The Cowboys’ highly anticipated latest season started with a bang Sunday night when Dallas lost to the Giants in the regular season opener.
In an appearance Friday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones acknowledged the score had something to do with the opponent.
“They just did a good job all around,” Jones said of the Giants. “And I will tell you, they were better than we thought they were. I’m anxious to see how New York continues to play, but I really — combination of things. We didn’t play as well as we should have and we can play, but they played better than I thought they could.”
Was it also a product of the Cowboys not being as good as Jones thought they would be?
“Sure,” Jones said. “Well, and to put it this way, I’d rather put it more positively. We’re not at the level we thought we would be.
“I can give you a lot of reasons, logical reasons. We’re dealing with a conceptually new coaching staff, we’re dealing with a ‘new’ to a lot of people there. Defensive scheme. And then you’re dealing with people who are fresh in that scheme. Now, you’ve got some really veteran players there. But still, they’re changing what they’re doing some of the things? Absolutely they are.
“But the bottom line is that the last time, honestly, the last time, from my perspective, we had this many changes on defense, we had this many changes with the coaching staff, we had this many changes with personnel and we had this many changes with the team was the first year that Jimmy Johnson was our coach and we won a football game.
“Now, things have changed and you can come in with less experience than you could in those days. But, having said that, it’s a challenge now to put it together and get it ready to go. We didn’t play well last week. I said — what I meant was that New York really had more to do with it than I thought they would. Than I thought they would. And so that could be a factor with Washington. ready to raise the level of game. No doubt.
It’s a reasonable explanation. But that flies in the face of the pre-season atmosphere, when season tickets were being renewed and hype was building and fans were convinced things would be different this year.
What should realistic expectations be? With Jerry suggesting the Cowboys underwent an overhaul they haven’t experienced since Jones bought the team, they should probably be much lower than they were a week ago.
