The frustration was written all over Jerry Jones' face—and his lips. As the Arizona Cardinals' game-winning field goal sailed through the uprights in overtime on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys owner let out a single, unmistakable word: "S—!" A lip reader has confirmed exactly what Jones screamed, and it's safe to say he wasn't thrilled.
The Cowboys entered the game as heavy favorites, leading by multiple scores heading into the fourth quarter. But a stunning collapse allowed the Cardinals to force overtime and eventually steal a victory on their home turf. The loss was a gut punch for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, and Jones didn't hide his disgust.
Despite the anger, Jones is not looking to make any coaching changes. "Well, I will say that a lot of people let Brian down today," he said, referring to head coach Brian Schottenheimer. "So for whatever criticism we want to have with Brian, we can all get in line. And that was a total team loss to use a cliche."
Jones emphasized that the blame falls on everyone—players, coaches, and himself. "That was a total team effort out there for us," he added. "And we have to be better for our fans, have to be better than that when we got our hands on the win and then drop the ball."
The owner also shot down any speculation about an in-season coaching change, recalling his past decision to part ways with Wade Phillips midseason. "I made a change and I don't want to mention it because I'm not proud of it," Jones said. "But I made a change with Wade Phillips there in the middle of the season, and I don't see that here."
So where does Dallas go from here? Jones acknowledged the challenge ahead. "Well, everybody—you certainly show up because that's what you're supposed to do. You show up, you evaluate, and you step forward. And this obviously creates quite a challenge. Everybody knows that when you've been hit on the nose, or you've been knocked down."
He continued, "Those are difficult times to overcome. This will be very difficult for each individual player and coaches, me, everybody involved. It just really is glaring in a negative way how we could be where we were and end up losing that ball game, and we had a great chance right at the end to win the game, and had all of the had everybody out there that can win games for us, and of course didn't get it done."
Jones described the loss as "an indictment of the whole show," noting that the team simply didn't play well enough after having the lead and opportunities. "So it was a couple of games within the game really that was also telling, and we just did not play well enough at all to win that ball game," he said.
The Cowboys now face a critical stretch, and questions about Schottenheimer's job security will linger. But Jones remains steadfast in his support, at least for now. The team must regroup quickly as they look to bounce back from a devastating defeat that has left fans and analysts alike wondering what went wrong.
