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At 3-8, Dallas Cowboys have plenty of regrets
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas -- Just a year ago everything was going right for the Dallas Cowboys.
They had a running back set the franchise record for rushing yards in a season. They had a wide receiver lead the NFL in touchdown catches. They had a quarterback at the top of his game. They had an offensive line that was the envy of the league. They had a defense that could take the ball away better than any in the league
And this year?
Well, their 3-8 record tells the story of all that has gone wrong.
The easy reason is the twice broken left collarbone suffered by Tony Romo. After all, the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. If you have a quarterback, you have a chance. If you don’t, then you don’t.
“We take more accountability than that, than bad luck,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “At least I think we should and I think Jerry does too. I think obviously we didn’t handle the quarterback situation in a way that allowed us to have some success while Tony was out.”
The Cowboys are 0-7 without Romo. Brandon Weeden lost three games. Matt Cassel, who will start Monday against Washington, went 0-4.
But the quarterback play isn’t the only reason the Cowboys find themselves tied for the worst record in the NFC and looking at a top-five pick for the first time since 2003.
Regrets, the Cowboys have a few.
“You’ve got to say, ‘Could we have figured out a better way to do Dez [Bryant] to where he doesn’t miss all of the practice through the offseason into training camp?’” Jones said.
The Cowboys gave Bryant the franchise tag in March. As a result he missed almost all of the offseason program and didn’t sign a long-term deal until July 15 worth $70 million. Early in training camp he strained his hamstring and missed half of the practices and all of the preseason games.
In the season opener, he suffered a broken right foot and missed five games.
“Could there have been a better way?” Jones said. “I don’t know the answer to that. Contract disputes are contract disputes. But at the end of the day when you don’t practice and you’re in a skill position, then I think you suffer. I think it’s hard to be consistently good. You think about Dez, he missed the whole offseason, then missed most of camp and then gets hurt in the first game and misses the next six weeks. Obviously he’s not able to perform at the level that we’ve been used to with him. If he makes a few catches that he normal makes that could’ve been a couple more [wins] and in our division that would be a lot right now.”
The Cowboys don’t regret their decision to let DeMarco Murray walk in free agency. They were not going to virtually guarantee him $21 million despite his 1,845 rushing yards.
The regret comes in how they replaced Murray by not drafting a running back and trusting Joseph Randle, who has been cut. Darren McFadden has been solid but not a difference maker.
“Did we pick the right players? Obviously we could’ve done better there,” Jones said. “Now [Lance] Dunbar got hurt and he was a pretty productive guy before he went down although it wasn’t all rushing, but he was getting the job done as a receiver out of the backfield to give us a threat. Obviously with Joe, we knew he wasn’t perfect in terms of his character and to bet on him and an older McFadden in hindsight you wish … Now it wasn’t like we weren’t looking for a young back in the draft. It just didn’t happen to fit where our board was. Should we have pushed to move up to get a back or gotten ourselves in a better situation where we could’ve done better? Of course.
“Darren’s done a good job for us, but who’s to say what all affected us not running the ball well? Your quarterback’s down. Your No. 1 receiver’s been injured.”
Aside from the losses to the undefeated-at-the-time New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers, the Cowboys were in every other game. They were tied or in the lead in the fourth quarter of those six losses but could not make the key play defensively or offensively to win any of them.
And so they find themselves at 3-8 and hoping against hope with five games to go and the need to find serious answers.
“I think we’ve got to address the whole team,” Jones said. “We can’t just blame it on injuries. That’s not healthy.”
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas -- Just a year ago everything was going right for the Dallas Cowboys.
They had a running back set the franchise record for rushing yards in a season. They had a wide receiver lead the NFL in touchdown catches. They had a quarterback at the top of his game. They had an offensive line that was the envy of the league. They had a defense that could take the ball away better than any in the league
And this year?
Well, their 3-8 record tells the story of all that has gone wrong.
The easy reason is the twice broken left collarbone suffered by Tony Romo. After all, the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. If you have a quarterback, you have a chance. If you don’t, then you don’t.
“We take more accountability than that, than bad luck,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “At least I think we should and I think Jerry does too. I think obviously we didn’t handle the quarterback situation in a way that allowed us to have some success while Tony was out.”
The Cowboys are 0-7 without Romo. Brandon Weeden lost three games. Matt Cassel, who will start Monday against Washington, went 0-4.
But the quarterback play isn’t the only reason the Cowboys find themselves tied for the worst record in the NFC and looking at a top-five pick for the first time since 2003.
Regrets, the Cowboys have a few.
“You’ve got to say, ‘Could we have figured out a better way to do Dez [Bryant] to where he doesn’t miss all of the practice through the offseason into training camp?’” Jones said.
The Cowboys gave Bryant the franchise tag in March. As a result he missed almost all of the offseason program and didn’t sign a long-term deal until July 15 worth $70 million. Early in training camp he strained his hamstring and missed half of the practices and all of the preseason games.
In the season opener, he suffered a broken right foot and missed five games.
“Could there have been a better way?” Jones said. “I don’t know the answer to that. Contract disputes are contract disputes. But at the end of the day when you don’t practice and you’re in a skill position, then I think you suffer. I think it’s hard to be consistently good. You think about Dez, he missed the whole offseason, then missed most of camp and then gets hurt in the first game and misses the next six weeks. Obviously he’s not able to perform at the level that we’ve been used to with him. If he makes a few catches that he normal makes that could’ve been a couple more [wins] and in our division that would be a lot right now.”
The Cowboys don’t regret their decision to let DeMarco Murray walk in free agency. They were not going to virtually guarantee him $21 million despite his 1,845 rushing yards.
The regret comes in how they replaced Murray by not drafting a running back and trusting Joseph Randle, who has been cut. Darren McFadden has been solid but not a difference maker.
“Did we pick the right players? Obviously we could’ve done better there,” Jones said. “Now [Lance] Dunbar got hurt and he was a pretty productive guy before he went down although it wasn’t all rushing, but he was getting the job done as a receiver out of the backfield to give us a threat. Obviously with Joe, we knew he wasn’t perfect in terms of his character and to bet on him and an older McFadden in hindsight you wish … Now it wasn’t like we weren’t looking for a young back in the draft. It just didn’t happen to fit where our board was. Should we have pushed to move up to get a back or gotten ourselves in a better situation where we could’ve done better? Of course.
“Darren’s done a good job for us, but who’s to say what all affected us not running the ball well? Your quarterback’s down. Your No. 1 receiver’s been injured.”
Aside from the losses to the undefeated-at-the-time New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers, the Cowboys were in every other game. They were tied or in the lead in the fourth quarter of those six losses but could not make the key play defensively or offensively to win any of them.
And so they find themselves at 3-8 and hoping against hope with five games to go and the need to find serious answers.
“I think we’ve got to address the whole team,” Jones said. “We can’t just blame it on injuries. That’s not healthy.”