Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn't happy, and frankly, he has no reason to be. He has reason to be disappointed.
He brought in Mike McCarthy to lead his Cowboys to the Super Bowl like he did when he was with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. McCarthy is 74-45 in five-and-a-half seasons with just one playoff win. He's 3-4 this season. That's disappointing.
Jones gave Dak Prescott a four-year, $240 million contract at the beginning of this season. Prescott has been disappointing, to say the least.
Dallas has lost two-straight, which includes a 47-9 blowout at home against the Detroit Lions and then a “Sunday Night Football” loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The only “good win” the Cowboys have came against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their other two wins are against the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants, who have a combined record of 4-12 at this juncture.
“I think we're having a rougher go than I anticipated,” Jones recently said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas (h/t ESPN). He was asked specifically about star right guard Zack Martin and right guard Terence Steele, who have both been struggling, but Jones made his answer a referendum on the team as a whole.
“Let's put it like that. Let's don't couple that with just those two,” he continued. “But having me in the loop has to be there. It is rougher and I did not anticipate the challenges that we're having with this team, but I am reminded of teams that I've seen that have had a lot of success and put themselves in position to take a shot and they were 3-4.”
Prescott is the highest-paid player on the team so any conversation regarding contributors to his “rougher” 3-4 season has to start with him.
Dak Prescott has been disappointing for the Cowboys
The $240 million man has been far from it in 2024 for the Cowboys. Yes, Prescott has thrown for 1,845 yards and 10 touchdowns but he's also thrown eight interceptions. He's thrown two each in Dallas' last three games. Against Detroit, he didn't throw a touchdown, so his touchdown-to-interception ratio in that game was 0-to-2.
Jones paid Prescott to be a Top 10 quarterback in the NFL and really, with that kind of money, he should consistently be within the top five conversation. His contract has more guaranteed money in it than Deshaun Watson, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence and his Average Annual Value (AAV) is highest in the league amongst quarterbacks over Jordan Love, Lawrence, Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa.
The Cowboys have a -8 turnover ratio this season and Prescott is a huge part of that. Only the Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans are worse in that category.
“I have a tough time getting past that turnover [ratio],” Jones said. “I'm telling you when you look at that and knowing what turnovers will do for you, we've had through seven games, we, the Cowboys, have turned the ball over 13 times. The entire year last year we didn't turn it over but 16 times. Thirteen times we turned it over. … It's really a plus that we've won three games.”
Left tackle Tyler Guyton is struggling as a rookie
It's not exactly Tyler Guyton's fault. Doing anything in the NFL is hard for a rookie, but playing left tackle? Outside of being a quarterback or middle linebacker calling the plays, it doesn't get any tougher than that when every pass-rusher is ultimately better than just about anyone you faced in college.
The Cowboys took Guyton with the 29th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma and he's flashed plenty of potential, but any progress he's had has been slow. He's committed nine penalties in seven games, he's allowed four sacks and 17 total pressures on Prescott.
Yes, Prescott's problems are largely his own, but he hasn't been helped out much by his left tackle.
Zack Martin has been uncharacteristically bad at right guard
Is it any surprise that a struggling team has issues on the offensive line? Football is a game that's won or lost in the trenches, and the Cowboys have been losing plenty at the line of scrimmage, lately. Now, let's get this out of the way. Right guard Zack Martin is a legend. He's a nine-time Pro Bowler and seven-time All-Pro. A few bad games doesn't change the legacy he's built in Dallas over 11 season.
That said, he's allowed 16 pressures this season on Prescott, which is just one better than the rookie Guyton. That the 93rd-worst rank in the NFL, which is just not like Martin.
It's a bigger picture thing, but a strong right guard can also play a huge factor in having a good running game. Through seven games, though, the Cowboys are rushing for just 74.1 yards per game, which is dead-last in the NFL. Again, that's not just a Martin problem, but his downtick in quality of play has certainly impacted the Cowboys' rushing game.
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