Jerry Jones had nothing to celebrate on his 82nd birthday. The Cowboys were humiliated 47-9 to a team coached by one of his former players, Dan Campbell.
It was the worst home loss for the Cowboys since 1988, the year before Jones purchased the team, and it tied for the biggest margin of loss in Jones’ tenure. The Cowboys also lost by 38 at Green Bay in 2010 and at Philadelphia in 2008.
“I regret that for our fans; I regret it for everybody that is a part of the Dallas Cowboys, or have been a part of the Cowboys, and it puts a lot of resolve [on us],” Jones said. “But the key thing to think about right here is we’re six games into this thing. We’re 3-3. We’ve had times when we haven’t liked where we were, when we were in the early part of the season. We don’t like where we are right now. There’s a lot of work to do. Got a lot of improvement.”
The Cowboys have lost four home games in a row, with their last victory at AT&T Stadium coming against the Lions, 20-19, on Dec. 30. They lost to the 49ers in the playoffs, the only home team to lose in the wild card round that ended a 16-game home winning streak, and they have home losses to the Saints, Ravens and Lions this year.
Worse still, the Cowboys have given up 167 points in the past four home games, the third-most for a home team in NFL history, per ESPN Research.
“We all know you should feel better at home,” Jones said. “I think that is an advantage. You don’t travel; sleep in your own bed. It should be an advantage at home, and that’s one of the first things you look at: OK, how come we’re not playing better when we’ve got the advantage against the other team? We get to wake up the morning in familiar territory. That’s stuff to think about. Generally speaking, I think my message is, I know you don’t need to hear me say this, but I’m well aware that we’re in the proverbial shit [hole] right now.”
After the Cowboys’ off week, they travel to San Francisco and Atlanta before returning home Nov. 10 to play the Eagles. The Cowboys are 3-0 on the road this year.
The Cowboys will not have a new head coach when they return for Week 8 as Jones said he was not considering a coaching change.