Getty Dallas Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones and head coach Mike McCarthy.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones is satisfied with the Week 16, 56-14 curb-stomping of Washington and its clinching of the NFC East division.
But he insists Dallas (11-4) will not check out of its two remaining regular-season games, as the organization is aiming higher than its current No. 2 seed in the NFC postseason picture.
“It was one of the top of the goals in terms of what we needed to accomplish this year, and that was the first box you check,” Jones said during a December 27 radio interview on 105.3 The Fan. “It’s hard to win in this league … obviously we went out and took care of business. I think it shows you where this team’s head is in terms of what we want to accomplish this year. The NFC East is great, but we know we got to finish strong. Certainly, if we finish strong, we’re going to give ourselves an opportunity to climb in the seeding business, if you will. If things were to fall right, you never know — you could get a first-round bye.”
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Jones Discusses Week 17 Matchup vs. Arizona
Fresh off its record-shattering victory, the Cowboys will remain in the friendly confines of AT&T Stadium to battle the 10-5 and currently fifth-seeded Cardinals, losers of three straight — including a 22-16 home defeat to the Indianapolis Colts on Christmas Night.
Dallas, meanwhile, has won four straight and appears to be getting better as its roster grows healthier. The hottest defense in football has a difficult task ahead, combating dual-threat Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, and Jones expects a dogfight.
“We have an obviously very talented Arizona Cardinals team coming in who’s hit a few bumps in the last couple of games, but they were basically playing at the highest level in the NFL for the first half to three-quarters of the season. We’ll have our work cut out for us. They need this win, we certainly need it as well. It’ll be almost like playoff football,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan.
“We’re motivated to continue to peak at the right time to get our ducks in a row, and here we come.”
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Dak Upholding Dallas’ Resolve
Busting out of his slump with aplomb, throwing for 330 yards and four touchdowns, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott received his ceremonial hat and T-shirt upon throttling Washington, customary rewards for capturing the division crown — the franchise’s first since 2018.
But the year to shoot for is 1995, the last time Dallas hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. As such, no different than Jones, the $160 million field general warned against resting laurels in the new attire.
“We’re not going to hang our hats on this game,” Prescott said in his postgame press conference, via the official team website. “We’re going to learn from the mistakes. We’re going to take from the good and we’re going to continue to go in the right direction and make sure we get better from this.”