PHILADELPHIA — Jerry Jones strode into the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room a few minutes before midnight Sunday. “Woooooo!” Jones bellowed, a la the wrestler Ric Flair, as he moved from player to player, pumping hands, offering hugs, dispensing congratulations after a 27-20 triumph against the Eagles that, he said, thrust his team into N.F.C. East contention.
“Certainly,” Jones said.
This same team, following a bumbling defeat at Washington three weeks ago, dealt a first-round pick for a receiver, Amari Cooper, and dismissed its offensive line coach — a move akin to firing a line cook at a foundering restaurant.