Is there a Super Bowl window for the Dallas Cowboys? If there is, team owner Jerry Jones is making sure it doesn’t really open – an opinion piece.

Jerry Jones has been the owner of the Dallas Cowboys for 35 years. The NFL franchise has celebrated many successes since 1989, including three Super Bowl victories in the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons.

But the Cowboys’ glory days are long gone. The last time the team was in the final for the Vince Lombardi Trophy was in 1996. That’s not what “America’s Team” aspires to.

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And yet little has changed in the past few years. The Cowboys have not made it further than the divisional playoffs in the past ten seasons. The franchise is still led by Jones, who is now 82 years old.

However, the Cowboys could hardly have given him a more disappointing birthday present on Sunday. The 9-47 embarrassment against the Detroit Lions was the worst home defeat in franchise history.

But Jones also has to take some of the blame for this gift himself. After all, the owner is responsible for the recent sporting misery.

Concerning Cowboys

After the debacle against the Lions, Jones spoke of an “alarming” defeat. However, some of the sporting decisions that Jones has made in recent years are also alarming.

The great successes under Jones should not be swept under the table. What the owner has achieved with the three Super Bowl victories within a few years of his takeover deserves the highest recognition.

And given the fact that the multi-billionaire has made the Cowboys what they are today – the most valuable sports franchise in the world – he deserves respect. According to a 2023 Forbes magazine report, the Dallas Cowboys are worth around $9.2 billion.

All of this is primarily due to Jones’ work and should not be left out of any criticism.

And yet the so-called “recency bias”, i.e. the tendency to attach greater importance to more recent events, means that Jones is also heavily criticized by many Cowboys fans.

Because where there’s a lot of money, a lot of money is spent. Too much – in the case of the Cowboys!

Prescott and the difficult contract

In the end, it was Jones, who also serves as general manager in Dallas, who made quarterback Dak Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history.

Prescott is guaranteed $231 million. A sum that the quarterback must first confirm with performance. In the current season, the signal caller has just eight touchdowns after six games, but six interceptions.

The fact that Prescott is not worth the big bucks is not the only criticism from Cowboys fans. The team’s decision to stick with head coach Mike McCarthy, which Jones reiterated after the heavy loss in Week 6, is also being viewed critically in Dallas.

This will be McCarthy’s fifth season on the sideline in Dallas. After a rough start to the season, with a record of 3-3, there is a big question mark over whether he will be able to lead the Cowboys to greater success this season.

The team has conceded 168 points so far – that’s the third-highest tally in the current season, behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars (178) and the Carolina Panthers (203).

Cowboys: Super Bowl victory far away

If you then recall the legendary phrase “offense wins games, defense wins championships”, the franchise is as far away from a Super Bowl victory as Ezekiel Elliott is from his past performances.

There are problems all over the place. The problems on offense can also be traced back to Jones’ decisions. The Cowboys’ offense is too one-dimensional. There is not a single top running back left on the roster.

According to Jones, the money needed for a potential Derrick Henry signing was not available. No wonder, when the entire budget goes to the much too expensive contract of the supposed franchise quarterback.

Star receiver CeeDee Lamb is also far from his previous year’s form. This is certainly also due to the fact that he was on holdout for a long time because Jones did not want to pay him.

Of course, the players demand an enormous amount of money during contract negotiations – this is not an easy task for Jones either. Nevertheless, many of the problems the Cowboys are currently facing can be traced back to the owner.

If there is a Super Bowl window for the Cowboys at all, then Jones regularly ensures that it does not open in Dallas.