The Cowboys entered this year as one of the NFL’s ultimate wild cards, which is almost always the case given their mercurial owner, who’s become borderline erratic this year. Dealing with Jerry Jones’ constant inconsistencies is nothing new for Dallas fans, but this year Jones has taken things to a new level.
Jones loves star power and being in the limelight, and the former is usually enough to keep Dallas at least around the .500 mark. But the combination of Dak Prescott’s injury and plenty of bad decisions both on and off the field could easily send the Cowboys already problematic season into a final tailspin.
Contract issues and poor preseason decisions put the Cowboys in a hole
The first sign that this season could easily go sideways surfaced back during training camp. Jones slow-walked several important contracts, and the process ended up costing the owner millions of dollars, most of which could have gone into improving the team around the margins.
But that’s normal for the Cowboys owner. The biggest mistake Jones made was not pursuing Derrick Henry, who was very available, albeit at a much higher price than usual for a running back. Jones passed on the Henry possibility, choosing instead to go with a clearly washed-up Ezekiel Elliot, who was last seen getting suspended after showing his age.
The Dallas Cowboys' loss turned out to be Baltimore’s gain. The Ravens recognized that Henry clearly had something left in the tank, and Henry is back to doing what he does best, which is run over tacklers, help his team control the clock and make occasional big plays. His play has energized Baltimore’s offense and turned it into even more of a powerhouse, which is part of why the Ravens are almost certain to at least make a deep playoff run.
Dak Prescott’s injury, Cooper Rush and what it all means for the Dallas Cowboys
With Prescott now on IR after suffering a serious hamstring issue, the writing is on the wall. Cooper Rush is a competent back up who’s capable of going .500 for a few games, but the real question is what happens when Prescott returns, assuming he’s mobile enough to play well.
The next three games will tell us a lot. The Eagles are another mystery team that could play well or go south on any given Sunday, and no one really knows what the Texans are given their up and down performance. After that comes a visit to Washington, and a three-game losing streak isn’t out of the question at all.
The Mike McCarthy mess
No examination of the Dallas situation would be complete without a brief dive into the Mike McCarthy mess. It’s well known around the league that Jones doesn’t like to pay coaches, but Mike McCarthy’s situation is close to unprecedented, even for the Cowboys. McCarthy went into the season as a lame duck, and at this point most of the fan base is convinced that the former Super Bowl winner has no clue about how to turn this around.
Nor should they. Jerry Jones is perhaps the ultimate meddling owner, and his involvement in personnel decisions, game planning and even in-game decisions almost automatically reduces the coach’s role in Dallas’s success.
McCarthy could be a combination of George Halas, Don Shule and Bill Belichick, but given the owner’s intrusive tendencies, none of that would matter. His coaching talents feel marginal at best at this point in his career, and the only thing that seems certain is that if things do go south in Big D, Jones’ penchant for loyalty will prevent him from firing McCarthy until all the games get played.