In what should surprise absolutely no one, Jerry Jones stands by his stance. Facing the prospect of a season in which everything would fail, the Cowboys owner spent Tuesday turning around both Ezekiel Elliott's season – despite career-low numbers through nine games – and his refusal to do anything about the dazzling Sun taking action that marred games in his multi-billion dollar stadium…I even go so far as to call it a “home field advantage.” (CeeDee Lamb would disagree.) We'll also share the insightful perspective of former Dallas offensive coordinator and current Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
Meanwhile, Dak Prescott's season is officially over, his new contract suddenly looks like a massive tactical mistake as the team's championship window may have closed, and we look at the predictions for where two more Cowboys stars will end up in 2025 could. We wrap up our coverage and analysis of Sunday's devastating loss with a look at who shined and who didn't, as well as the key skill a highly touted rookie must learn…quickly. All that and good news for America's Sweethearts: The flailing Cowboys could be relegated to the bottom of TV time slots, and Deion Sanders is considering trading the Colorado mountain views for an office at The Star.
Prescott's medical consultation this week ended with him doing what most expected from the start. The quarterback is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair his partially torn hamstring. As a result, the Cowboys will place Prescott on injured reserve and officially end his 2024 season. The veteran will reportedly continue to be involved in game planning in the coming weeks.
Of everything that went wrong in 2024 — and the list is long — Prescott's monster contract suddenly feels like it was a huge mistake. If this were still the final year of the QB's contract, the team might now be looking at Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Miami's Cam Ward or Texas' Quinn Ewers in a completely different light. If the team wanted to take advantage of Prescott and CeeDee Lamb's new contracts, this year was their best chance. They can still draft a top prospect in the spring, but it won't be a franchise-changing quarterback. The Cowboys made their very expensive bed; Now they have to lie there for the foreseeable future.
Zack Martin is a mainstay in the Cowboys' offense and remains one of the best guards in football even in a down year. If the surefire Hall of Famer becomes a free agent after this season and wants to keep playing, he will have suitors. The Chargers might be interested, but the Bears would certainly like to have him help protect young quarterback Caleb Williams as he continues his development.
There's a real chance DeMarcus Lawrence doesn't return to Dallas in 2025 either. If he leaves in free agency, he is also expected to attract significant interest. While he could be an interesting backup for Lions defenseman Aidan Hutchinson in Detroit, one can certainly imagine Dan Quinn making a move to bring his former pass-rushing star to Washington.
As always, the Cowboys owner sticks to his guns. Although Jones suggested he was “not living in the past,” he told a radio audience that he still sees positives from Elliott on the field. The two-time rushing champion is having the worst statistical season of his career and is said to have been a distraction in the facility this year, even being benched in Week 9.
Jones now uses AT&T Stadium's blinding sunlight as a home-field advantage, as if it were the same as Green Bay's bitter winter weather, Pittsburgh's famously swirling south end zone, or Seattle's cacophonous fans. “That’s our advantage,” he said. “That should be our advantage. We can play there more and use it as an advantage. It was an advantage for us to know where the sun was. I don't want to change that.” Jones emphasized the indoor stadium's intentional outdoor atmosphere, even though the roof has been left open for less than 25% of all Cowboys games played there since the venue opened.
Moore told reporters he was aware of the solar issues at AT&T Stadium going into Sunday's game, going back to his time as the Cowboys' offensive coordinator and even as the team's backup quarterback. “You just have to decide the plays based on that,” Moore said, “Sometimes it can be a little challenging knowing certain parts of the field.”
Caelen Carson has struggled, especially since returning from injury. On Sunday he had at least two opportunities to easily intercept the ball. Inferior passes would have been possible if the rookie had just turned his head to find the ball. He needs to improve his ball-tracking skills to become the draft-day steal most observers thought he would be when he was selected in the fifth round.
The Cowboys' poor season could lead to them being left out of several key windows toward the end of the regular season. While the Monday night date with the Bengals in Week 14 is getting a high-tech alternate broadcast that will likely keep it on the roster out of necessity, the Sunday night date against the Buccaneers in Week 16 appears ripe for a postponement. The same goes for the return game against the Eagles the following Sunday, which apparently will no longer have the playoff impact that the networks were hoping for when they scheduled kickoff for late afternoon.
With the 2024 season getting further out of reach, the Cowboys could find themselves holding back some stars to give younger players and practice squad members a longer look at the future. Dalvin Cook still has matchday promotion ahead of him; Wideout Jalen Cropper, defensive back Josh Butler, linebacker Darius Harris and tight end Princeton Fant have two. DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland, Chuma Edoga and Brandin Cooks are all waiting for their 21-day practice windows to open.
The Cowboys are already looking ahead to next year. This also applies to the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, but for a completely different reason. Netflix has given the green light to a second season of its unscripted series America's Favorite: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. The first season premiered in June and achieved solid ratings. The second season will follow the squad through the 2024-25 season, starting with auditions.
Deion Sanders is a popular name in circles of Cowboys fans and observers who believe Mike McCarthy will not return in 2025. But during a virtual TV interview, Coach Prime answered Michael Irvin's question about the Cowboys job by giving his perspective on the Colorado Buffaloes' home stadium is in the middle of the mountains and said, “I love where I am.”
