The Cowboys’ latest season of high expectations began with a thud on Sunday night, when Dallas lost to the Giants in the regular-season opener. In an appearance Friday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones acknowledged the outcome had something to do with the opponent. “They just did a good job everywhere,” Jones said of the Giants. “And I’ll tell you, they were better than we thought. I’m looking forward to seeing how New York continues to play, but really… a combination of things. We didn’t play as well as we should and can play, but they played better than I thought.” Was it also a product of the Cowboys not being as good as Jones had thought they would be? “Of course,” Jones said. “Well, and to say it like that, I prefer to say it in a more positive way. We are not at the level we thought we would be. “I can give you many reasons, logical reasons. We’re dealing with a conceptually new coaching staff, dealing with something “new” to a lot of people. The defensive scheme. And then you’re dealing with people who just got into that plan. Now you have some really veteran players. But still, they are changing some of the things they are doing. Are they capable of doing what we ask of them? They absolutely are. “But the bottom line is that the last time, frankly, the last time that, from my perspective, we had so many changes on defense, we had so many changes with the coaching staff, we had so many changes with the personnel and we had so many changes with the team was the first year that Jimmy Johnson was our coach, and we won a football game. Now, things have changed, and you can come in with less experience than you could in those days. But with that being said, now it’s a challenge to put it together and get it ready to go. We didn’t play well last week. I said, What I wanted to say is that New York really had more to do with it than I thought. And that’s a factor. But Washington could also have a lot to do with it here on Sunday, so we have to be prepared to raise the level of play. It’s a sensible explanation. But it goes against the vibe that had been created before the season, when season tickets were renewed and excitement was generated and fans were persuaded that things would be different this year. What should the real expectations be? With Jerry suggesting the Cowboys underwent an overhaul they haven’t experienced since the year Jones bought the team, perhaps they should be much lower than they were a week ago.
