pass from Dak Prescott to tight end Jason Witten.
It was just their second opening drive touchdown of the season. The other came on a short field after a turnover against the Eagles.
But this was positive. The Cowboys finally got off to a fast start. This was going to make a difference and prove that Jones going scorched earth following last Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots paid dividends.
Garrett looked like a new man as well, going for it on fourth and 1 from the Cowboys' 19 early in the second quarter.
Prescott got it on a sneak.
But it proved to matter little.
The Cowboys punted a few plays later and then gave up an 85-yard scoring drive, capped by a 25-yard pass from quarterback Josh Allen to receiver Cole Beasley, the former Cowboy who scorched his old teammates with six catches for 110 yards.
The Cowboys simply started going in reverse from there.
A horrible screen pass from Prescott was intercepted on the next series by defensive tackle Star Lotulelei.
Prescott fumbled on the next series after a sack, which the Bills turned into a trick-play touchdown pass from receiver John Brown to running back Devin Singletary.
The Cowboys got the ball back with 1:52 left in the half.
But this potential scoring drive was the Keystone Cops from the coach to the quarterback to the kicker.
Prescott threw an interception on the first play, but it was nullified by a defensive penalty.
A pass to Elliott on the second play nearly turned into an interception after he bobbled it.
Prescott eventually got the Cowboys to a first down at the 31 after a few completions, but that was offset by Garrett's decision not to use a timeout to preserve time.
Instead of throwing to the end zone, Prescott threw twice underneath to set up 35-yard field goal by Brett Maher, who missed it.
The Cowboys trailed 13-7 at halftime.
The team had not won a game all season after trailing at halftime.
Nothing changed that fact in the second half, as the Bills scored 10 points in the third quarter, including a walk-in touchdown by Allen that had all the makings of the Cowboys' defense quitting.
It was 26-7 in the fourth quarter before Prescott tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ventell Bryant and threw the two-point conversion to Jason Witten with 4:01 left.
It didn't matter.
Just like Prescott's 355 passing yards and two touchdowns didn't because he also had two turnovers.
The defense gets no pass for its play, as Allen was an efficient 19 of 24 for 231 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers. The Bills also rushed for 124 yards.
Keeping Garrett as coach doesn't matter. It's going to happen eventually.
Fire him now.
