You can polish a 7-9-1 season with all the offensive stats you like. But it’s still a lost year if your team didn’t make the playoffs, again. And Dallas Cowboys legend Troy Aikman isn’t buying the culture talk from head coach Brian Schottenheimer anymore, not when quarterback Dak Prescott played out of his mind, and Dallas still stayed home in January.

“It seems every year there’s a different storyline as to why or how this team is going to be playing in the Super Bowl. I just want to see it,” Aikman laid it out flat on The Troy Aikman Show. “I think Brian Schottenheimer’s a good coach. As far as changing the culture, I don’t know that that happened, I don’t know that it didn’t happen. I just don’t know how you do know if you’re not in the building, so the results are the results, and if you don’t make the playoffs, it wasn’t a very good year, whether your culture’s good or not good.”

Here’s the thing: this wasn’t supposed to be another wasted season. Dak threw for 4,552 yards and 30 touchdowns. He stayed healthy through all 17 games; the offense hummed along like a well-oiled machine. Everything was clicking for the offense, and Dallas made the Cowboys Nation dream of January football once again. But they still couldn’t get it done. That’s what stings the most. And Aikman hammered that point home.

“When you have the type of season that Dak had, and the offense had, and you failed to capitalize on it, that’s a big letdown,” Aikman said. “Because you don’t know if Dak is going to stay healthy, it’s not easy to do, and as you get older, it becomes even harder. So can he stay healthy again next year, and if he can, can the offense continue to play at the level that they did?”

What’s more worrying is that Dak’s 32 now. The window for him to stay healthy and at the top of his game doesn’t stay open forever. Meanwhile, the obvious problems still plague the team worse than ever before.

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The Cowboys’ offense scored 471 points in the 2025 season. But the defense gave up 511. That 40-point gap? That’s your season right there. All those yards Dak racked up meant nothing when the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed.

To be fair, Schottenheimer tried. He moved the ping-pong table into the locker room and installed basketball hoops around The Star. He even made the entire team run laps after training camp fights got out of hand. His message was simple: compete every day, hold each other accountable. Dak praised the energy, CeeDee Lamb embraced the new vibe. But the bitter truth? Good vibes don’t win you games, let alone get you to the playoffs. That’s why the frustration in Troy Aikman’s voice was unmistakable.

“Every year is a little bit of an unknown, but they’ve had opportunities, this year being one of them, with [Dak] being healthy, and as well as they played on the offensive side of the ball,” admitted Aikman. “They’ve got things that have to be addressed. It’s not anything they don’t know about, and then you hope that some of the changes within the staff will maybe turn things around as well, at least on the defensive side of the ball.”

That old formula that once made Dallas “America’s Team” isn’t working anymore. Maybe that’s why the man at the top finally cracked.

“There’s no other way” – Jerry Jones’ surprising admission

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones had made a career out of placing big bets and winning risky gambles. But after 30 years of doing it his way, Jones blinked at last. The losses piled up, roster moves garnered intense criticism, and with another missed playoff run, the 83-year-old said something he’s never said before.

“I spent a lot of time looking at the past, when I look at the coaching situation, a lot of times,” Jones said per The Dallas Morning News. “I do that on everything, frankly, that I can get my hands on. I’m not trying to be philosophical, but I did less of whatever I’ve been doing [in the past] and a lot more of what I am doing in this process.”

But that old formula hasn’t worked for quite some time. And that’s why what Jones said next hit even harder. It wasn’t just an admission; it almost felt like surrender.

“When you’re set up the way I am, that old mirror, that self-evaluation really is appropriate and has to be done,” Jerry continued. “My way of things doesn’t work if I don’t change. [If] I’m not successful, then I haven’t [changed]. There’s no other way.”

Now, Jerry Jones has run this franchise like his personal playground since 1989. But he’s just got two playoff wins since 2018; countless promises, zero championships. But this feels different. This sounds like a man who finally gets what needs to change.

Jones is promising to “bust the budget” in free agency. He’s also hired Christian Parker as the new defensive coordinator in the wake of the Matt Eberflus disaster. What’s more, Jones has strongly backed Brian Schottenheimer despite the losing record.

But Troy Aikman’s question still hangs heavy in the air: will anything actually change? The Cowboys have been talking about ‘next year’ for nearly three decades now. Perhaps this time around, they can show something for it.