The local media has set a narrative that Jerry Jones is some meddling, wildcatting hillbilly from Arkansas whose hands-on approach to the Dallas Cowboys would even make Al Davis come out the crypt to say, “Back off.” I’m not sure why that is. Frankly, I think it’s because Jerry Jones is an Arkie and was co-captain of the 1964 National Championship team that beat the Longhorns 14-13 in Austin. Texans sometimes can be as arrogant and parochial as New Yorkers and the French. Whatever the case, the Dallas-Fort Worth mediots (media + idiot) have cast Jerry Jones as the Metroplex sports Nixon upon whom we can place all of the Dallas Cowboys’ woes.

The latest shoddily constructed mediot horror house with statistics as laughable as Hunt’s Ketchup substituting for fake blood is that Jerry Jones is a “perfect” 120-120 since 1997. Naturally, some fans are as frantic with the dissemination of this “fact” like Jean-Paul Marat lambasting the Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution. You know, if somehow they, who know the least, keep screaming the loudest, Randy Galloway will invite them over for a barbecue dinner and then they can pitch their magnum opus on how the green in the Cowboys’ silver pants is a disgrace to the franchise.

Jerry Jones, seen with quarterback Tony Romo, laughs all the way to the trophy case with his three Lombardis as Diogenes fans mewl over being 120-120 since 1997.

All of the mediots’ condemnations predicate upon the framing bias, which is where the media wants the audience only to look inside the boundaries of a particular story. Nowhere else are they shown to look. Remember when the latest scare was when we hadn’t won a playoff game since 1996 and they would lump us in with Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Kansas City? The mediots would intentionally omit the immutable fact the franchise had, not only the most playoff appearances, but the most recent playoff appearances of that bunch. Instead, all you heard was: Jerry Jones hasn’t won a playoff game since 1996! Pay attention; this way to the egress! That’s the framing bias.

The comical sanctimony of their using the framing bias is how they’ll say you’re living in the past if you mention Jerry Jones’ three Super Bowl victories, as though those were stripped away like Joe Paterno’s victories at Penn State. How’s choosing 1997 as the starting point to come up with this symmetrical yet facile statistic of 120-120 not living in the past? Do you understand what I’m saying to you or not? How is it that the three Super Bowls don’t count? What was it about 1997 that was so significant that we have to start from there?

I’ll tell you what. From 1994, when Jerry was in full control, to 1996, the Cowboys were 34-14 and won a Super Bowl. Even if the mediots went back by one season, it would screw up their arithmetic like Ryan Tannehill naming who is in the NFC East. They picked 1997 because it fits their agenda, not because it’s especially significant to this franchise.

The mediots hold up franchises like the Saints and the 49ers as examples of what the Cowboys ought to be. Yet the same prevaricators wouldn’t dare go back to 1997 for the records with those respective teams. The Saints are 122-118 since 1997. The 49ers are 116-124 since 1997. Doesn’t that undo the significance of what our record has been since 1997? Doesn’t that show that it only matters what you’ve accomplished now or poised to accomplish soon rather than what’s done?

What would these schmucks have written back in their 1970 season previews? Oh, those Dallas Cowboys, despite going to two NFL Championships, are a paltry 67-65-6 since their inception ten seasons ago. I’m sure Skip Bayless and Randy Galloway while both were at the Dallas Morning News at the conclusion of the 1988 season mentioned how the Cowboys were 48-47 since 1983.

It really is a trash statistic and obtuse in measuring the current Dallas Cowboys.

As a realist, I define the real demarcation for this team as 2005. It’s when the Cowboys finally converted to a 3-4 defense and began to tap into their potential under Bill Parcells. It’s when the current nucleus of this team, Romo, Witten, and Ware, started to emerge as significant talent and later leaders. Since 2005, the Dallas Cowboys have been 65-47. In the same span, the Eagles have been 62-50, the Ravens 68-44, and the Packers 62-50. Only the Ravens have gone to the postseason more times than we have out of that group.

Please don’t take this article to be a complete absolution of Jerry Jones’ failures since 1994. Between hiring Barry Switzer, blowing the remaining ‘90s drafts, trading for Joey Galloway, and then Roy Williams, Jerry Jones committed his own fair share of sins. But he’s also done some mighty historical things that have added luster to the Star. There are about a thousand Eagles fans who would give one of their kidneys – or rip out one of yours – just to have one of our three Super Bowls accrued under Jerry Jones’ “meddling” ownership. If Jerry Jones had bought the San Diego Chargers, as he badly wanted to do in 1967, he would be a demigod. Only in Dallas can he do no right, like the AC/DC song “Spellbound,” despite having done something right three times over.

The same microcephalics will fawn Bill Parcells like God sent him down like James Miller to the Hollyfield/Bowe bout. I think Parcells did something with the New York Giants back before Dan Quayle tried to spell “potato,” and then later with the New England Patriots back when The Family Channel was still on the air. But those accomplishments are enough for the Tuna to rest upon for all time, even though he has since done nothing. Since 1997, a Bill Parcells coached/GM-ed franchise has only won one playoff game and has gone 103-105.

Do you see the double standard? Why do Bill Parcells’ accomplishments back when Johnny Carson was still on the air count but Jerry Jones’ accomplishments don’t?

Anyone who reveres that 120-120 statistic knows as much about football as they do about cooking Chef Boyardee ravioli. You have to be suffering from cranial rectosis to think these 2012 Dallas Cowboys are identical to the 1997 Dallas Cowboys. Even if you think there’s still rough surrounded by diamonds on the Cowboys roster, Jason Garrett runs a much different operation than Barry Switzer did. Barry Switzer was a guy who thought “accountability” was a synonym for tallying numbers, unlike Jason Garrett who uses it with his team

When the 2012 Dallas Cowboys kick the Giants’ bloody bums this Wednesday night and go 121-120 since 1997, somehow I don’t think the mediots will care much more about their statistic more doctored than Joan Rivers’ face.

Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/The Star-Ledger via US PRESSWIRE

We’ve known since the NFL schedule was released that the opening game of the entire season would be our beloved Cowboys at the Giants on September 5th.  A lot has already been written about how big this game will be.  A win over the defending Super Bowl champions and division rival Giants on the road would be big anytime.  But, with a worldwide audience watching the start of the NFL season it would be monumental.  A win and a season with so much promise gets off on a very good footing.  A loss and the heartbreak, doubt, and frustration of so many previous seasons creeps in once again.  If you’re anything like me, the bitterness of that would be palpable.  But, win or lose, it’s one game and there will still be 15 more before it is all decided.  But, it will no doubt set the tone for the season.

The Cowboys have not fared very well in season-opening games of late – remember the 4th quarter meltdown last year against the Jets when the game was seemingly going our way?  But, it got me thinking.  Can we draw any real correlations between the opening day results and the success of the overall season?  Is it as important as we think to get out of the gate with a win?  Here are a few interesting facts:

• The Cowboys inaugural season was in 1960 – the 2012 season opener will be their 53rd opening game in their history (counting the 2 strike shortened seasons in 1987 and 1982)
• Thirty of those 53 games, the Cowboys opened the season on the road.  With 16 opening week games, 16 teams have to start the season on the road, but 57% of the time the Cowboys have had to pack a bag.  Which one of the NFL scheduling gurus doesn’t like Dallas? 
• In fact, in the last 20 seasons including this coming year, the Cowboys have only opened at home 5 times – only twice in the last 10 seasons with the last home opener coming at the start of the 2007 season.  Seems like a league that is so in love with parity would try to spread the home openers around too…tough to win in the NFL on the road and tougher still to start the season in the hole with a loss.
• The Cowboys overall record on opening day is an impressive 34-17-1 (.654) but like Super Bowl victories (last one in 1995) a lot of those wins are in the past.  In fact, the Cowboys have lost their season opener the last 2 years in a row (at Jets in 2011 and at Washington in 2010).  In the last 10 seasons, the Cowboys are a less than impressive 4-6 in opening day games.  Since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989, the ‘Boys are barely above .500 with a record of 12-11.  At one point, the Cowboys lost their opener 5 years in a row – the worst stretch in the team’s history – from 2000 to 2004.
• The Cowboys used to be known for dominating season opening games.  In 29 seasons under Tom Landry, their record was an outstanding 22-6-1 (.776) at one point winning 17 consecutive years (1965-1981).  It’s a different league today with free agency and some of the rules changes, but in a tribute to his excellence, no other Cowboys coach has been even close.  In chronological order, the other Cowboys coach’s opening day records were:  Jimmy Johnson – 3-2, Barry Switzer – 3-1, Chan Gailey – 2-1, Dave Campo 0-3, Bill Parcells – 1-3, Wade Phillips 3-1 (the one loss coming in the 2010 opener the year he was fired mid season), and Jason Garrett – 0-1.  Landry lost his very first opening season game too, so let’s hope Garrett can get on a roll starting this year.
• There are a lot of different factors that go into the end result for the total season, but when the Cowboys have started a season on the right foot and won their season opener, their overall record is 341-172-3 (.664).  Winning the opening game doesn’t guarantee a good season, but there have only been 4 times in the team’s entire history that they won the season opener and finished the season below .500.  Four times in 52 years!  It definitely sets the tone and builds confidence.
• The Cowboys have opened the season 24 previous times against a division opponent and have a record of 17-6-1 (.708).
  

  Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

• Interestingly, the Cowboys have opened the season against the Giants 5 times in the past (2012 will be the 6th time) – most recently in Dallas in 2007, a game the Cowboys won 45-35.  Their record in opening games against the G-Men is 5-0!   Things that make you go “hmmmm”…

The numbers are what they are.  Winning the opener doesn’t automatically generate a playoff berth or Super Bowl victory, but numbers don’t lie either.  For this team – one with so much promise – it will be critical to their fragile psyche and to their season to win this game.  Based on their history, I like their chances on getting opening day win #6 against the Giants!  Keep the streak alive!  Go Cowboys!

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Let’s not get crazy with the premise of if Jimmy Johnson staying as our head coach. I know some fans think to this day he should leave the comedic FOX NFL Sunday set and use his extensive knowledge to naturally enhance the Cowboys’ performance as coach. So I’m not going to go there. The parameters of this article are that Jimmy Johnson finishes out his original ten-year contract Jerry Jones gave him in 1989. So we’re only going to speculate on what occurred from 1994 to 1998.

Jimmy Johnson was a radical departure from Tom Landry. He didn’t dress the same as Landry. He had more hair than Landry. Jimmy put football above family, as evidenced by his divorce when he took the Cowboys’ job in 1989. He was outspoken and flamboyant. His success was immediate and temporary. His tenure was only a sixth of what Landry had put into the organization, yet he equal Landry in the number of Super Bowls. Just about the only similarity that Jimmy Johnson and Tom Landry shared was their state of birth. Other than that, they were as opposite as Liberace and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Cowboys fans will never forget where they were when Jimmy Johnson dubiously resigned from the Dallas Cowboys in a “mutual decision.” I think I was trying to beat Jurassic Park for the Sega Genesis or avoiding the outdoors due to my fear of monarch butterflies. Like any tragic event, it always leads people to wonder what the path might have been had the unfortunate happenings not occurred. But I want to change it up especially for this article and talk about what would have transpired the same nonetheless

HOW THINGS WOULD BE THE SAME

1. The Cowboys Don’t Win 3 or 4 Super Bowls in a Row — That’s a favorite amongst fans with a casual knowledge of the team. They think if only we would have had Jimmy Johnson in the 1994 NFC Championship game, why, his impenetrable hair would have propelled us to victory and somehow prevented Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Kevin Williams’ fark-ups from putting 21 points on the board for the 49ers. That’s number one. Second off, very few fans are aware of how burned out Jimmy Johnson was by 1994, and it had nothing to do with Jerry Jones, Big Oil, the military-industrial complex, Nixon, aliens, fluoridated water, or any other hot button issue on Coast to Coast AM. It had to do with the media. When Jimmy Johnson won a Super Bowl, the question immediately became whether or not he could win two in a row. You ever noticed how Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy, and Jon Gruden never had those questions asked of them? Even Landry didn’t have that question asked of him after he led the Cowboys to a Super Bowl VI victory. Jimmy Johnson never had that honeymoon, and Jay Novacek and Mark Stepnoski attested to how tense and cranky Jimmy Johnson was under the pressure. Cutting a Curvin Richards was commonplace in 1993. 1994 would have been a burnout year for Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys.

2. Michael Irvin Still Gets Busted for Cocaine — “The White House” may have been at its height under Barry Switzer, but Michael Irvin was not there for his arrest; he was at a Dallas hotel celebrating his birthday. Yes, Michael Irvin was indubitably the vocal leader and held players accountable, but he was a party animal off the field ever since arriving with the Dallas Cowboys, who have sex appeal like you can’t imagine. It wouldn’t have mattered who the coach was. Eventually, Irvin was going to get caught. It took ’til 1996 for it to happen. There was nothing Jimmy Johnson or anybody could do to stop it.

3. Free Agency Still Threatens the Cowboys’ Unity — One of the big challenges facing the Dallas Cowboys in the mid-’90s was free agency. And it didn’t matter which one of 500 coaches Jerry Jones hired; this was going to be the new reality for America’s Team and the rest of the NFL. The whole question would come down to how Jimmy Johnson would handle it. But it would still be a significant enough part of the league that he would have to deal with it.

HOW THINGS WOULD BE DIFFERENT

1. More Super Bowls — Just because I said we wouldn’t win 3 out of 4 Super Bowls doesn’t mean the Cowboys couldn’t have added more under Jimmy Johnson’s tenure. He would have had the team competitive and still preached accountability and had a system in place that no business decision-making cornerback could have disrupted. A good comparison would have been the ’70s Steelers. In the years they weren’t winning the most Super Bowls thanks to poor officiating, the ’70s Steelers were still at least achieving a divisional playoff berth. I think the ’94-’98 Cowboys would have done the same under Jimmy Johnson. And it’s all about being in the dance. As long as you’re in the playoffs, you always have a chance to win the Super Bowl.

2. Mike Woicik Stays — Remember when Barry Switzer sent Chris Boniol out to kick a meaningless field goal against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football in a Week 12 contest in 1996 just so Boniol could have the league record for most field goals in a game? Remember how Reggie White protested the kick and Michael Irvin quarreled with him over it? Well, Mike Woicik, our past and current strength and conditioning coach that many credit with being instrumental in those three Super Bowls in the ’90s, was incensed by that incident. It was the last straw for him; he couldn’t work with Barry Switzer anymore. And this was already after Switzer told Woicik Deion Sanders was exempt from doing his workout routines because he was Deion Sanders. The relationship between Switzer and Woicik became acrimonious. It wouldn’t have under Jimmy because Jimmy made the players respect their coaches.

3. The Drafting Would Have Been Significantly Better — From 1994 to 1998, all Jerry Jones has to show for his drafts are Larry Allen and Dexter Coakley, which is like winning 10-grand at blackjack after losing your life savings, your house, and one of your children to being indentured after coming up short the previous seventy-times-seven hands. How would you have liked to have had Jason Taylor instead of Shante Carver? Or how about Sam Madison replacing Larry Brown and Kevin Smith? It’s highly unlikely Jimmy Johnson would have been swayed by the Jones/Lacewell philosophy at the time to draft backups and special teamers because their stars were already so great. Jimmy Johnson would have been churning that roster.

Come back to The Landry Hat next week when I’ll explore what would have happened if the Cowboys won the 2007 NFC Divisional playoffs against the Giants.