On a team that, from the top down, acknowledges the urgency to win big, it's worth noting that the head coach is still learning on the job.
Jason Garrett is a first-time head coach entering only his second full season, and owner Jerry Jones admits that the Cowboys can't afford a lot of failures by the man in charge on the sidelines.
Jones has faith that Garrett will work out the kinks sooner rather than later. Last year, Garrett was roundly criticized for his handling of the clock at the end of regulation in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals, and offensive play-callers are always questioned.
"I think you just look at what happened and you try to evaluate those things," Garrett said. "We do that soon after the game. We try to make the corrections right when they happen so we're ready for the next opportunity that we get, and then at the end of the season, with all phases of our organization, we go back and we evaluate them again and see how we can do those things better."
For what it's worth, the head coach is committed to improving himself.
"A really important approach to life is that we're always growing, we're always learning," Garrett said. "Whether you're in football or you're outside of football, whether you're a player or a coach or an owner, we're all trying to get better every day. So I certainly have to get better. Our coaches and players hear me say that a lot. Our coaches need to get better; our players need to get better. That's just the nature of it."
Garrett has always stressed the importance of the bottom line in his business - wins and losses - and admits that those determine who gets to keep their job. Still, he prefers to talk more about devotion to the daily process for improvement.
"Every phase of my job, I have to get better at," Garrett said. "I have to get better at the leadership phase, I've got to get better at the organizational phase, I've got to get better at what we're doing on offense, how we're doing things on defense and in the kicking game. I never look at any part of my job and say, 'Boy, I've got that down.'"
Jones is on his seventh coach as Cowboys owner, and hopes Garrett can succeed and stick around.
"I think Jason has just made the first steps out of the box," Jones said. "With his intellect and with his passion and his temperament - he's an overachiever, but a smart one - I think the sky's the limit for him.
"We need him to be coaching at a level that can get us where we want to go next year. If he can do that, which I think he has the potential to do that, then it's almost unthinkable what he could become over the years as a head coach."
