The Cowboys and the crisis that Jerry Jones created

Jerry Jones has a hard time admitting it, but his team is a mess.

After three consecutive seasons with a 12-5 record, the Dallas Cowboys are 3-3 after the first seven weeks of the 2024 season and not even the most optimistic consider them to be any close to pretenders.

And Jones is responsible for this fiasco.

The owner and general manager of the Cowboys remained static in the free agency period and the only important moves he made were the contract extensions of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.

Too many losses

Among the casualties that Dallas had during the first three months of the year are running back Tony Pollard, receiver Michael Gallup, tackle Tyron Smith, center Tyler Biadasz, defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr., linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, cornerback Stephon Gilmore and safety Jayron Kearse, among others.

All those absences have created a drain on both sides of the ball, especially on offense.

Zeke didn’t fix anything

To try to replace Pollard, the Cowboys brought back veteran Ezekiel Elliott, who has just 115 yards in the first six games of the season. In fact, the leading rusher in Dallas is Rico Dowdle, with 246 yards.

The Cowboys have the worst rushing offense in the league (77.2 yards per game), have only scored a pair of touchdowns, and one of them is from quarterback Dak Prescott.

Prescott and Lamb have their contract extensions, but they have not been able to get the Dallas offense afloat, in part because they have not been able to be on the same page when they are on the field.

And it is not all Dak’s fault. At least that’s what Troy Aikman thinks, who won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys and said this week that CeeDee Lamb is a “lazy” receiver when it comes to running his routes and that has cost Prescott a pair of interceptions. In losses to Baltimore and Detroit, Dallas has been down by at least three scores and that has forced coach Mike McCarthy to rely on a one-dimensional attack.

Prescott doesn’t have enough weapons and is currently one of the worst quarterbacks in the fourth quarter, with 53.3% effectiveness, four touchdown passes, three interceptions and a 72.8 rating.

The reason is simple: rivals know that sooner or later Dallas will abandon the ground game and so they only have to concentrate on defending the pass.

That could happen again this Sunday night, when the Cowboys visit their nemesis: the San Francisco 49ers, who have won three in a row against Dallas, including a playoff game a couple of years ago.

In those three losses, by the way, Dallas has failed to score more than 17 points.

The recipe for beating the Cowboys is simple: contain their anemic ground attack and put the game on Prescott’s shoulders.

San Francisco has lost a lot of players to injury, most recently receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who is out for the season with an ACL injury.

Despite all those losses, the Niners are favored to beat Jerry Jones’ team, the sole culprit of this catastrophe we all anticipated. All but him.

Pick: 49ers 28-17 Cowboys

Top picks for Week 8

Vikings @ Rams	Minnesota -3
Ravens @ Browns	Baltimore -9.5
Colts @ Texans	Houston -5
Packers @ Jaguars	Over 49.5
Titans @ Lions	Detroit -11
Falcons @ Buccaneers	Tampa Bay +2.5
Jets @ Patriots	Over 40.5
Cardinals @ Dolphins	Under 46.5
Eagles @ Bengals	Cincinnati -2.5
Saints @ Chargers	Los Angeles -7
Bills @ Seahawks	Buffalo -3
Bears @ Commanders	Washington +3
Chiefs @ Raiders	Las Vegas +10
Panthers @ Broncos	Under 42.5
Cowboys @ 49ers	San Francisco -4.5
Giants @ Steelers	Pittsburgh -6.5

Be ready for the 2024 NFL football season with our NFL Betting Guide and follow every NFL football game with our printable NFL schedule; available for download as a spreadsheet, Google Sheet for the entire season or get every week from Week 1 through Week 18 with free picks.