For the Cowboys, the number of chances to set things right in this wildly fluctuating 2025 season is starting to run low. After Week 8’s blowout loss to the Broncos on the road, it seemed that a Week 9 matchup against the Cardinals—who came into the game at 2-5 and were playing without starting quarterback Kyler Murray—on “Monday Night Football” was the perfect opportunity to pull the Dallas season together and get a second-half run going.
Instead, the Cowboys looked especially bad on defense—which NFL observers have gotten used to—but performed nearly as poorly on offense, as well. The team couldn’t cover star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who recorded seven catches for 96 yards in just three quarters. Meanwhile, Dallas struggled to gain momentum in its own passing game, as star (and recent MVP candidate) Dak Prescott was being outplayed by career backup Jacoby Brissett.
Adding fuel to the fire was a surprising decision by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to invite Cowboys fan and ardent Jones/Dallas critic Stephen A. Smith of ESPN (and Sirius XM radio) as his guest in his suite for the game. This only brought further scrutiny to a situation that arguably would have been better off remaining under the radar.
### Cowboys’ Jerry Jones Left in the Lurch
Ideally, the Cowboys would have romped over the Cardinals, and the atmosphere in Jones’ suite might have been joyful. Instead, the Cardinals raced to a 10-0 lead early and extended it to 27-10 entering the fourth quarter. By that point, Stephen A. Smith was already long gone.
In fact, Smith was seen uncomfortably bidding Jones farewell shortly after tight end Jake Ferguson fumbled the ball on a third-and-17 play from the Cardinals’ 42-yard line with 6:40 to go in the half.
“MNF” play-by-play announcer Joe Buck commented during the broadcast that the state of the Cowboys was perfectly summed up by Jones’ decision to invite Smith and Smith’s hasty exit. Buck remarked, “They say a picture is worth one billion words. There it is, all right. Stephen A. is like, ‘All right, good luck. I’m outta here. I’m gonna go post on social media.’”
### Stephen A. Smith Not Much Liked Among Cowboys Backers
On the bigger picture, Jones’ entanglement with Smith didn’t pan out well. Both media members and Cowboys fans quickly pointed out how awkward the meeting appeared right from the start.
Jon Machota of The Athletic sarcastically posted a video of the encounter to Twitter (now known as X), captioned, “How do you feel about this?”
At popular sports aggregator Underdog Sports, Smith’s abrupt departure was mocked with the comment, “Stephen A. Smith hit Jerry Jones with the ‘aight I’m out’ after that Cowboys fumble.”
Fans were far from pleased with the whole situation, either. One noted that Joe Buck’s broadcast partner is Cowboys legend Troy Aikman, who was left speechless by the Jones-Smith scene. “Not a single reaction from Troy Aikman. That tells you everything you need to know about what he thinks of Stephen A. Smith,” the commenter wrote.
Other fans added their opinions:
– “So ridiculous Steven A. hates the Cowboys.”
– “Wild to let someone in your suite that talks about your team any chance he gets, but it’s Jerry so I’m not surprised.”
– “Jones is the laughing stock of all sports. Not a chance another owner takes him seriously.”
As the Cowboys look to salvage their season, the drama off the field only adds to the mounting challenges facing the team and its leadership.
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