The Dallas Cowboys won 12 games during the 2023 NFL season; in 2024, the most they can win is 10, and even that number is considered unlikely.

Amid injuries to key players like Micah Parsons and Dak Prescott (the latter out for the season), autopsies on the 2024 Dallas Cowboys have begun already, as few expect a 5-7 team to rally over the season’s final few weeks and sneak back into the playoff picture. As questions swirl over his future plans for the team — notably, the future of head coach Mike McCarthy — Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has delivered his own analysis as to how a year that started with Super Bowl hype came crashing down around him.

Playoff loss to Packers lives on

Back in January, the Cowboys — freshly crowned as the NFC East champs — were favored to win a home playoff game on Wild Card Weekend against the Green Bay Packers. Dallas had not lost at AT&T Stadium all season, and Green Bay entered the game with inexperienced quarterback Jordan Love as its starter. Many predicted an easy Cowboys win and safe passage to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.

But as has been the case in Dallas for many years, the Cowboys disappointed their fans and played below expectation. Green Bay‘s balanced offensive attack saw the Packers build a huge lead early while Prescott struggled, throwing two interceptions. The Packers won, 48-32; the Cowboys have only one home win in the 11 months since that game.

“There’s no question that you can carry over good play from one season to the next,” Jones said during his weekly appearance on local radio station 105.3 The Fan. “Potentially we even did that, we carried over not-so-good play against Green Bay that we had in our last game in the playoffs last year. I think it’s naive to think that you don’t have carryover.”

In essence, the Cowboys need a miracle in order to crash the NFC playoff field; Dallas, without Prescott for the remainder of the season, sits 2.5 games behind the Washington Commanders for the final wild card berth. However, Jones does not believe his team will give up. The 82-year-old is doing his part to rally the troops under McCarthy — whose status following the season remains up in the air amid speculation that he could sign a contract extension instead of departing when his deal expires in January.