Jerry Jones on 1st-Place Dallas Cowboys: No 'Bully Blueprint!'
Despite his team being gashed for 268 rushing yards in last Sunday's beatdown in Buffalo, on Tuesday morning Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was still in the "Christmas Spirit." Why?
1. He maintains there is no "bully blueprint" to consistently defeat his team.
2. Thanks to a dramatic Philadelphia Eagles loss on Monday Night Football, the Cowboys remain in first place in the NFC East with three games remaining.
"It was marvelous!" Jones said of the Seattle Seahawks' late comeback during his weekly radio show on 105.3 The Fan. "I watched every bit of it. I thought I was about to doze off, but then when (Seattle) made those two exciting plays I couldn’t sleep until four in the morning because of the impact it can have in our year."
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Despite having already clinched a spot in the playoffs, the Cowboys' lead atop the division is tenuous: Considering they play Christmas Eve at 10-4 Miami, while the Eagles finish against the 5-9 Giants (twice) and 3-11 Cardinals. And considering their four losses have run along a similar thread: surrendering rushing totals of 222 (Cardinals), 251 (49ers), 183 (Eagles) and 268 (Bills).
Jones, however, pushed back on the notion that his "soft" team has been exposed.
"We've played a lot of games where we weren't bullied," he said.
Nonetheless, he does expect the final three opponents - Dolphins, Lions and Commanders - to attempt to run the ball down Dallas' throat.
"We're going to need players like Mazi (Smith) to step up," Jones said, "because, boy, teams are going come after us in the run."
Despite the alarming rushing totals and the fact that the Cowboys have an NFL-record point differential of +171 at home and -4 on the road, Jones believes the Buffalo blowout was more outlier than omen.
"We didn't finish, period," he said. "Plays, tackles, series ... anything. When that happens you're going to lay an egg. The good news is that this is correctable week to week. We can specifically address what got us beat last Sunday and take it into next Sunday. I'll say emphatically that we can reverse this thing from what we saw in Buffalo."
