Jerry Jones is shocked the 4-8 Dallas Cowboys can still win the NFC East

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wasn't exactly thrilled with how his team played against the Washington Redskins Monday night, but he's definitely thrilled with the bigger picture.

Dallas is 4-8 but only a game out of first place in the ugly NFC East race, a reality even Jones is shocked by.

"I would have never dreamed this," Jones told reporters after the game. "You can say it speaks to parity and I guess it does. We are fortunate and we've got to get better."

How much better do the Cowboys really need to get in a division with the Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants all at 5-7? Not much better, probably, which is both encouraging and depressing at the same time.

"I look at it as 4-8," Jones said about Monday night's win. "And won't look at it any differently as we move up the ladder, until something really special happens. I'd like to see us get on the north side of some turnovers one time. If we saw that happen, with the kind of effort our team is giving, then you could get excited about this thing."

One other thing that may help: Getting Dez Bryant the ball, which Jones is one step short of demanding at this point. Here's more from Jerry after the game:

Teddy Mitrosilis works in social content development at FOX Sports Digital. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.