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Perhaps the last place Jerry Jones would want his Dallas Cowboys returning from their bye is San Francisco.
The Cowboys sit at 3-3 but coming off their break things feel a little worse – as is the case for ‘America’s Team’ it tends to be feast or famine.
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Jones has not been shy to share his thoughts this seasonCredit: GettyThe Sunday Night Football cameras will be at Levi’s Stadium as an injury-hit 49ers play host to the Cowboys and neither team have a winning record – a far cry from the NFC Championship rivalry games of the 1990s.
The teams won eight of their 10 Super Bowls in the 80s and 90s, but both teams Lombardi trophy will be 30 years or more when this season’s champion is crowned in New Orleans.
The Cowboys last win was in 1995, while the 49ers came one year earlier in 1994.
READ MORE NFLWhile the title drought for both goes on, the 49ers have been serious contenders with two trips to the Super Bowl as NFC champions in the last five seasons, and two more appearance’s in the Conference Championship.
The Cowboys have not been back in the Championship round since 1995.
Both teams, beat up, banged up and beaten more than they’ve won this season, but for the Cowboys it seems to have been once disaster after another.
“The NFL is simple, if you can’t run the ball or you can’t stop the run, youâre not a physical team,” former Cowboy Jason Bell told talkSPORT.
“And if you’re not a physical team you can get exposed and it seems to be that that’s their problem.Â
“All the attention obviously is gonna go to Dak Prescott, CeeDeee lamb because again they got the money. But when it comes down to the basics, can’t stop the run, can’t run the ball, youâre not gonna win games.”
Last time out for the Cowboys it was a chance to prove that their 3-2 record was legitimate with a heavyweight clash at home against the Detroit Lions – perhaps the new ‘America’s Team’
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Jones has not seen the Cowboys feature in a Championship game since 1995Credit: GettyBy Monday morning, any potential hope was burnt to a crisp as the Cowboys took pride of place as the nationâs mockery, the Lions departing Texas with a monstrous 47-9 demolition of âAmericaâs Teamâ.
As if that wasnât bad enough, Jones took to local radio to defend himself and discuss the situation around the team.
Except he ended up doing neither of those things, instead embarking on a bizarre rant that included threatening the radio hostâs job –
âThat’s not your job or I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions, men. No, no. I’m not kidding,” he said on 105.3 The Fan.
Then trade season kicked in last Tuesday when two star wide receivers made big moves, neither to Dallas.
The first saw Davante Adams traded from the Oakland Raiders to the New York Jets – to no oneâs surprise – before Amari Cooper left Cleveland for the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills needed offensive help and they parted with a third round pick and a seventh to get the 30-year-old and a sixth round selection.
This is already the third time Cooper has been traded in his career. In the summer of 2022, he was on the move again – this time leaving Dallas for Cleveland.
On that occasion, it took a fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick swap to acquire a younger and more explosive version of Amari Cooper.
Some will point to the Bills current desperation for firepower as a reason for the Browns relative haul but any comparison shows it to be poor business for the Cowboys and Jones.
While contenders are upgrading, the Cowboys are floundering.
The running back room was an issue in the summer and the addition of Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliot – thrilling five seasons ago, downright turgid now – has not worked.
Jones hardly endeared himself to the Cowboys fans with the admission this week that Derrick Henry – running riot for the Baltimore Ravens this season – ‘didn’t fit’ for the Cowboys.
In full context Jones’ comments were not without reason, but 935 all purpose yards and 10 touchdowns suggests The King would fit anywhere.
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CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott have yet to hit the heights this seasonCredit: GettyAt receiver, the Cowboys went all in on Ceedee Lamb but a slow start has underlined a lack of depth and Lions safety kept it simple when discussing the Lions dissection of the Cowboys
âThe game plan was really just take (Ceedee Lamb) away. We know he (Lamb) is a play maker. Once we take him out of the game, we wasnât really worried about anyone else,â he told the St.Brown brothers podcast.
Despite new contracts for Dak Prescott and Lamb – both took until the last moments before they were announced – it felt like an offseason of standing still for the Cowboys, who also have head coach Mike McCarthy in the final year of his deal.
The lack of action that has seen the Cowboys make little progress on the group that lost to the Packers in the Wild Card Round.
Shannon Sharpe & Stephen A Smith take down Jerry Jones after Dallas Cowboys owner makes BOLD Derrick Henry claim
Ultimately, results define the story and Cowboys fans are losing patience in the Jones family following a Super Bowl drought that looks like going beyond 30 years.Â
“It’s tough in Dallas because you got a lot of attention. So when you have a lot of attention you gotta win,” Bell added.
“Jerry Jones got upset with reporters in the media. Former players are talking about it feeling like a zoo with people coming through watching them work out and you only hear these stories when you’re losing.
“It’s the nature of the NFL.”
Jones will continue to call the shots, itâs still his team but it’s been a dark week in recent Cowboys memory.
It the Cowboys want a silver lining, they are on the road. All three of their wins this season have been away from AT&T Stadium where the Cowboys have lost each of their last four games.
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