The Dallas Cowboys are too Good of a Team to Be Such a Disappointment
I have been a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. Every season, I have some hope that my favorite team can make a big run through the season to bring home another trophy. I look at the players. I look at the coaches. The team has everything it needs to win but year after year, the season ends in disappointment. This year, the Cowboys had the talent and coaches to at the bare minimum make it to the NFC Championship game. But here we are again on a Monday wondering what could have been.
The Dallas Cowboys had some high hopes for the 2021 - 2022 NFL season. They have a Super Bowl winning coach in Mike McCarthy. A defensive coordinator who helped win a NFL championship in Dan Quinn. A young and still promising offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore. Dak Prescott is a capable quarterback. Ezekiel Elliot is a very good and efficient running back. The Cowboys have a top notch group of wide receivers. The defense has some very good players at key positions.
All of that should add up to a team that can make a run at the Lombardi trophy, a trophy that has eluded the Cowboys since 1996. That's now 26 seasons without winning a title. That's 26 seasons of disappointing the most loyal fan base in any professional sport. I love me some Dallas Cowboys, and always will, but damn it, this futility has got to stop Jerry Jones.
I think the problems with the Cowboys start with the Jones family. They have done a whole lot of good for the Cowboys and for the Cowboys fanbase. When Jerry bought the team in 1989, they were not in a good place on the field or on the books. Jerry quickly turned that around.
By 1992, the Cowboys were back to the Super Bowl under the leadership of Jimmy Johnson. The Cowboys won again in 1993. It was after this Super Bowl win that we first saw the way Jerry Jones interferes with the team. Jimmy and Jerry couldn't work together anymore and Jimmy left the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys won another Super Bowl in 1996 under head coach Barry Switzer but many consider that more the players then Switzer's coaching considering that almost all of those players had won with Jimmy Johnson. From there, the Cowboys haven't been the same.
The Dallas Cowboys have never had a General Manager, that's always been Jerry Jones' job. That, to me, is the Cowboys' biggest issue. Jerry, please put your ego aside and hire someone that actually knows football. Someone that can bring in a great coach. Someone that can draft the right players. Do this Jerry, and all you have to do is sit back, be an owner and count the money that comes in.
Speaking of money, it may be time to just sell the team. You bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million. For a professional sports team, that's super cheap. Today the Cowboys are worth $5.7 billion, with a b. You've made a profit in your 30 plus years of owning the team, the time may be now to sell. That way, we could have a proper owner who will run the team correctly. That won't happen anytime soon, though, so that's just this fan dreaming.
Jerry, we the fans need you to be an owner, that's it. We don't need you making football decisions. We don't need you talking to reporters after every game. We don't need you interfering with what the coaches are doing with the team. Jerry, we the fans need to just see you sitting in the booth with your family enjoying the game. Bring in the right people to make all the other decisions.
Do the Dallas Cowboys have the right people in place on the field to make the right decisions? I think so. Mike McCarthy is a capable coach. We've seen his mark on this team in his two seasons so far. Kellen Moore is a young and imaginative offensive coordinator. He still needs to work on making in game adjustments based on how the opposing defense is playing. But overall, his offensive scheme is good. Dan Quinn has done great things in his one season as defensive coordinator.
However, other teams are looking at both of those coordinators to be their next head coach. I don't want to see either of them go, especially Quinn. I want him to stay as the defensive caller and give him a chance to build that defense even more.
Ugh! This Dallas Cowboys fan is ready to see a team that wants to win every single game. This Dallas Cowboys fan wants to see a team that plays angry every single game. This Dallas Cowboys fan wants a team that can win Super Bowls again. Yesterday against the San Francisco 49ers, they didn't look like they wanted to win. The offensive line didn't show up. There were too many stupid penalties. The defense played okay but still couldn't make the necessary plays to stop that offense.
While I didn't like seeing fans throwing stuff at the players as they were leaving the field after that loss, I don't blame them. This season had all the makings of a great playoff run. This season had all the makings of a Super Bowl run. But once again, the Dallas Cowboys brought disappointment to themselves and to their fanbase. I hope that the entire organization takes a long look at themselves and realizes the opportunity they squandered, are squandering, right now.
Until then, we still can root on our East Texas NFL superstar, Patrick Mahomes. His Kansas City Chiefs looked fantastic in their 42-21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. They will host the Buffalo Bills next Sunday in the divisional round starting at 5:30. This game has the makings to be an epic matchup. Go Chiefs!
When next season rolls around, I'll be yelling Go Cowboys! once again.