Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is not a happy man after his team once again put up a stinker against the Green Bay Packers in Week 14.
After the 28-7 loss, Jones wouldn’t concede that the 4-9 Cowboys were done yet this year, but if he were trying to sell something nobody would be buying.
“As hard as these guys physically work as hard as they’re called on to work with some promise, some slim promise, I wouldn’t dare impact that with any assessment of are we through or not,” Jones said, via ESPN’s Todd Archer. “I just wouldn’t do it. I don’t have the right to do that.”
Now two games back with three left to play and three teams ahead of them, the Cowboys are done, whether Jones wants to say so or not.
He was willing to say the team’s problems are much bigger than losing Tony Romo, however, and hinted at potential big changes after the end of this miserable season.
“We’ve got a lot of work. I want you to know there are some things that we have to do better. For us to have a healthy Romo and have an effective Dez Bryant, there’s some things we’ve got to really address and do better as we look over these last three games and into the future. … It was a combination of things and I contribute a lot — a lot — to find ourselves in this shape. So we’ve got to, everybody really take a good, hard look at how we can improve it.”
Jones also said it is “inexplicable” that his team hasn’t been able to generate a single turnover in eight of the 13 games this season, per Archer.
Remember, this team was rightfully picked by most experts to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 50. After Week 14, though, instead of gearing up for a championship run Dallas is looking up at 15 other teams in in the NFC.
Jones has recently fired off some shots at his coaching staff, criticizing head coach Jason Garrett for not being able to get any more wins out of his team even while Romo has been out. He backtracked a bit in a radio interview with 105.3 The Fan afterwards and blamed himself for starting the season with Brandon Weeden as the backup, rather than an established veteran like Matt Cassel.
That said, one wonders if his latest comments could be further evidence of his disapproval with Garrett and his staff.
The Cowboys were certainly outclassed on Sunday at Lambeau Field. The Green Bay Packers picked Dallas apart in the second half, and the passing game was almost non-existent. The defense was also abused, allowing Green Bay’s rushing attack to feast for 230 yards. All in all, it was exactly not the kind of effort one would expect from a team fighting for its playoff life.
It’s going to be interesting to see how things play out the rest of the season for the Cowboys. In this scribe’s opinion, nobody should be surprised if Jones finally decides to move in a different direction with a new head coach after experiencing such a monumental let-down this year.
This was supposed to be the year for the Cowboys. Instead, it’s been the year from hell.