As writers covering the Cowboys, we don’t run the risk of tearing an ACL or leaving the press box on a stretcher for any reason beyond having eaten too many nachos. But we do bang our head against the wall a lot. And this is another day where we mostly settle for that.
Some columns sound a call to action. Last summer when the Rangers fired Chris Woodward, a man most local sports fans wouldn’t recognize walking through NorthPark mall, I wrote that nothing mattered until they fired Jon Daniels. Two days later, they did. That was unexpected and not particularly enjoyable, Daniels being someone I actually liked personally. And I doubt owner Ray Davis read my column and decided it was time. Regardless, it at least illustrated what the power of the pen used to mean.
Having been bounced from the playoffs short of the NFC Championship Game for the 27th consecutive year, the Cowboys have a Jerry Jones problem and a Dak Prescott problem. The rest is window dressing.
A kicker problem? Who cares, go get another one.
Zeke willing to play for less money? Well, good grief, I should hope so. His last 50 carries netted 100 yards. Nice round numbers, but he doesn’t have enough burst left to move an XFL offense. Doesn’t look like much of a center, either.
A Mike McCarthy problem? Well, until someone can identify the next member of the Sean McVay-Kyle Shanahan-Zac Taylor club, there’s no point. It would be the height of foolishness to send a first-round pick (and presumably more) to the Saints for Sean Payton, whose career numbers are basically McCarthy‘s. If you wanted to slide Dan Quinn into the big chair just to keep him around, I wouldn’t fight you on it, but don’t expect a new, improved operation at The Star.
The Dak problem? Anyone who can play the game he delivered at Tampa Bay has a chance. But he’s in his head with these interceptions and Kellen Moore (whose time here has come and gone) can’t get him out. Beyond a new voice to run the offense, the only suggestion I have for Dak is flag football.
Remember in Season 2 of “Ted Lasso” when one of Richmond’s best players, Isaac McAdoo was “all up in his head” and Ted convinced the retired Roy Kent to join the coaching staff? Kent took McAdoo to his old soccer playground, made him play with local stiffs to regain the love of the game. I’m not suggesting this as a serious fix for Prescott, but a different voice, direction and thought process can surely restore him to at least average in the turnover department. This team’s going nowhere with him leading the league.
The Jerry problem? After all these years, it’s still everything with this team. Allow me to locate a soft place in the wall here before I smash my head through it once more.
THERE ARE 31 TEAMS IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE WHERE THE GENERAL MANAGER AND THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF PLAYER PERSONNEL COMPETE WITH THEIR JOBS ON THE LINE EACH SEASON IF THEY FAIL TO DELIVER TITLES FOR TOO LONG.
Then there are the Dallas Cowboys where Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones question the rising costs of fuel for Jerry’s yacht as they study their scout’s reports for another draft. Jerry can call Sunday’s loss “sickening” but the GM and his sidekick never suffer the sickness that comes from being fired or even having that threat hang over their heads. They make money like no other franchise in this country and they fill their stadium with 90,000 fans — I will refrain from calling them believers because plenty of Cowboys fans are truly sick and tired of the whole thing but just can’t quit the process — and they pump up the “maybe next year” refrain even though their entire organizational flow chart is flawed.
The head coach is more powerless here than he is in New England or San Francisco or Philadelphia, and the players are generally quick to recognize it. After home games, six people might show up for McCarthy’s postgame remarks while the rest of the media horde is clustered around Jerry out in the hallway. And it’s not like the coach doesn’t notice that and hasn’t commented on it.
But for McCarthy or any coach to survive here, the best chance is to adopt an “it is what it is” philosophy about the whole thing and hope for great drafts. The Joneses barely participate in the free-agency process, handicapping the team each year as they routinely go through entire seasons with unspent cap money, while letting the Eagles go out and pay for Haason Reddick or add A..J. Brown to the payroll in a draft-day trade.
With the Joneses, the Cowboys are forever selling the distant future because they know the present belongs to someone else. Hasn’t changed in over a quarter of a century. Isn’t likely to change just because people talk about it or some guy writes about it.
The Joneses want you to keep enjoying the ride. Hard decisions like “maybe we failed on this quarterback evaluation” aren’t on the table. There are other pieces of business to attend to, like getting those season-ticket renewals out in the mail next week.
