Jerry Jones addresses Lions-Cowboys 'fuzzy' ending

"I can't believe the convoluted way that we ended up winning that game," Jones said Tuesday on KRLD-FM in Dallas, via Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "But let me put it like this: The defensive team is supposed to know who the eligible receivers are. Anything you do to fuzzy that up can get fuzzy for you."

On Monday , Lions head coach Dan Campbell admitted they sent two offensive linemen to the officials before their ill-fated two-point conversion to catch the Cowboys off guard. Although this may have contributed to the confusion, it's not a valid excuse, and the crew probably made the wrong call.

Jones' comments shouldn't distract from one of Dallas' main defensive problems: its inability to stop teams in crunch time. Even star linebacker Micah Parsons conceded the defense must improve following the 20-19 victory over Detroit (11-5).

"I don't even feel like we should have been in that position," Parsons said, per Saad Yousuf of The Athletic. "How much we put into two-minute, how we pride ourselves on getting stops in the game, it's definitely some things we got to fix. That's something we've got to look at."

In a 22-20 loss to Miami in Week 16, the Cowboys allowed the Dolphins to engineer a 12-play, 64-yard drive en route to a winning field goal. Despite the late-game mishaps, Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn remains confident. 

"This is a group I really trust in that scenario," he told the media Monday. "They've built that trust with me over the last three years. Am I happy with the results over the last two weeks? Hell no. But to say anything different, I would do, of course, maybe a call here or there, but nothing big that would be changed."

The Cowboys (11-5) — who've already clinched a playoff berth — are still in a great spot. If they beat the Washington Commanders (4-12) Sunday, they'll capture the NFC's No. 2 seed.