The Cowboys got the result they needed on Sunday, but Jerry Jones still found a way to turn a win into a headache.
Dallas beat the Washington Commanders 37-20, pulling away in the second half after a game that carried plenty of weight coming off an underwhelming opener. An 0-2 start would have left the season in a tough spot before September even ended, so the victory mattered. But the postgame mood shifted fast once Jones started talking about the defense.
Jones told the media after the game that " we're better than we've been the last two years on defense." That came before the Cowboys had even gotten to the locker room, and it instantly became the kind of comment that hangs over a win instead of celebrating it.
The issue is simple: Dallas’ defense did not look like a unit ready for praise. Christian Parker’s group was shaky again, and there was little in Sunday’s performance that suggested it had suddenly arrived.
Jones had already taken a similar tone on Friday during a 105.3 The Fan appearance, when he said, "The improvement from where we played on Sunday [on defense] will be there. I’ll go on record saying that."
That confidence is vintage Jones. The problem is that Cowboys fans have not seen enough to share it.
Washington had Dallas on its heels before Jayden Daniels’ elbow injury right before halftime. The Commanders were just yards from tying the game at 17-17 and were set to get the second-half kickoff. If Daniels’ foot had never been stepped on and Washington had converted on 3rd-and-1, or if Dan Quinn had chosen to kick a field goal, the game could have looked a lot different.
Before leaving, Daniels was efficient and explosive. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, and he also hurt Dallas on the ground, rushing seven times for 69 yards and averaging 9.9 yards per carry. Whether the Cowboys played man or zone, he found ways to make them pay.
Dallas gave him space, let the routes develop, and then watched him take off once the secondary turned its attention elsewhere. All Daniels needed after that was a single miss from the defense.
And the problems did not disappear after Daniels exited.
Marcus Mariota stepped in and kept Washington moving. He went 9-of-11 for 111 yards and a touchdown, finishing with an 84.3 QBR.
If not for a missed field goal, the Commanders would have scored on three of their first four possessions with Mariota at quarterback. Even then, the game was still only a 10-point contest at the start of the fourth quarter.
There is enough talent on this defense to believe better days could come. Christian Parker should improve with time, too. But none of that has happened yet, and the Cowboys have not earned the benefit of the doubt.
That is why Jones’ remarks landed so poorly. Dallas won an important game, but the defense did not produce the kind of performance that calls for a victory lap.
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