Angry Jerry Jones blames coaches for Cowboys’ undoing in ‘frustrating’ loss to Patriots
The Dallas Cowboys still aren’t ready for prime time and owner Jerry Jones is as frustrated and disappointed as he’s ever been since Jason Garrett took over as head coach in 2010.
And it’s not a good omen with Garrett in the final year of his contract and coaching for his job.
Yes, the Cowboys remain in first place in the NFC East.
But they still aren’t a team ready to compete in the playoffs, if they make it that far.
How can you win in the playoffs if you can’t beat playoff teams in the regular season?
For this Cowboys team in 2019, it’s been the little things that have held them back.
And that proved to be the difference again Sunday a 13-9 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the cold and driving rain at Gillette Stadium.
This wasn’t about the Cowboys being overwhelmed by legendary coach Bill Belichick or future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.
This was about the Cowboys continuing to be their own worst enemy with turnovers, penalties, miscues and special teams bungles.
Jones put that squarely on the coaching staff, especially for the showings on offense and in the kicking game, in a game the Cowboys hoped a win would make a statement about what they could become over the latter part of the season but ended up being an example of their season-long frustrations.
“It’s frustrating to be reminded of the fundamentals of football and coaching that beat us out there,” Jones said. “They took advantage of the weather. There is no question they saw the ball was going to be hard to handle.
“There is no question (Belichick) put pressure on people returning the kicks and people handling the ball on special teams. There is no question that he used that to put some special emphasis on it. So yeah, I’m frustrated.”
Asked if he ever been this frustrated with a team in first place, Jones retorted: “With the makeup of this team, I shouldn’t be this frustrated.”
The Cowboys entered the season with their most talented team since the 1990s and hoping to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.
Now they have five games to right themselves, starting with a quick four-day turnaround against the Buffalo Bills (8-3) on Thanksgiving Day.
Again, the Cowboys (6-5) remain one game ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) atop the NFC East.
But they have yet to win a game against a team with a winning record.
Before Sunday’s setback against the 10-1 Patriots, they lost close games to the New Orleans Saints (9-2), Green Bay Packers (8-2) and the Minnesota Vikings (8-3), in addition to an unforgivable setback to the New York Jets (4-7).
“You should be able to come in here and lose a game and not have it be a statement game one way or another about your team,” Jones said. “We have managed to get ourselves in a position where playing this game was a statement game about us. It puts us a challenging spot relative to the rest of the year, the standings.
“But we knew that. The Jets set this up. Losing close games against New Orleans and Minnesota, they set this up. So we set this up for this kind of conversation before we got here. So this is very frustrating.”
The game was decided in the first quarter when Patriots special teams ace Matthew Slater blocked a punt by Chris Jones because of a missed block by Joe Thomas, giving Brady and the Patriots a first down at the Dallas 12-yard line.
Two plays later, Brady hit N’Keal Harry for a 10-yard game-deciding touchdown in what became a game of field position and field goals with the Cowboys ending up on the short end again.
Certainly, a horrible tripping call on center Travis Frederick on the Cowboys’ final drive of the game will be remembered. It was one of two phantom tripping calls against the Cowboys. The other was against tackle Tyron Smith.
But this one negated a first down completion from Dak Prescott to Ezekiel Elliott, turning a third-and-1 to third-and 11.
On fourth down, a completion for a first down to Amari Cooper was overturned by replay officials because the ball hit the ground.
“For sure it’s a missed opportunity,” Prescott said. “All I can ask for is the ball in my hands and the game on the line, and we did not get it done. It’s as simple as that.”
Prescott completed 19 of 33 passes for 212 yards with no touchdowns and an interception in the second quarter that the Patriots to turned into a field goal and 10-6 halftime lead.
The Cowboys trailed at halftime in all five of their losses.
It was the worst game of the season for Prescott, who came into the game leading the league in passing yards and coming off a 444-yard effort in a victory against the Detroit Lions
But the Cowboys knew they would have a hard time throwing against the Patriots’ top-ranked defense, especially in the rainy and windy conditions.
Prescott resorted to putting gloves in the second quarter after a few bad throws but refused to blame the weather.
“I think I just struggled,” Prescott said. “I struggled early in those first, few series before I put the gloves on. I couldn’t get a real grip on the ball; I wasn’t driving the ball, and that’s on me. That hurt the team. I missed some throws, some wide open throws to convert third downs that we can’t continue to move. I can’t do that. I’ve got to put the gloves on earlier or figure something out.”
“I just have never worn them,” Prescott added when asked he didn’t open the game with gloves. “I had only worn them at practice before. It was cold when I wore them in practice, it wasn’t raining, it didn’t feel like they did anything better than the bare hands. But I found out tonight with the rain they are pretty helpful.”
Elliott rushed 21 times for 86 yards.
The defense played solidly against the Patriots, limiting them to the lone touchdown. They were also aided by two missed field goals from Nick Folk.
Brady completed 17 of 37 passes for 190 yards and the lone touchdown.
But the Cowboys’ offense was 2 of 13 on third downs after coming into the game leading the league in third down conversion percentage.
And they started no drive better than their 36 and their last four drives started at the 20, 11, 8 and 15, thanks largely to a number of bungles, including botched catches on kickoff returns and a delay of game and false start on a punt before the Patriots final field goal that gave them 20 yards in field position.
It was the little things that did them in, again.
Jones said the Cowboys got outcoached. He pointed to special teams a big example. He said the Cowboys have struggled on special teams all season. And while he refused to comment on whether a change needed to be made with special teams coach Keith O’Quinn, he said special teams is about coaching.
“It’s a significant setback for our team,” Jones said. “We needed this win. We needed a win against an opponent like this. We haven’t had them.”
In a word, Jones is as frustrated as he’s been in a while.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 8:09 PM.
