Jerry Jones Insists He Wouldn't 'Trade' Dallas' Playoff Position Toward Super Bowl
And this is why, years ago, our Mike Fisher created an appropriately funny nickname for the ever-positive, ever-buoyant, ever-optimistic Dallas Cowboys owner.
That nickname? "Jerry Poppins.''
Yes, Mr. Jones has a way of making the medicine go down with a spoonful of sugar, as he's doing now in summation of where the Cowboys now stand.
"I wouldn't trade our position,'' Jones said this week, "for a better one today.''
Whoa. That's a mouthful. The 10-5 Cowboys, as good as they are, are slated to finish second in the NFC East and slated to land the No. 5 slot in the playoffs as a Wild Card largely because of their 3-5 record on the road.
And "Jerry Poppins'' wouldn't "trade'' that for, say, the No. 1 seed? A division title? A less embarrassing road record?
"It has everything to do with how healthy we are in key spots," Jones said in a recent interview on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "As far as preparing this team to go win a football game, we're in as good a shape as we've been in many years, for this team to go on a good-game run and win this thing.''
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (left) and owner Jerry Jones (right).
Clutchpoints
"This thing'' is the Super Bowl, and in fairness, Jones also said Dallas has "some things we need to clean up.''
The run defense is among the things that the Cowboys certainly have on the to-do list for improvement. As shown in the 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago, the best way to attack the Cowboys' defense is via the ground game. The Bills took the ball out of the hands of their star quarterback Josh Allen, asking him to throw it just 15 times, and instead ran it 49 times to the tune of 266 yards.
Although after the Cowboys' run defense bounced back on Sunday in a 22-20 loss, holding the Dolphins to just 91 yards on 26 attempts, many might argue that their inability to play well on the road is of greater concern. With how things stand in the playoff picture, the Cowboys will not be winners of the NFC East, meaning they won't earn the right to host a home game in the postseason.
However, to Jones's point, if the Cowboys find the formula to improve in at least one of these areas, their relatively healthy roster does bode well for them.
Neither of the two injuries currently hurting the Cowboys the most, nose tackle Johnathan Hankins and left tackle Tyron Smith, is believed to be long-term. The latest update per coach Mike McCarthy indicates a "chance" that both return from the injured list as soon as Saturday to face the Detroit Lions.
So health can end up being a foundational positive. So can talent and coaching and other winning factors. But are the Cowboys so powerful in those categories that it's a non-"tradeable'' thing to be the No. 5 seed?
"Jerry Poppins'' says it is so.
