Jerry Jones, the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys since 1989, saw the best of times from 1992-’95 and the worst of times from 1989-2015. The ’89 season saw his Cowboys finish with just 1 win and 15 losses. Nobody expected a playoff caliber team since Dallas finished 3-13 the previous season, but the Cowboys regressing to just one win was atrocious. Fast forward to 2015 and Jones’ squad was coming off an impressive 12-4 season in 2014, with a playoff win vs the Detroit Lions, and a heartbreaking loss in the divisional round on the road against the Green Bay Packers. A quick side note, it WAS A CATCH! A DeMarco Murray fumble, and a rare Dan Bailey miss took away 10 points in a game Dallas lost 21 – 26. If you add another seven points after Dez Bryant’s amazing catch that wasn’t the Cowboys are moving on instead of going home. The final score should’ve been 38-26 in favor of the Cowboys. But I’m getting off track a bit, but the Cowboys, by all rights, should’ve advanced to the NFC Championship game for a rematch against the Seattle Seahawks, a team they dominated earlier in the season in their house.
The 2015 season should have been a continuation of the previous year’s success, but things quickly went horribly wrong. In Week 1 wide receiver Dez Bryant suffered a “Jones fracture” (oh the irony) in his foot, and in Week 2 quarterback Tony Romo went down with a collarbone injury and that seemed to seal Dallas’ fate. The Cowboys finished the season 4-12 and at times looked awful. Injuries are a part of the game in the NFL and most teams encounter and have to overcome them. Some teams fare better than others when it comes to injuries, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to coaching and the quality of a team’s backup players. In the case of the Cowboys, a few more wins might have secured them another playoff spot in the weak NFC East, but they only managed one win sans Tony Romo in 12 tries. That’s inexcusable! Brandon Weeden couldn’t find a W for Dallas and was cut shortly after Matt Cassell took over as the starter. Weeden would later guide the Texans to 2 consecutive wins and a playoff berth. The Cincinnati Bengals made the playoffs with a backup quarterback and the Denver Broncos secured the number one seed in the AFC with Brock Osweiler filling in for Peyton Manning. So why couldn’t Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett squeeze out another win or two with a decent run game and an offensive line that was arguably the best in the league? I believe “The Process” is too Romo reliant even though in 2014 the Cowboy’s offense was carried to a large extent by running back DeMarco Murray, who was the NFL’s leading rusher in 2014. Murray was the key to their success in ’14 and should have been this year too but Jerry didn’t see it that way.
In Dallas, the face of the franchise is the owner, Jerry Jones. The team is built based on his decisions, not those of the head coach. If some post game commentary is needed, ask Jerry Jones. A large majority of all media posts and/or articles reference the Cowboys owner, or begin by saying “Jerry Jones says,” “Jerry Jones thinks,” or “according to Jerry Jones.” For 20 years it’s been this way and it began right after head coach Jimmy Johnson was fired by Jones. Who in their right mind would fire a head coach that just delivered a second consecutive Lombardi Trophy, especially when the team was an overwhelming favorite to three-peat. Who would do such a thing? If you answered Jerry Jones, you were absolutely correct. He is the source for most of what is wrong with the Dallas Cowboys. What other NFL general manager would hire a fledgling assistant coach with only one year of NFL experience as the quarterbacks coach on the miserable Nick Saban led Miami Dolphins? There was no vetting, there was just Jerry Jones thinking he’d found his very own Tom Landry-like NFL prodigy. But instead the Cowboys owner announced that Garrett would be the team’s new offensive coordinator/assistant head coach. I remind you, Garrett was the quarterbacks coach at Miami for exactly one year. Prior to that, he was a journeyman backup quarterback.
Main Photo: SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 12: Owner Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys gives the ‘thumbs up’ to some Cowboys fans before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 12, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
