NFL
Jerry Jones Can Still Save the Dallas Cowboys Season if He’s Willing To Admit He Made a Major Mistake
Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.
Get to know Joe Kozlowski betterPublished26 Oct 2020
Last season, the Dallas Cowboys looked like the class of the NFC East but struggled down the stretch and missed the playoffs. That fate understandably upset Jerry Jones; the owner and general manager finally decided to change coaches, replacing Jason Garrett with Mike McCarthy, in an effort to turn things around. Through the first seven weeks of the 2020 campaign, however, it’s safe to say that things haven’t gone according to plan.
While the Dallas Cowboys have been nothing short of a disaster this season, there’s still hope for Jerry Jones. If he’s willing to bite the bullet and admit that he made a mistake, the campaign could have a silver lining.
The 2020 Dallas Cowboys have been nothing short of a disaster
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Coming into the 2020 campaign, the Dallas Cowboys seemed to be in a pretty decent spot; even if things weren’t perfect, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott should have been enough to give the club a chance in the weak NFC East. In reality, though, things have collapsed in spectacular fashion.
While the Cowboys offense put up plenty of points at the start of the season, their efforts were undone by a historically-terrible defense. Things weren’t great then, but they’ve still managed to get even worse since.
Dak Prescott, of course, suffered a brutal ankle injury; he’s done for the season and, thanks to Jerry Jones’ offseason negotiations, might never play for the Cowboys again. Andy Dalton took over at quarterback but, after suffering a concussion against Washington, could spend some time on the sidelines.
Beyond those unfortunate injuries, the Cowboys have become the stereotypical example of a dysfunctional squad. Anonymous players are complaining about Mike McCarthy; at the same time, the coach seems to be denying that there are any major issues. If things continue at this rate, missing the playoffs will be the least of Jerry Jones’ worries.
Colin Cowherd thinks Jerry Jones needs to step up
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When a team is playing as poorly as the Dallas Cowboys, something has to give. Colin Cowherd thinks that he knows exactly what change is necessary: Jerry Jones has to fire Mike McCarthy.
While there’s something to be said for having patience—you can’t fire a coach every time there’s a losing streak—you can see the logic behind Cowherd’s stance. The NFC East may be a terrible division, but the Dallas Cowboys don’t have much to play for; even if Andy Dalton, Ben DiNucci, or someone else leads them to the postseason, Dallas doesn’t have a legitimate shot of going anywhere close to the Super Bowl.
If that’s the case and you’re ready to write off the season, you need to at least make those losses worthwhile. Whether that means letting young players get experience, changing the coaching staff and letting someone new have a ‘preseason’ before making personnel decision in the spring, or anything else, there’s very little to be gained by going 5-12 and simply trying again next season.
Jerry Jones admitting he made a mistake would change everything for the Dallas Cowboys
If Jerry Jones does decide to bite the bullet and replace Mike McCarthy, that would be enough to give Dallas Cowboys fans everywhere hope. That’s not because of the head coach himself, though; Jones admitting a mistake could signal the end of a major issue in Big D.
While there’s plenty of blame to go around in the Cowboys organization, Jerry Jones has been the one constant. His dual role as both general manager and owner gives him a unique license to make poor decisions; no matter how many mistakes he makes, no one other than Jerry himself can remove him from the role. That’s left the franchise trapped in limbo for years, unable to get back to their glory days of the 1990s.
If Jones were to stand up, admit he made a mistake by hiring Mike McCarthy (or at least allowing Mike McCarthy to bring in defensive coordinator Mike Nolan), that would be a step in the right direction. Although changing coaches would still fall well short of bringing in a proper general manager, it would symbolize somewhat of a new attitude; rightly or wrongly, it can seem like Jones is more concerned with showing how much he knows about football than he is with building the best team possible.
As always, Jerry Jones holds the fate of the Dallas Cowboys in his hands. If recent history is any indication, though, there’s no reason to expect a drastic change anytime soon.
