On the heels of a pitiful loss on the road against the middling Carolina Panthers, there's an appropriate sense of panic swirling around the Dallas Cowboys organization. Even with Dak Prescott flashing the tools of an elite signal-caller, the team still appears to be trending rapidly in the wrong direction.
According to Next Gen Stats, Dallas is the fourth team since the merger to score 175+ points through their first six games and have two or fewer wins. The other three clubs finished under .500 and missed the postseason. With a gauntlet of a schedule, this group simply can't afford to drop crucial contests against perennial NFL bottom feeders.
At 2-3-1, Dallas is still in the thick of the playoff race, but the defense in particular is more akin to that which will be picking near the top of draft boards in April. The organization's persistent tease of potentially improving the roster at the trade deadline is hollow enough, but Jerry Jones' recent comments about the state of the franchise were so tone-deaf that it reaffirms the notion he is out of touch with reality.
Jerry Jones attempts to paint the Cowboys as perennial winners
"I saw today that with Tony Romo and with Dak Prescott, I may be off by one, but we're either the sixth or seventh winningest team in all of the NFL over their tenure, which is almost 20 years, to give you an idea of how close this thing is, yet we're disappointed because we don't have a good record of appearance in the playoffs, which is really what it's all about," Jones said.
There's some irony in Jerry attempting to push the narrative of sustained success following a humiliating defeat. He even acknowledged why that stat, which he couldn't be bothered to remember, was largely extraneous. Even for an 83-year-old who often seems to live in a rose-tinted bubble, these comments were a bit much.
Right now, the Cowboys are closer to being the New York Jets than competing for a Super Bowl. Even a high-end quarterback and the best receiver tandem in the sport can't overcompensate for the lack of talent littering this squad with a coaching staff around Brian Schottenheimer that, at best, has struggled to adapt early in the campaign.
Rather than try to peddle some propaganda to distract from the internal incompetence, Jerry needs to focus on turning this ship around. For once, can he just put his money where his mouth is?