Jerry Jones recently appeared to point a finger of blame for the Dallas Cowboys’ losing streak at Jason Garrett and the coaching staff, but the owner clarified his remarks and took responsibility for a key factor that contributed to the losses.
Speaking on 105.3 The Fan, Jones talked about how the Cowboys had been highly competitive even without Tony Romo in the lineup, coming close to victories on a number of occasions.
“But you would have thought that the edge gives you an opportunity to win at least half of those games that were just right at the wire and that marginal,” Jones said. “And so, I think I used the word hope, but I would have hoped, thought… I hate to use the word flip of the coin, luck, those kind of things, but I have a lot of respect for this coaching staff.”
Jones also owned up to the fact that he did not have a solid contingency plan in place at the backup quarterback position.
As most are likely aware, Brandon Weeden was the team’s backup until Jones made a trade with the Buffalo Bills for Matt Cassel midway through the season. And, most are likely also aware of the fact that Weeden was unable to get the job done, throwing just two touchdowns in four starts, all losses.
“On the other hand, if you want to look at any aspect of this team you can say well, if we would have been in better shape had you had Matt Cassel in the spring, rather than Weeden, and I’m not trying to knock Weeden, but if we would have had a guy like Cassel in here than we might have made a difference there, so put that one ultimately on my shoulders for sure.”
Remarkably, even at 4-8, the Cowboys have a terrific chance to win the NFC East. The other three teams in the division are just one game ahead with records of 5-7, and Dallas could technically win with just six wins.
Cassel has been a bit better than Weeden was. In five starts he has won once and has thrown five touchdowns which isn’t great but much improved from what Weeden had done when he played.
The Cowboys have a tough road to the finish line with games against the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Washington. Cassel must be sharp during these final four games for the Cowboys to have any shot at completing a miraculous comeback to the postseason after compiling a record of 2-7 before winning two of their last three.