Sportsnaut
Dallas Cowboys fans are up in arms over Jerry Jones’ recent comments to The Wall Street Journal — and none more than ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
With the Cowboys floundering at 3-4-1 and their defense in shambles, Jones was more concerned about a natural gas investment than his struggling team.
“There’s $100 billion present value with gas out there,” the Cowboys owner told the outlet. “That’s why I’m talking to you on the telephone rather than trying to fix our defense with the Dallas Cowboys.”
That comment did not sit well with Cowboys Nation, and Smith ripped into Jones on ESPN’s “First Take” on Friday morning.
“What kind of ignorant a** statement is that? You can’t do that,” Smith said. “If the Dallas Cowboys miss the playoffs because they make no move to improve a defense that was clearly compromised once Micah Parsons was let go, they’re going to hold onto that quote, Jerry. Did you have to say that to The Wall Street Journal? You couldn’t have kept that to yourself?”
The defensive struggles stem from Jones’ decision to trade Parsons to the Green Bay Packers a week before the regular season over a contract dispute. Without the All-Pro edge rusher, the Cowboys defense has collapsed. They rank 31st in both total yards allowed (404.6) and points allowed (31.3) per game while managing just 10 sacks through eight games.
Meanwhile, Parsons has thrived in Green Bay with 6.5 sacks, six tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hits. He was named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Month for October.
The contrast is staggering. If the Cowboys had even an average defense, they would be one of the league’s top teams thanks to their high-powered offense led by MVP candidate Dak Prescott. The quarterback has completed 70.3% of his passes for 2,069 yards and 16 touchdowns against five interceptions while leading the NFL in QBR at 79.5.
“But in the middle of the season where you have one of the most prolific offenses around, if not the most prolific offense around, and everybody and their grandmama knows that your defense is what’s trash which is why you’re called the ‘Allas’ Cowboys instead of the Dallas Cowboys because you got to take the ‘D’ out of it,” Smith quipped.
The Cowboys will look to get back on track against the Arizona Cardinals at home Monday night as 2.5-point favorites.
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