America's Disaster - Without Enormous Change, This Cowboys Mess Isn't Going Anywhere

The Cowboys have a problem. A billion-dollar problem. Playoff letdowns have come to define Dallas this century, with countless promising regular seasons turning to excruciating offseasons after a season full of success ends with an egg being laid once the postseason rolls around. Last year was no different, with a third straight 12-win season coming to a screeching halt in their first and only playoff game, an 18-point home loss to a first-year quarterback. Mike McCarthy justifiably re-entered the hot seat, but he survived another offseason to take him into a fifth year at the helm. Here in 2024, it's all gone wrong. A 3-3 start has felt a whole lot worse, as they're 0-3 at home and have trailed big in all three, none worse than Sunday's 47-9 loss to the Lions on - that's right - Jerry Jones' birthday. All the issues Dallas have been suppressing continue to rise to the forefront and instead of showing any signs of righting the ship, owner-turned general manager Jerry Jones spent his Tuesday threatening a local podcast host that had called into question some of the shaky moves Jones has made in the not-so-distant past.

Here's the problem with Jones - too often he just can't be bothered, and there's nothing that can be done about it. No owner in the sport is trying to do what he is because, well, why would they? It's a pretty ridiculous ask for now 82-yard Jones to handle both these roles, for America's Team no less, but that's not something he's going to relinquish anytime soon. This offseason featured the greatest carousel of running backs the league has ever seen. Literally. Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Aaron Jones, Tony Pollard, and Joe Mixon were just some of the names on the move. In some cases they were free agents and in others the team moved on but in except one there was one constant - the teams that lost them had a plan to replace them. And then there's Dallas, who let Tony Pollard walk and instead of going after the dozens of starting-quality RBs that probably would've loved a fresh start on a Cowboys team that always seems to have a great o-line, Jerry took probably the easiest route you could've possibly imagined - an Ezekiel Elliott reunion. Yes, the former Cowboy well beyond his prime that had a minimal market after career lows across the board in New England. After losing Pollard, a back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher, Jones went with 'Zeke coming off a 642-yard, 3.5 yards per carry season in 2023. And this is nothing on Elliott - he had a great run in Dallas - but at this point in his career he, like almost every RB this deep in their career, isn't even close to a starting running back in this league. I guess they had Rico Dowdle though, whose 385 career years since 2020 shockingly hasn't moved the needle enough in Dallas' offense to make up for no Pollard. Jones downplayed it every chance he got this offseason and his most recent quote regarding 'Zeke was that they're "saving him" for later in the year. I can't even begin to explain how ridiculous that quote in itself sounds. Derrick Henry - who Jones deemed too expensive for the $11B franchise this offseason - running all over Jerry World was one of the many punches in the gut we've seen Dallas take through six weeks this season. It was the latest example where Jerry justifies his passivity with non-sensible logic - he sleeps through the time to make change, exerts his unbounded power whenever it's remotely threatened, and consistently downplays any notion he might have made a mistake. We saw the passiveness with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb's contract situations. It's his franchise QB and superstar WR we're talking about, and Jerry showed more desire to prove he's the boss then . He waited until the very last possible moment to pay Dak, and didn't pay CeeDee for months while making it clear to the media he had zero urgency to get it done. And for what? Dallas was never letting either of them walk but the idea that these guys were even somewhat in control of the situation at hand was enough for Jerry to at least put up a fight.

The coaching situation has been its own little disaster in itself. Mike McCarthy's downfall in Green Bay was exactly what it's already been in Dallas - playoff letdowns. To the surprise of many, mixing fire with fire didn't produce results, and McCarthy has already spent much of his four-year tenure on the hot seat still yet to reach the NFC Championship despite a number of contending rosters and exciting regular seasons convincing fans it might actually be the year. Personally, I couldn't believe he made it through last offseason, following a playoff loss as inexplicable as this franchise has had in their near 30-year drought from the NFC Title Game. Did Jerry really spend the offseason sold that McCarthy was the guy to put these problems to rest? Or was it a sunk cost of a failed hire years ago, and an overall disinterest in entering a head coaching search when you could probably pencil in another decent season as it is. His inability to acknowledge his faults and what feels like some sort of blockage towards really getting out of his comfort zone over a number of situations continues to haunt Dallas. With Michael Gallup recovering from a torn ACL the Cowboys not only stuck with him but gave him a new 5-year/$62.5M deal in 2022. He's now out of the league, and the only Cowboys wide receiving noise we've heard since was Jones being hesitant to pay CeeDee Lamb. And back to the coaching saga - last offseason was filled with big-name candidates that Jones could've went out and fought for and now as this lost season continues, 8-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick continues to lurk as a potential candidate. But would Jones allow that to happen? He's never been one to let his thunder come in jeopardy, and Belichick would do just that. After all, he made a living coaching AND general managing the Patriots' dynasty for all those years, perhaps the most direct example of rivaling Jones' unchecked reign he's got on this Cowboys franchise right now. And while it began to unravel for Bill towards the end, he had a lot more to show for it than Jones has in what's going on decades at this point. Is Jones really going to let his built-in scapegoat go to waste for a guy that might just mess around and make it his team? After everything we've seen in the entire 2000s, it'd take some real character development to ever get there. And even if that wouldn't be technically giving up his power, this is the same guy who just threatened to fire a radio host who questioned his decision-making two days after a 47-9 home loss.

There's no right answer to what Dallas should do about Jerry Jones, nor is there anyone that's going to win the power struggle anytime soon. The Cowboys might be taking for granted these last few seasons by the time 2024 comes to an end, with the humiliation arriving months ahead of schedule thanks to some obvious issues offensively and a defense in shambles due to injury. But these problems existed long before this underwhelming start - they're just exposing themselves in more obvious ways this time around. The best thing Dallas can hope for is that this season has been one big wake-up call. Until Jerry gets out of his own internal vision of Jerry's World, where he's named Super Bowl MVP as the city carries him off into the sunset, everything that has plagued the Cowboys the entire 2000s isn't going anywhere.