What did Jerry Jones say about Cowboys playoff chances, David Irving, Taco Charlton now

Owner Jerry Jones is not fooling himself about what happened to the Dallas Cowboys in the 23-0 embarrassing loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

He said the Cowboys simply played poorly against a good team at home.

That they laid an egg with the playoffs on the line is certainly concerning to him.

But whether the Cowboys (8-6) were feeling too good about themselves and their previous five-game win streak as the players contended or they just didn’t execute as coach Jason Garrett says, the situation is plain for them now.

The Cowboys need to win one of the next two games to clinch the NFC East title, either Sunday at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or at the New York Giants in the season finale. They could get in the back door with losses by both the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.

What’s clear is there is no reason to discuss resting guys or who they might play in the playoffs until their ticket has been punched.

“How you get ready for the playoffs is moot right now,” Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday morning. “You’ve got to get out here and win a game.

If the Cowboys do get in the playoffs, Jones thinks they have as a good a chance as any team in the NFC to get to the Super Bowl even if they will have to do the bulk of the work on the road if they get past a wild-card game at home.

The New Orleans Saints (12-2), who the Cowboys beat at AT&T Stadium last month, and the Los Angeles Rams (11-3), who lost to the Eagles at home on Sunday, will likely be the top two seeds but Jones believes they can be had.

“It shows opportunity,” Jones said of the NFC playoff picture. “Any team a can be beaten. They can be beaten at home. We are going to have to beat those guys at home if we get there. We have to get there. It starts with Tampa. The focus needs to be on us. We have to get there right before we focus on who we would prefer.

“We will have to beat good teams on the road. Are they beatable? Yes, they are beatable. We are too.”

What concerned Jones the most in the loss to the Colts was how the Cowboys got dominated on the defensive line. The Colts gashed the Cowboys on the ground against a run defense that came into the game ranked third in the league.

Jones said the Cowboys got no penetration up front.

But help might be in the way in the form of defensive end Taco Charlton and defensive tackle David Irving.

Charlton, the team’s 2017 first-round pick, been an inactive the past two games because coaches didn’t like his approach in practice and because they had been playing well with rookie fifth-round pick Dorrance Armstrong backing up DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford, and Randy Gregory.

“Having a game like that you start looking over your shoulder and say ‘maybe we ought to get him in there’;” Jones said of Charlton.

Regarding Irving, who has missed the last seven games with a high ankle sprain and personal issues, Jones expects him back before the end of the season. He couldn’t say when.

“I do expect him,” Jones said. “He’s limited how he’s moving around. He’s working to get viable.”

Jones said it remains to be determined Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin will play against the Buccaneers.

He missed the Colts game with a sprained knee, a situation that became even more acute when left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo left in the second quarter with an eye injury.

It put two backups on the field at guard in Connor Williams and Adam Redmond to go along with backup center Joe Looney, who has been playing all season in place of the injured Travis Frederick.

It was a problem against the Colts and it is a concern for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay. Su’a-Filo is also questionable for the game.

“We were getting down pretty limited (up front against the Colts),” Jones said. “That was impacting how we were able to execute and protect (quarterback) Dak Prescott. That is one of the challenges we have coming up this week.”