Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, took the blame on Sunday for his team missing the NFL playoffs for the second consecutive season and extending their Super Bowl drought to three decades.

After the 34-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in the In Week 16, the team's top executive broke his silence and publicly acknowledged his responsibility in one of the most critical moments in the franchise's recent history.

Jerry Jones identifies himself as the main culprit

“I know exactly who is ultimately responsible. I got involved not just to be the owner and invest. I got involved to spend my life trying to figure out how to beat the rest of the NFL teams. I take this very seriously; the so-called 30-year drought needs to be thoroughly analyzed and several things need to change,” the executive stated at the end of the game.

Through Week 16, the Cowboys have six wins, seven losses, and one tie, a record that leaves them without playoff contention for the second consecutive year, a result that once again puts pressure on the team's structure.

Coaching change without results in Dallas

The elimination is even more painful for the organization, as it came despite the coaching change. for this season. At the end of 2024, which concluded with a 7-10 record, Jones fired Mike McCarthy, who was replaced by Brian Schottenheimer.

Two weeks before the end of the season, the new manager also failed to achieve the goal of returning Dallas to an NFC Championship Game, prolonging the drought that has plagued the Cowboys since the 1990s.

A performance far below expectations

“This season, without a doubt, we didn't perform well enough. We all fell short of expectations;one of the biggest problems

The Cowboys' owner specifically referred to the work done by Matt Eberflus, the defensive coordinator, whose defense has allowed the second-to-last fewest points.

“Without a doubt, it's something we have to evaluate. We have to see what our options are and how to correct what didn't work so we're not in the same situation next year. We're going to evaluate the entire coaching staff, but given our defensive statistics, this is part of the issue we need to address,” he pointed out.

Schottenheimer accepts reality

Brian Schottenheimer shared the front office's sentiment and acknowledged the team's on-field failure.

“We're judged by winning and losing, and this year we haven't won enough games,” the coach admitted.

The Cowboys will close out the regular season with two road games. In Week 17 they will face the Washington Commanders, and in Week 18 they will play against the New York Giants, both teams already eliminated from playoff contention. These games will serve as a final evaluation before a new restructuring process in Dallas.