Dallas Cowboys: The chickens are coming home to roost

When it comes to the Dallas Cowboys, everything is sunshine and rainbows or doom and gloom.  It’s either Super Bowl or bust for this once proud franchise, and it’s been that way since they last won the Lombardi trophy way back in 1995. Regardless of the talent on the roster!

This is especially true after the Dallas Cowboys lose a game. It’s almost an apocalypse in Cowboys Nation after a loss – media included. In reality, the apocalyptic meter rises according to how the Cowboys lose a game. For example, in the 2021 season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cowboys lost a closely contested game 31-29 to Tom Brady but walked away with their head held high because they played exceptionally well as underdogs against the then-defending Super Bowl champions.

That loso motivated the Cowboys to go on a six-game winning streak.

But when the Cowboys lost to the Bucs in this year’s season opener (19-3) in a lackluster performance, it was a well-deserved doom and gloom scenario for this team because it was created by Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones. Yep! Ole “Cap Boy Jones” and Jerry actually self-sabotaged the Cowboys roster, and the manner in how they lost to the Bucs signifies it.

Because the Dallas Cowboys front office miscalculated the talent their inept decision making has come back to haunt them.

Jerry loves attention and definitely loves to have his beloved Dallas Cowboys in the news cycle because he truly believes any news benefits his brand and bottom line. Well, Jerry is receiving the most realistic news ever as his current Dallas team looks worse than a Pop Warner team. The awful play of Dallas against the Bucs was a direct link to how Jerry and Stephen have constructed this roster.

If the fans turn their back on the Joneses and ticket sells continue to plummet and their value slowly decline, it will be a classic case of you reap what you sow. The Joneses have reaped some bad coals on the hearts of its fanbase far too long, and they need to change what they have been sowing.

The Joneses allowed too many key pieces to leave for different reasons, and their general manager skills became too personal as to why Amari Cooper was traded away for nothing. It’s rumored that Coop’s departure had more to do with him refusing to be vaccinated that led to him missing two games. Coop’s defiance infuriated the Joneses so much that an even trade compensation didn’t matter, and that emotional decision resulted in Dallas’ receivers playing poorly against an overrated Bucs secondary. Dallas’ wide receivers looked lost without having a true WR1 on the field against the Bucs, but I will discuss that later.

The Joneses front office decisions finally caught up to them in an awful way because they clearly overestimated this roster on offense, and they neglected to sign above average free agents in the process.

Besides being criticized ad nauseum about needing a true general manager, the Jerry’s biggest criticism in years past was hiring weak coaches and holding onto star players well past their prime. And whenever Dallas did have a collection of offensive talent, Jerry made it a top priority to keep those players around. Ever since they signed Terrell Owens in 2006, this team has always kept elite talent at the skill position.

Only the beginning of the 2018 season is when Dallas didn’t have a stud WR1

But they overplayed their hand when they miscalculated the risk/reward when they didn’t replace the production of three of their top four receivers. They mishandled this position group so much that Stephen went on the radio and claimed that CeeDee Lamb must prove that he is WR1!

What! Wait a minute, Stephen. I thought you already knew CeeDee was a true WR1! I mean isn’t that the main reason why you traded Coop to the Cleveland Browns for a pack Crayola crayons? I know you’re not second guessing yourself, Stephen, because that would mean you’re taking responsibility and accountability for a bad decision. You know like a real front office guru would do.

Instead, CeeDee needs to regroup against the Cincinnati Bengals and catch 10 receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns from backup quarterback Cooper Rush. Got it!

Yes, CeeDee played a bad game with dropped passes and being blanketed throughout the game, and Dak Prescott didn’t help because he played one of his worst games ever. Also, Dak didn’t receive any help from wideouts Noah Brown and rookie Dennis Houston because they had trouble all game creating separation-forcing Dak to either pat the ball or take a sack.

This uninspiring performance from Dallas’ receivers could have been avoided if the Joneses had done their due diligence and signed a veteran free agent to take the pressure off of CeeDee. As soon as wide receiver James Washington went down with a foot injury, the Jones’s should have signed either signed Julio Jones (who had a good game against Dallas) or Will Fuller. Both players can still be at least a deep threat, something Dallas surely needed against the Bucs.

Sidenote: For full disclosure, I believe CeeDee has the talent to be a legitimate WR1 and I have written an article believing this young group of wideouts would step up and show out until Washington and Michael Gallup returned. The young receivers didn’t have a good game, but I will refuse to be a prisoner of the moment because of one bad game. Let’s see how they play in future games before we all make a final judgement. If they fail, well blame the Joneses. And hopefully, Dak has a speedy recovery from his ill-timed injury.

Please answer me, what front office strips away their strongest position group and replace it with “what ifs” and then put the onus on unproven players to get the job done?

Dallas’ offense led the league in points scored last season mainly because it had one of the best receivers corps in the league. Defenses could not cover Coop, CeeDee, Gallup, Cedrick Wilson, and Dalton Schultz.

Even though CeeDee has potential to be a WR1, anyone that knows football can see that CeeDee benefitted from Coop taking on double coverage, allowing CeeDee and Gallup to both beat man coverage on a weaker defensive back. That’s not a slight on either one of them because they played their roles to perfection and scored touchdowns, but you do not trade away one of the league’s best route runner’s and expect his replacement to do the same but with no supporting cast.

In conclusion, the Jones’s charade as front office executives are haunting them just like a bad dream in the horror movie “Nightmare on Elm Street”, except it’s the fans chasing them for being frauds. Site expert Reid Hanson writes a truthful article about ticket sales declining because fans are fed up with the Jones’s handling of the team.

Hurting the Joneses pockets will certainly get their attention and combining their own ineptness on depleting its offensive weapons this season says sloppiness all around. Dallas Cowboys fans have been the primary reason why the Joneses have the most valued sports franchise on the planet, and this loyal fanbase has not witnessed a Super Bowl appearance in 27 years. Yet, the fans support this once storied franchise with blind faith.

But the thanks this fanbase gets is excuse after excuse about saving money for better things to come but nothing ever develops in a positive manner. But here is a sweet reminder that in 2014 Dallas’ stadium was packed with opposing team’s fans because Dallas’ own fans started selling their tickets to the opposition.

The reason: Dallas had not been winning in the previous seasons. Miraculously, they went 12-4 that season.

If the fans turn their back on the Joneses and ticket sells continue to plummet and their value slowly decline, it will be a classic case of you reap what you sow. They have reaped some bad coals on the hearts of its fanbase far too long, and they need to change what they have been sowing.

Because if they don’t, the chickens will always come home to roost!