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IRVING, Texas - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the 28-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers was a sobering indictment of his team. Even though the Cowboys have faint playoff chances, he said his team, with a 4-9 record with three games to go, is not in the category of the Packers or other playoff bound teams.
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More importantly, Jones said the Cowboys are not as good as originally thought and their problems this year go far deeper than the absence of quarterback Tony Romo to injuries.
"I don't have the heart to put us in with those clubs right now, because I don't want to - we've got more work to do than just get Romo healthy," Jones said. "And I'm not just saying that to be magnanimous here for anybody in some way. But we've got a lot of work (to do).
"I want you to know that there are some things that we have to do better for us to have a healthy Romo and have an effective Dez Bryant. There's some things we've got to really address and do better as we look over these last three games and in the future."
The Cowboys have lost nine of their last 10 games.
The Cowboys already are guaranteed their first losing season since going 6-10 in 2010 when Jason Garrett took over for Wade Phillips at the midway point.
This will be Garrett's first losing season as head coach.
It is one small step closer to being the fourth time in five years that he has failed to lead the Cowboys to the playoffs.
Dallas is two games behind the Washington Redskins (6-7) and the Philadelphia Eagles (6-7) with three games to go in the race for the NFC East title. Washington beat Chicago 24-21 and Philadelphia beat Buffalo 23-20 on Sunday. The New York Giants play at Miami Monday night.
The Cowboys still have a slight chance if they win out, depending on some tiebreakers. There is no more margin for error, considering the Redskins and Eagles play each other, guaranteeing at least one will get to seven wins.
Jones won't say his team has no chance but says the hopes are slim.
"As hard as these guys physically work, as hard as they're called on to work, with some promise, some slim promise, I wouldn't dare impact that with any assessment of are we through or not," Jones said. "I just wouldn't do it. I don't have the right to do that."
But Jones knows the chances are slim.
"Very. Very [slim]," Jones said. "I'm not trying to be smirky when I say it, but very slim, but that's not for me to say with these guys that put it out like this."
REPORT CARD VS. THE PACKERS
--PASS OFFENSE: F. Matt Cassel was putrid, completing 13 of 29 passes for 114 yards with an interception and a 41.5 quarterback rating. He was not helped by receiver Dez Bryant, who caught just one pass for 9 yards and had two drops. The interception was tipped off his hands, though it was a high throw.
--RUSHING OFFENSE: B. Numbers wise the Cowboys ran well. Darren McFadden had nine carries for 111 yards, including runs of 50 and 46 yards. Robert Turbin had seven carries for 51 yards. But the Cowboys aren't running it well to score in the red zone and running it well enough to convert on short yardage.
--PASS DEFENSE: C. The Cowboys sacked Aaron Rodgers two times and they held him to 47 yards passing in the second half. But they didn't get enough pressure on the quarterback when it mattered most and they let him scramble for a crucial first down. Greg Hardy and DeMarcus Lawrence had the two sacks.
--RUSH DEFENSE: F. The Cowboys gave up 230 yards on 44 carries. Eddie Lacy had 124 yards on 24 carries. James Starks had 71 yards on 11 carries. Aaron Rodgers had 27 yards on three scrambles. The Cowboys had poor gap control and they didn't tackle well.
--SPECIAL TEAMS: D. Lucky Whitehead was awful on returns against the Packers. He had minus-6 yards on three punt returns. He had one kickoff return for 22 yards. Chris Jones averaged 44.6 yards on seven punts.
--COACHING: D. The Cowboys still can't get points on the board on offense. For the seventh time this season they scored one touchdown or less in a game. They are unable to scheme to get the ball in the hands of their playmakers. They were 1 for 11 on third down.
