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The Dallas Cowboys received sharp criticism from their former star quarterback Troy Aikman, who compared the team to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars after they were bounced out of the NFL playoffs in the wild card round.
Media across Texas chastised the Cowboys after they lost their wild card game this past Sunday, falling to the San Fransisco 49ers 23-17. The game marked Dallas' third playoff loss in six seasons, and the first under second-year head coach Mike McCarthy.
Many fans also reacted in shock to the unexpected loss, given that the Cowboys were coming off of a 12-5 season, and were facing a 10-7 49ers team that was considered inferior.
Aikman, currently an NFL correspondent for Fox Sports, appeared on the local Dallas radio show The Musers on Thursday. He was asked about the current state of his former team, with whom he spent his entire career before retiring in 2000.
Blame was placed on a variety of areas after the clock ran out, and Aikman echoed similar sentiments when speaking about the problems with the Cowboys.
"The Cowboys looked unprepared and undisciplined. Is that more on the players or the coaches?" Aikman was asked on The Musers.
"I think it's both. I think, you know, the head coach is obviously, that is where the buck stops so to speak. The coach is held accountable for everything, but I think the players also are responsible for that," Aikman replied. "Those are difficult conversations because unless you're in the building, you don't know exactly what's tolerated and what's allowed."
Aikman continued by grading McCarthy's performance, stating that, despite the good season, the wild card loss would hang over him.
"As far as grading Mike, I think most people would probably say it's a C just because you come into the season and it's really what you're going to do in the postseason," Aikman stated. "If you get into the postseason and you don't win a game, for this organization ... it doesn't really matter what you do in the regular season."
"At the podium he's bad, game management he's bad, building coach staffs, not great," Aikman also said of McCarthy.
Given the team's playoff losses, Aikman then compared the Cowboys to another team that has been the scorn of its fans recently: the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jaguars ended their year with a 3-14 record, even after firing their coach following a 2-11 start to the season. The team's support was so dire at one point, fans decided to dress up as clowns during the Jaguars' final home game to mock the team's ownership.
"If you don't do anything in the postseason, then you're really at the end of the day, no different than the Jacksonville Jaguars or the New York Jets that didn't get in [to the playoffs]," Aikman argued.
"Fairly or unfairly, this is a team that, I don't know if they've won three or four playoff games since [1996]," Aikman continued. "There's not a track record in the postseason, yet it is a team that's expected to be in the Super Bowl each season. So when you don't win a playoff game, I don't know how you can look at it any differently."
Newsweek has reached out to the Cowboys for comment.
