The Dallas Cowboys were off on Sunday but now it’s time to focus on their Sunday night matchup next week against the San Francisco 49ers. The last time they took the field the Detroit Lions handed them a 47-9 beat down in Jerry’s World. The fans and the organization are looking for answers while wondering what’s wrong with their team. The Cowboys have been disappointing as they sit at 3-3.
What’s been both concerning and surprising is all their losses have come at home. Since the 48-32 home playoff loss against the Green Bay Packers last season, they’ve lost four consecutive home games and have been outscored 167 to 85. Between the 2022 and 2023 seasons, they were 16-1 at home and averaged 33.5 PPG.
The bye week was an opportunity for them to regroup, reevaluate, and get healthy while they figured out their issues but they must figure them out fast. The Cowboys have been a juggernaut the past three seasons but now they look like a team that’s completely underwater. After a disappointing start to the season, the looming question is, what’s going on with the Cowboys, and can they fix it?
Reviewing The Dallas Cowboys Struggles
Next Five
After their matchup against the 49ers, they have arguably one of the toughest stretches in football. They will face the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans, and the surprisingly red-hot Washington Commanders. With Dallas being 1-2 in conference play and four of their next five opponents being from the NFC this is the most important stretch of the season for playoff seeding purposes.
Luckily for Dallas even with the head-scratching start, they’re still in the grasp of the division lead but the next five games will make or break their season. They must find a way to win at least three of the next five for any fighting chance to win the NFC East and stay in the NFC playoff race.
Surprised or Not?
Coming into the season it seems all but Jerry Jones knew the lack of offseason moves would be the team’s Achilles heel. However, not many would’ve guessed the struggles would be on display this early. This is a team that has finished 12-5 in three consecutive seasons but they’re already at three losses.
Both sides of the ball have been disappointing, the defense looks like the 2020 version of themselves, and the offense has arguably never looked this bad with Dak Prescott under center. They’re in dire need of a spark but it doesn’t seem Jones will be looking to add any help. He’s stated he has no intentions of being active at the trade deadline.
Unfortunately for Prescott the front office and fan base expects him to be Superman, and due to his contract, he will be the scapegoat for all the struggles. The surrounding weapons, play calling, offensive line struggles, and defense are an issue that goes far beyond the quarterback. The Cowboys offense ranks last in yards per rush (3.5) and rushing yards per game (77.2). They are also second to last in rushing touchdowns per game and 30th in red zone scoring percentage. Defensively they’re allowing 28 PPG which ranks 31st, they’re 24th in yardage allowed, and have one of the worst run defenses in football. In the preseason it looked like the defense would pick up where they left off after Dan Quinn‘s departure but they’ve taken a tremendous step back.
Meanwhile, with struggles on both sides of the ball, Prescott is third in passing but that most likely changes after Sunday’s game. Any and all of the offensive production has solely come from Prescott’s arm and he’s the reason they’ll have a chance to turn the season around. He hasn’t played his best ball and the turnovers have been alarming but the roster is made up of 52 others, the struggles don’t come down to one man but the team as a whole needs to play better.
Stopping The Cowboys 101
The key to stopping the Cowboys’ offense isn’t rocket science. Lions cornerback Kerby Joseph proved teams don’t fear the offense. Joseph joined his teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown‘s podcast to discuss what worked for the Lions’ defense. St. Brown asked Joseph what the defensive game plan was going into Dallas and his answer was well, obvious. “ The game plan was really take #88 away ( CeeDee Lamb), we know he’s a playmaker”, Joseph said. “ Once we take him out the game, we wasn’t really worried about anyone else.”
Former Cowboys quarterback and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman also chipped in about the offensive issues, specifically calling out the wide receivers. “ I think the routes are terrible. I think they run terrible routes. And I’ve thought that beyond this year”, Aikman said. “ I think CeeDee has got to improve in his route running”, he added. Lamb is averaging a career-low 2.5 yards of separation on routes.
However, the issues lie further than Lamb, as a unit the wide receiver room only averages 2.8 yards of separation, the second-lowest average in the NFL. Prescott is throwing into tight windows 27.5% of the time which leads the NFL but also is a part of why the interceptions are being thrown.
Make-or-Break
There’s no telling which Cowboys team will show up on Sunday night but hopefully, they come out with a vengeance. They have little to no room for error and their chances for a fourth consecutive playoff appearance will continue to shrink if losses continue to pile up. It’s pretty simple from here on out, they will either find ways to win or the season will be over in November.
Main Image: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
