Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones 'Surprised,' but Really Shouldn't Be

What exactly does "surprised" mean? Without breaking out a dictionary I’ll just take a shot at defining it.

A surprise is a result, event or outcome that was not expected based on previous perception. How’s that?

Following a completely predictable 31-14 loss to the New York Giants to end the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys are an 8-8 team that appears to be going nowhere in a big hurry.

The funny thing is this: Cowboys owner and self-appointed GM is somehow surprised.

Huh?

I’m not too sure exactly what surprises Jones about this mess. After all, he is the guy who created it. Am I right about that?

It was Jones who brought in a complete noob to be offensive coordinator prior to hiring former head coach Wade Phillips in the winter of 2007. It was Jones who elevated Jason Garrett to the position of head coach while having no idea what he would really bring to the table.

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry.

Yes, I could go on about everything I disagree with about Jones’ decision-making process, but you’ve probably heard that before. I’m not the billionaire whose cup—or ego in this case—is still somehow unfulfilled.

No, Garrett is not head-coaching material—as we saw this year, last year and also in his previous three years as an offensive coordinator. But that fact really misses the greater issue.

Jerry Jones is not a general manager of anything.

You know the highlights over the last decade plus, right?

Remember the Joey Galloway trade? I loved it when it happened but I still knew it was a gamble—and boy was it ever!

The house really won that bet. The career of Troy Aikman was less than a season away from being complete and the first-round picks were all gone for seasons to come.

For example: Dallas could have drafted Drew Brees in the first round in 2001. But because there was no selection in that round, Dallas had to trade up to take the next quarterback, Quincy Carter.

Ouch - but at least Jones did not pay first round money for that piece of work.

So lesson learned, right? Don’t trade first-round picks for veteran wide receivers.

Then comes 2008, less than ten years later, and we get the Roy Williams deal. At this point we know how that one turned out.  

It’s interesting to note that Detroit, a team that spent an entire decade drafting wide receivers in the first round, finally emerged as an up-and-coming team. The Lions, with help from that terrible trade, are in the playoffs for the first time since aviation became a reality.

As for the Cowboys?

Well, you know the record this year. It’s rather ironic that, despite the Williams trade, Dallas still felt compelled to overpay for another receiver named Miles Austin. No, Austin can't catch the ball or stay healthy either.

Then Dallas still drafted yet another receiver, Dez Bryant, in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft.

All of that craziness in less than two years following the Williams acquisition!

And here we sit still looking at an offensive line that is just awful, especially everywhere left of right tackle.

Really bad teams in San Francisco and Detroit, earlier last decade, had absolutely no use for Kyle Kosier. Kosier was a tackle who clearly wasn’t good enough to play the position and essentially had to move to guard.

Problem is he’s lousy there too. Jerry has blown more money on this guy than I may ever see in my whole life…TWICE!

Doug Free at left tackle? As they like to say on ESPN, “C’mon, man!”

Jay Ratliff at nose guard! This never has worked and it never will. Yes, I get that Ratliff made the Pro Bowl based on his sacks at the position, but sacks are not the primary job of a nose guard. You don’t put a potentially devastating pass rusher in the path of most resistance. Ratliff is an end, period.

If you’re going to run a 3-4 defense, then build it right. Jones has had years to figure out how to complete the project once started by Bill Parcells, but he has not done it—still.  

Despite all of these issues, two things frighten me more than the thought of the sun exploding tomorrow.

First off, Jones is not surprised by Sunday night’s outcome in New York. It’s not like his team actually beat the Giants three weeks before at the Roman Coliseum, is it?

Second, thanks to his ego, Jones still voices continued confidence in Garrett, who’s done little more than make the team wear suits on airplanes.

Am I playing “Monday morning quarterback”? Hell yes I am!  Problem is I’ve been doing this for about five years now and I truly can’t understand how Jones cannot do the same. Retrospect is a good thing. It's a major tool for learning.

But is it possible for a very rich man who recently referred to Jimmy Johnson and Parcells as “walk-around coaches.”

Those two former head coaches have four Super Bowl wins between them in five trips combined.

Jones has zero—and he is still chasing!