The Dallas Cowboys are one of the more disappointing teams in the opening half of the 2024 NFL season. They have gone 0-3 at home and will enter the weekend with an overall record of 3-4.
Ahead of this coming Sunday’s game between the Cowboys and 5-3 Atlanta Falcons at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones spoke candidly during a Friday appearance on Dallas sports radio station 105.3 The Fan about his club’s struggles since it began the campaign with a convincing 33-17 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8.
“Well, I think we’re having a rougher go than I anticipated. Let’s put it like that,” Jones acknowledged, as shared by Todd Archer of ESPN. “…It is rougher and I did not anticipate the challenges that we’re having with this team, but I am reminded of teams that I’ve seen that have had a lot of success and put themselves in position to take a shot and they were 3-4.”
While Jones has received plenty of criticism regarding his assembling of a roster that underperformed over Dallas’ last six games, he alone isn’t to blame for the club’s current state. Quarterback Dak Prescott has largely failed to impress with his play after he signed a four-year contract extension reportedly worth $240M with $231M guaranteed in September. Injury issues plagued the Cowboys before it was learned that star cornerback Trevon Diggs is dealing with a calf tear.
The Football Database website also shows that Dallas began Friday and was ranked 30th in the league with a minus-eight turnover differential.
“…I have a tough time getting past that turnover [ratio],” Jones explained. “I’m telling you, when you look at that and knowing what turnovers will do for you, we’ve had through seven games, we, the Cowboys have turned the ball over 13 times. The entire year last year we didn’t turn it over but 16 times. Thirteen times we turned it over. … It’s really a plus that we’ve won three games.”
Jones has repeatedly backed head coach Mike McCarthy, who is in the final season of his contract. On Friday, Jones insisted he believed McCarthy could right the ship, beginning with the Falcons game.
“I have seen Dak make the kinds of plays that would cause us to have a different turnover ratio, for instance,” Jones said. “...I know that Mike McCarthy, I know the caliber of coach he is. He’s one of the highest percentage winning/losing coaches that’s been in the NFL.
And he’s won a Super Bowl. So when you’ve seen it done in football, then you know they can do it. Then that gives you reasons to say what I say and that is that we can get better.”
As of Friday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Falcons as 3.5-point favorites over the Cowboys.
