REMEMBER WHEN: Burt column ... How 'bout them Cowboys?

Sep. 13—(Editor's note: Bill Burt wrote this column last October on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his over-involvement in football operations. With controversy about his picking the players and getting involved in game-planning, we are running the column again)

FOXBOROUGH — Jimmy Johnson, 50 years old at the time, stood up on a table to address his NFC Championship Dallas Cowboys squad after finally knocking out the conference giant, the San Francisco 49ers, 30-20.

After a few comments about the long season, the mini-camps, the difficult training camp, surviving the bear of a division, the NFC East, and noting there was still one big game remaining, Jimmy said four words that immediately became the franchise's slogan.

"How 'bout them Cowboys!," said Johnson, raising his hands in the air.

The next game and, really the next three years, the Cowboys were back on top not only in popularity — see America's team — but more important in winning.

A dynasty, which included three Super Bowl titles in four years — was born. In the history of the sport in the Super Bowl era, the Patriots, winners in 2001, 2003 and 2004, were the only team to own a four-year window like the Cowboys did.

The one difference is that the Patriots rebooted and a decade later won three Super Bowl titles in five years.

The Cowboys dynasty died.

And while there have been a few blips, including seven NFC East titles (including co-champs), there have been seven seasons in which the Cowboys finished with double-digit losses.

The Cowboys have won three playoff games — three! — over the last quarter-century.

The biggest reason, my opinion? Owner Jerry Jones ... or make that Hall of Fame owner Jerry Jones.

He has been too involved in player personnel decisions and too talkative about team matters with radio shows, interviews, etc., basically disarming the head coach.

Jones, who is an elite businessman and has rebooted the Cowboys brand in so-so times, also seems to have an insatiable need to get credit.

So I give him credit for the last quarter-century. It's on him.

Which brings us to the middle of October, 2021 and the possibly "new" Cowboys.

Is this really happening, four wins in five games, with their lone loss, on opening night to the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers as impressive as any win they've had?

All signs point toward, well, yes.

The biggest question marks heading into this season were these:

Can Dak Prescott rebound from his knee injury?

Can new coordinator Dan Quinn upgrade a horrific defense?

Can they find a good cornerback to play next to Trevon Diggs?

Zeke Elliott has been part of the problem, but can he be part of the solution?

The answers: Absolutely; So far, so good; Not sure; and hell yeah!

The first and last, Dak and Zeke, were the biggest concerns. While both have shown spurts of greatness through their first contracts-plus together, both haven't been good enough.

Dak ranks second in the NFL among starting QBs with a 116.9 rating and his QB-to-interception ratio (13-3) trails only Brady (15-2) and Josh Allen (12-2).

Zeke has been no slouch himself in his rebound year, ranking third among running backs at 90.4 yards per game and tied for second with 5 TDs. While he is slightly off pace from his incredible rookie year — 1,631 yards (108.7) and 15 TDs in 15 games — his 5.3 yards per carry in 2021 is a career best,

Forget about heading into 2021 with question marks. These two were question marks for the rest of their careers.

Dak at $40 million per and Zeke at $15 million per both rank third in the NFL at their positions.

Last December, one national writer called Zeke's contract the worst in the NFL. Said writer was probably right ... then. Not now.

In fact, on Wednesday Bill Belichick threw big-time kudos the Cowboys way when it has come to personnel decisions.

"I think since 2006, they've had, by far, the most Pro Bowl players, and it just seems like they always have, every time we play them, seems like there's always a lot of good players on the roster," said Belichick. "[VP of Player Personnel] Stephen Jones and the personnel staff have obviously done a great job of selecting players and acquiring players."

The Cowboys have a lot to prove the four weeks against (at) New England, (at) Minnesota, Denver and Atlanta. They are favored against the Patriots this week, by four points, and should be the favorites in the next three, too.

That would put them at 7-1 at the halfway point. and looking deeper into the season the only games they are expected to lose would be Kansas City (Nov. 21) and maybe Arizona (Jan. 2).

Could the Cowboys actually be in a battle for the No. 1 seed and potential bye?

Well, there is a yellow brick road for them to follow.

There is another question mark for the Cowboys that must be addressed: Head coach Mike McCarthy.

He has had some shaky decision-making when it comes to situational football, last second non-calls, etc.

At some point, the players and staff need to be led by the guy in charge. Everyone needs to be all-in on the head coach or the Cowboys turn into the standard 10-6 Wild Card team.

There are a lot of interesting storylines in the NFL, with the semi-surprising Cowboys maybe at the top.

How 'bout them Cowboys?

No. Not those words. Not yet.

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.