When the Dallas Cowboys take the field at the AT&T, there’s one man always at the heart of the stadium. Jerry Jones, who has stood on the sidelines, watches every home game from his suite. That perch on the 50-yard line is his happy place.
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“I just have frankly the view that I have at the home games,” he once explained. But during Thursday Football, ‘Jerry’s World’ turned into the one place Jones didn’t want to be. And even though Jerry’s disappointment may be valid, the failures might be ones of his own creation.
As the Week 5 opener headed towards the end of the final quarter, Jones walked away from the suite as the Dallas Cowboys went down against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Jerry Jones heads out after the Bucky Irving first down,” Awful Announcing posted a clip on X, showing Jerry Jones walking out of the suite area.
The moment in question was late in the game. Early on in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys were rallying, scoring a touchdown. But then came the moment that changed it all. Despite missing the extra point, the Cowboys were moving the chains, but Dak threw yet another pick. Jones slammed the ledge in front of him in frustration after the interception.
With a little over a minute left in the fourth quarter and a win practically under the Buccaneers’ belt, Irving broke free for a 22-yard gain for a first down. That was it. Irving had the run game punishing the Dallas defense all night. Soon afterwards, Jerry Jones was seen walking out of his suite.
Now, even in the team’s weakest moments this season, be it the loss against the Giants or the final seven seconds against the Ravens, Jones was critical, but he showed support. But there’s a bigger reason why Week 5 stings.
Dallas was supposed to win this game. The Cowboys came in as 8.5-point favorites against a winless Tampa Bay team that was also without veteran QB Baker Mayfield. They were going up against a 0-4 team that had an undrafted free agent rookie quarterback starting against them.
And playing their only game at home for October, the Cowboys had a chance to build their season. A win at home wouldn’t have just put them at 3-2, but given them the momentum in the NFC East.
Instead, Jalon Daniels started in his place and went 19-of-25 for 189 passing yards and one touchdown, along with rushing on seven carries for 23 yards.
The Buccaneers walked away with a 24-16 win, and it was hard to find a phase of the game where Dallas looked like the better team. And Jones wasn’t hiding his disappointment.
“Extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointed,” Jones said, and then paused for some moments. “We really do need to get it done. … I thought both their fronts, was really surprised at how well they ran the ball, how they ran it between the tackles. That was surprising. We thought if they were going to run it, they’d do it outside.
“We thought we’d put it on the quarterback’s shoulders. Their staff, their quarterback, all their players got a great victory here tonight. It was a tough loss for us.”
Could this have been avoided? Sure, Jones has added big names to the squad this season. The defense is stacked with the likes of Caleb Downs, Jaishawn Barham, Von Miller, Quinnen Williams, and a few other names. But even then, the defense looked like it was in shambles all night.
The rookie kept sending long passes downfield, and he kept finding a receiver. On one occasion, when the Bucs looked like they were backed up on a 3rd-and-21, Daniels threw down the middle for a first down.
The running back was breaking free of the defensive line and headed straight downfield. The Buccaneers rushed for 241 yards. A highlight of the night was Bucky Irving’s 72-yard gain right at the beginning of the third quarter, which put Tampa Bay at Dallas’ 14-yard line. Emeka Egbuka ran the remaining distance on the next play to score for the Bucs.
Dallas had no real answers against the surprising might the Bucs brought to the game. And Jones knows the team has problems. After the first loss of the season, Jones had acknowledged it as well.
“Communication. The communication aspects of it. Just being out of position. Fundamentally between the two, communication…”
The problems Jones had highlighted weeks ago had resurfaced. And they weren’t alone.
Dak Prescott, the same quarterback who could do no wrong last year, is suddenly looking vulnerable. He threw two interceptions on drives that could have changed the game. It’s hard to believe this is the same QB who threw four touchdowns in a single game earlier this season.
Jones thought bringing in reinforcements at defense was the solution, except it wasn’t. It was just a part of it. Perhaps the team needs to think of a bigger rebuild, even with the offense. The objective cannot be winning next season, but building a team that wins consistently.
For now, all eyes will be on where the season goes, and that starts with the loss.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer admitted at halftime that he wasn’t calling the game well enough, especially when it came to adjusting for the blitz, and he was right.
“I gotta call better plays, No. 1,” Schottenheimer said. “We’ll make some good adjustments right here, but it’s gotta start with me calling better plays.”