Jerry Jones Says Cowboys 'Are Not' Among NFL's Top Teams After Loss to Jets

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Sunday the team is not among the NFL's elite following a 24-22 Week 6 loss to the previously winless New York Jets.

"Now, ultimately, if you're one of the really top teams, which we're not, we are not... I hope that someday this season we could be one of the top teams. We certainly were not tonight," Jones told reporters. "I hope that we can do better than just win our division, although I'll take that right now in this circumstance. But I hope that we can get out there and get a little special positioning in the playoffs."

The Cowboys, who started the 2019 season 3-0, dropped to 3-3 after Sunday's surprising defeat.

Jones noted the most important thing is chasing down an NFC East division title: "I think it's all about where you end up in your division. I think the competition against each other and the competition within the division, I think that's where it all is."

"This was a big game for us. Every one in your division is big, but this was a big game," he added. "We could've been 4-2 and it didn't have anything to do with... I don't care if they're 5-0 and 1-4. We suffered another loss because of it. It's a bloody nose to us."

Dallas came flying out of the gate thanks to a favorable schedule. It scored victories over the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins by a combined 53 points.

Losses to the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers didn't come as a shock, but falling short against the Jets isn't the result of a top-end team, even when taking the return of Jets quarterback Sam Darnold into consideration.

It hasn't been a single problem that has plagued the Cowboys during the losing skid. Turnovers were the biggest problem for a few weeks, with six between the Saints and Packers games, but they won the turnover battle 1-0 against the Jets and still fell short.

Quarterback Dak Prescott attributed the losing streak to sluggish starts. The Cowboys have trailed at halftime of all three losses.

"We're putting ourselves behind," he said. "We're putting our defense in a tough spot. We're not playing complementary football. It's simple as that. We've got to start faster. We've got to get points. We've got to get touchdowns and allow our defense to play from up. As long we have these slow starts, we're going to struggle."

On the bright side for Dallas, it remains tied with the Philadelphia Eagles atop the NFC East at 3-3 and gets a chance to take sole position of first place next Sunday when they welcome the Eagles to AT&T Stadium.