The NFC East looked ripe for the picking a few years ago, and now, all of a sudden, it’s got the two best teams in the NFC. And Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys are not one of them. The longtime owner and general manager is now 82, and he was definitely starting to show his age at new head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s introductory press conference on Monday, as he rambled even more than usual. Thanks in large part to Jones’ foibles, Dallas has an uphill battle in the NFC East.
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Speaking on Jones’ mismanagement of the Cowboys over the last couple of years, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith wasn’t pulling any punches on the latest episode of First Take. He compared Jones’ stale organization with the Washington Commanders, who have new ownership, a new head coach, and a rookie QB that combined to lead them to the NFC Championship this year.
The NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles “aren’t going anywhere” either. So, as Stephen A. puts it, the Cowboys’ only positive in this tough conference is that they’re still better than the NY Giants.
“We’re looking at a Dallas Cowboys team, 3rd place is what you’re looking at, within the NFC East. Now, is it possible to make the playoffs being 3rd place in your division? Sure. You can have a couple of Wild Card spots in the same division, but it’s highly unlikely, especially in the NFC East, that’s what you have to look at.”
Smith also mentioned that during Monday’s presser, where Jones seemingly went off the deep end several times, he couldn’t “believe the things coming out of his mouth.” The owner-GM has done such a poor job in recent seasons that the solid foundation many expected from a franchise as massive as the Cowboys has been shattered.
“I just thought there was a level, a floor that you couldn’t go lower. Jerry Jones is in the basement, and it’s like he’s in the basement, and he doesn’t know, and nobody is telling him. He doesn’t know.”
It’s true that nobody seems to be telling Jerry when he’s wrong, and it makes sense. He’s a billionaire who’s been running the most valuable sports franchise in the world for 30 years. It’s hard to tell people like that they’re doing something wrong unless you’re prepared to lose your job. Even his son Stephen probably can’t say anything that would stick in his stubborn mind.
Surely, if there were some kind of support system helping Jones filter his thoughts, he wouldn’t have made such a mess of the Derrick Henry situation.
Stephen A. says Jerry Jones messed up worse than the Giants
Last summer, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys were in desperate need of help at running back. And it was perfect timing, too, as arguably the best crop of free agent running backs we’ve ever seen hit the market. One of the best, perennial All-Pro Derrick Henry, expressed a desire to play for Dallas, calling it the “perfect situation”.
However, Henry, who lives in Dallas, later revealed that the Cowboys never even kicked the tires or made a call to his agent about a possible signing. And that’s pretty easy to believe, considering the team was basically mute for the entirety of the free agency period. Apart from the laughable re-signing of Ezekiel Elliott, who, predictably, turned out to be a dud.
Rico Dowdle was impressive at RB, but he’s certainly no King Henry. Stephen A. believes the Cowboys not even reaching out to Henry was an even bigger mistake than what the rival New York Giants got themselves into with Saquon Barkley. Smith places the blame squarely on Jones, as the owner publicly stated that Henry wouldn’t have had as much success if he’d come to Big D.
“But in the case of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones’ quote sealed the deal, ‘I don’t know if Derrick Henry would have been what he is with us.’ That did it.”
Jones has been making mistakes left, right, and center lately. His most recent head coaching hire, Brian Schottenheimer, was not well-received by the greater NFL world, but especially not by the Cowboys faithful, as Dominique Foxworth pointed out.
“The Dallas fanbase has to be incredibly frustrated after watching that press conference. Because there are a lot of highly coveted coaches out there. They let go of their coach that they had and they went down to their offensive coordinator, who was not a highly coveted coordinator. It’s hard to get excited about it.”
And, unfortunately, for Schottenheimer, a big reason for the negative reception has nothing to do with him. It had a lot more to do with Jones and his big mouth.
“The sales pitch that Jerry Jones presents, is not a very good one. He’s like, ‘He’s a guy with a lot of baggage, but I like his baggage, and this guy’s a risk.’ And I’m supposed to be at home as a Cowboys fan, like, ‘Oh, now we got him, we got baggae and risk coming to take over.’ It’s bad.”
Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys seemed to be entering a new era of success when they swiped Dak Prescott as a 4th-round steal in 2016. The QB is now 31 years old, and the Cowboys are no closer to reaching their first NFC Championship since 1995 than they were when Tony Romo was still taking snaps for Jason Garrett.
