Under Garrett's tenure, his teams have failed to take the next step when expected. The team will find some success when little, outside of Dallas, is expected. We were ranked mid-pack this pre-season, 14-15th, and similar has happened in other playoff years. The problem is following that up, when expectations rise, the team fails to meet them the following year. There's always an excuse, there's always a reason why it happens, but the fact remains they don't build on it. It's not all on Garrett, but on Jerry too. It takes more than the players themselves taking the next step, it means the coaches and FO do too.
This team falls flat when the expectations are raised. We finished the year strong and should be able to improve on it next year, but will we or go back to the same pattern and the team shrinks and more excuses found.