The Cowboys were terrible on Thursday night, and they managed to make history in the worst possible way. With the loss to the Buccaneers, Dallas became just the second team since 1975 to go 0-4 at home. It’s what we’ve come to expect from the Cowboys’ weirdness over the past three decades — because the weirdly ordinary has become their trademark.
It would be easier for fans to swallow if there was a single nexus of blame, something you could easily point to and say, “This that’s why Dallas loses.” Unfortunately, there’s no answer to what’s wrong, no silver bullet, nothing to focus on, correct, and improve. Sure, you can point to Jerry and Stephen Jones as the problem — and make no mistake, they is problem, but so many issues. Dallas has shuffled coaches over the years, made exciting trades, invested big money in their stars, but they still lose to a winless football team with a backup QB under center making his first NFL start.
As mentioned, Jerry and Stephen Jones are big problems. They have been a problem for a long time. The platonic ideal of a meddlesome owner, Jerry has been convinced he’s the smartest guy in the room for the better part of four decades. Jones boldly said his team would be better off by cutting back when it comes to trading away Micah Parsons — not yet. He was a driving force behind trading a first-round pick for DT Quinnen Williams, citing the need to bolster Dallas’ defense. Williams has been a real disappointment since his arrival, marking out as a mid-tier starter, not someone you trade the future for. This is a team that had three straight 12-win seasons under Mike McCarthy, who Jerry fired because he couldn’t get the Cowboys over the hump — handing the keys to Brian Schottenheimer, a mediocre coach in his own right. Stephen is always there to respond to his father’s worst behavior, illustrated by the trade for Joey Porter Jr. Make no mistake: He’s an amazing football player, but it’s the kind of shortsighted deal you make when you’re convinced the team is one player away, not for where Dallas is right now.
Brian Schottenheimer is a problem. The Cowboys coach now has a 9-12-1 record, has dragged the team down since arriving and has tinkered in a way that has taken a noticeable toll on Dak Prescott’s game. Schottenheimer admits that he’s changing too much at the QB position, which is a wild move when you have a 10-year pro under center and treat him like a third-year QB that needs to be rebuilt. In addition, Schottenheimer didn’t really have answers for why the clock management was so bad at the end of the Cowboys’ loss to the Ravens in Brazil. It became apparent that his hiring was a huge mistake, and Dallas would be a better team right now if they kept Mike McCarthy, or the promoted Kellen Moore instead of losing him, or hell — if they kept Jason Garrett at this rate.
It’s not entirely his fault, though Dak Prescott has become a problem. The one thing holding back NFL offenses isn’t necessarily bad QB play, but inconsistency. Unfortunately for Prescott, he’s been an incredibly volatile quarterback capable of both impressive highs and surprising lows. One game he’ll look like an All-Pro worthy of being named a Top 3 QB, then the next he’ll play like he did Thursday night, struggling against a defense that ranked 21st in pass defense in Week 5. Dak has been a fairweather QB. If CeeDee Lamb gets open regularly, and the run game clicks — then he picks teams. Hit a bit of adversity and instead of solving the problem, Prescott will have a tendency to force the ball, try something happen, and put himself in a hole as a result.
Should not be left out, the Dallas defense is also an issue. The belief was that acquiring Christian Parker from the Eagles would allow this team to emulate Philadelphia’s defensive success, but instead it turned out to be a mess. Despite having solid talent on that side of the ball, the defense ranks near the worst in the league in every single statistical category. The Cowboys are 24th against the pass, 30th against the run, 28th in points allowed — and 30th in overall defense. When you have a porous defense it plays into the worst aspects of this Dallas offense, putting the team in a hole and asking Dak to throw his way out of it — which leads to too many unnecessary turnovers.
Oh, and special teams blocked field goals are allowed in back-to-back games, just for good measure.
The worst part of all of this for Cowboys fans is that there is no easy way out. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. It may take time to sort out whether it’s just a coaching problem, a QB problem, or defensive issues — but it all flows from the Joneses at the top. Neither Jerry, nor Stephen, will go away, and their incredible ability to make terrible decisions dictates most things when billionaires are involved. The Cowboys are a mess again, their brand is average, and there is no escape.