When you fall to 0-3 at home, winless in the last four games when also considering the playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers in January, there’s no spinning the facts into a pillow that allows for a soft landing after being shoved from the rooftop by the reality of the situation, and that reality says the Dallas Cowboys are currently broken at AT&T Stadium.
Can they fix it? Sure, considering they were the best in the entire NFL on their home field prior to the aforementioned loss in January, and getting back to that level of play will headline their self-reflection going into the bye week.
When asked about the current state of affairs, owner and general manager Jerry Jones was candid.
“OK, that was a long day, thanks to Detroit, and thanks to a lot of things you can criticize about what we were doing out there today,” said Jones. “That can’t be [us]. That can’t be. We’re not — we’ve got to assess.”
But even Jones is admitting the fix isn’t a magical one that will suddenly appear over the next two weeks before they step onto the field at Levi’s Stadium, the biggest positive in that equation to come is that the game is on the road, where the Cowboys are undefeated but, as everyone well knows, it’s also against a 49ers team that has been the bane of Dallas’ existence recently.
And the schedule doesn’t exactly turn down after that.
“We’ve certainly got a bye week, but there’s nothing magic about a bye week,” Jones said. “You can do some things differently [as far as] some of the things that bit us out there today. This was very concerning and it was very humbling and it was very — I felt bad because of all of our great fans, especially the ones in the stadium and certainly the ones that are all about the Cowboys.
“So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Sitting at a .500 record due to three home losses is something no one could’ve rightfully predicted, but it’s where the Cowboys are in mid-October. Their next matchup at home will be the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 10, a division clash that could help determine several scenarios as the season rolls into December.
“We all know you should feel better at home,” said Jones, befuddled. “I think that is an advantage. You don’t travel. You sleep in your own bed. It should be an advantage at home and that’s one of the first things you look at.
“How come we’re not playing better when we’ve got the advantage against the other team? You get to wake up in the morning and in familiar territory. All that’s stuff to think about. But, generally speaking, I think my message is, I know you don’t need to hear me say this, but I’m well aware that we’re in the proverbial sh-tter right now.”
That, however, doesn’t mean Jones is looking to push head coach Mike McCarthy out of the door, as he made clear after the loss to the Lions.
“I’m not considering that hypothetical,” said Jones. “I’m not going to be hypothetical inI considering a coaching change, and I’m not at all.”
With that predictable speculation seemingly put to bed, the Cowboys are forced to stare in the mirror over the next several days and decide who they are and what they want to be defined as when the 2024 season is all said-and-done.
Because, right now, there is a disconnect between those two things.