Where did it all go so wrong for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys… and how do they fix it?

This wasn’t what the Dallas Cowboys had in mind when they made Dak Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history on the day of the season-opening win over the Cleveland Browns.

Since then, ‘America’s Team’ has managed just five more wins and by mid-December they need snookers to reach the postseason, with their star man watching injured from the sidelines.

It’s been a season of injuries and inconsistencies, of glaring deficiencies and of glaring problems with the house Jerry built.

And while CeeDee Lamb’s inability to see the ball due to the sun shining through AT&T Stadium should be little more than a comical side story, Jerry Jones’ snide response suggested that an owner was feeling the pressure of a frustrating season due to persistent er failed to mount a serious postseason challenge.

Since their 1995 season ended with the Lombardi Trophy, the Cowboys have won the NFC East nine times and qualified for the playoffs in another four seasons. There are many teams for whom that would mean success; but for America’s Team, it simply fuels the question: Why haven’t they won the Super Bowl since Troy Aikman’s prime?

In many ways, these periodic division titles have fueled the problem, allowing Jones to claim his team is just one or two pieces away from becoming a contender before a reality check 12 months later when those pieces haven’t been found — or ignored.

So in that regard, the 2024 battle may not ring too many alarm bells. And yet this year felt different. Since Mike McCarthy’s team went 6-10 in 2020, his first year as head coach, the Cowboys have won 12 for three consecutive seasons. However, in those three years, their playoff record is 1-3.

This season they will be far behind that. Yes, it wasn’t kind to them in terms of scheduling – the Ravens, Bengals, Lions and Steelers are all on the list, along with their two annual games against their rival Eagles – but that’s the price you pay for the win your division.

More concerning is the way some of the losses have gone – 34-6 to the Eagles, 47-9 to the Lions, just to show how far behind the NFC’s best teams – while also losing to the Saints, Falcons and the Lions. including a CMC-less 49ers.

Injuries have played a role, especially on defense: Parsons has missed four games, DeMarcus Lawrence’s season ended in week four, while in the secondary, cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland have missed time.

And then Prescott has been out since week nine. Had they all been fit, who knows how the season would have gone, but it should be noted that they were 3-5 when Prescott went down.

In many ways, the year’s problems started with the Prescott contract feuds, which only served as yet another example of the muddled thinking of a franchise desperate for its first Super Bowl appearance this century.

Not because it’s a mistake to hoist the franchise’s mid-term hopes on Prescott’s shoulders, but it should have been done in February so the team could address roster needs once the free agency period opens in March went.

The saga subsequently overshadowed training camp and preseason; Even though no one really expected a deal not to get done, it was at least a distraction.

But then there was the price. Two weeks before rewarding Prescott for his patience, Jerry Jones had made CeeDee Lamb the second-highest paid receiver in the league. It could be seen as a response to those who questioned his willingness to spend money, but perhaps the money could have been better used for reinforcement across the board?

It takes more than two highly paid star players for an offense to thrive, especially if that offense isn’t boosted in the Draft.

In many ways, it is symptomatic of the questionable decision-making that has characterized Jones’ tenure. Not in his role as owner, but in his emphasis on maintaining the roles of general manager and president. It means fewer heads at the top helping balance football decisions with financial decisions, with the clarity needed to build a successful team.

For example, the Cowboys were right to move on from Ezekiel Elliott and make Tony Pollard their starting running back in the 2022 season (even with Zeke still on the books). It was a sensible football decision, and it seemed like a smart thing to do when Elliott was moved and they had a cheap, ready-made replacement. And so his departure to Tennessee in March left a hole that needed to be filled.

But the Cowboys, distracted by other contracts, were too confident in their succession planning and decided Rico Dowdle could step up as Pollard once had. Granted, he’s rushed for over 100 yards in the last three games (although two of those were against the Panthers and Giants), but in the previous ten games, with playoff hopes still technically alive, he hit never reached three figures and passed alone. Three times for 70 yards on the ground (although his use in the passing game twice netted him 100 yards from scrimmage).

Jones could argue that over 1,000 yards from scrimmage through 14 games is statistically a decent return for his $1.255 million cap hit. But if, as the franchise owner claims, they are truly “all in,” the running back position is an area where there was an opportunity to make an unequivocal statement by taking the offense to the next level .

The Cowboys were rumored to have the option to acquire Derrick Henry this offseason. Jones said he couldn’t afford it. The Ravens signed Henry to a two-year, $16 million deal.

Given the money he wasted in two weeks toward the end of the summer, wouldn’t Prescott and the Cowboys have been better served by realizing that some of his reported $60 million annual salary might have gone toward bolstering the offense elsewhere have gone?

Saquon Barkley was also a free agent this year and we know how that turned out for the Cowboys’ old enemy in Philadelphia. Any notion that just one such signing can’t make a difference has been rightly dismissed in the Eagles’ 2024 season. The top two in the rushing rankings? Yes, you guessed it.

And while it proved difficult for the Cowboys to win with Prescott, it was always going to be difficult for Cooper Rush to win games as his replacement. Imagine how much easier it would have been if they had an elite running back to hand the ball to them.

This week, Jones seemed to shift the blame to Prescott, saying he refused to make a team-friendly deal and that it would hinder them for the upcoming offseason. ‘It’s different [cap) management when you got the higher-priced player at quarterback,’ he told the Athletic.

Last week Micah Parsons, the defensive end playing in the last year of his rookie deal, when asked about his upcoming contract talks, said: ‘I don’t think there’s a big difference between $30millon and $40million. 

‘You see a lot of times, you know, the highest-paid player. Then we say they don’t have weapons… I’d rather just be in the best situation.’

It was, after all, the attitude that helped Tom Brady win six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

Whether it is Jones or Prescott who have failed to adopt that attitude, the owner throwing under the bus the man you expect to lead your team for the next six years may not be a smart move. And the cynics would suggest he is pre-emptively explaining away another year of poor decisions.

Either way, the season has undoubtedly felt like a step backwards, while the Eagles and a Jayden Daniels-led Commanders look like being the NFC East’s powerhouses for the foreseeable future. If the Cowboys are to challenge soon Jones needs to learn from the lessons of 2024; there are plenty to choose from.