ATLANTA – It’s a long season.
After three straight losses, a steady diet of drama and a glimpse of what lies ahead Dallas Cowboys – no, don’t look, cover your eyes – it could be much worse.
Wait and see. The Cowboys, stung by a 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, haven’t reached the halfway point of the season and have already matched the number of games they lost all of last season. And the year before. And before that.
Long year. No, this won’t be the season where the Cowboys (3-5) can end the franchise’s dismal streak of campaigns without a Super Bowl appearance, which is 29 and counting. But the countdown to the end of the world is surely on.
“Sometimes in this league you only need one,” said star quarterback Dak Prescott. “It takes one to get going, to get that confidence back, to feel good and rally from there.”
Prescott, knocked out of the game in the second half with a right hamstring injury, surely had good intentions with such an assessment.
But translated, here’s what he could have meant: Please someone stop the bleeding.
Times are tough and Prescott isn’t the only one talking about confidence. Every week that “headline” Prescott was referring to doesn’t happen, the season spirals even more out of control. It’s time for a bowel check that keeps coming back.
“There’s no secret to this thing,” All-Pro right guard Zack Martin said. “It’s back to work. We need to regain our confidence.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Cowboys without something extra. Dallas made the trip to Atlanta without veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was deactivated as a disciplinary measure due to an apparent tendency to miss or be late to team meetings. The final straw came Friday when he missed a meeting.
A week earlier, it was cornerback Trevon Diggs who attacked a local television reporter in an angry outburst outside the locker room after a loss in San Francisco. He was upset by the criticism posted on X.
The previous game, the Cowboys were eliminated at home by the Detroit Lions on team owner Jerry Jones’ 82nd birthday – the 47-9 humiliation marking the franchise’s worst home loss since Jones purchased the team in 1989. Then, two days later, he threatened to replace the co-hosts of his weekly radio show because of the tone of their questions.
See, it’s still a thing with the Cowboys, who entered this season with coach Mike McCarthy on the hot seat as he operated out the final year of his contract.
But let’s stay on football for a moment. This time, the Cowboys had a lot of trouble with the details. Of course, their 31st-ranked run defense “held” the Falcons to 3.3 yards per carry. Yet that contrasted with a pass defense that allowed Kirk Cousins to throw three touchdowns — including connections with two of the most open receivers you’ll see on highlights, in Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McLeod . Coverage failures.
They were a mess in many ways. The Falcons entered the game with the fewest sacks (six) in the NFL, then sacked Prescott three times. It was also bad news in terms of continuing practice, well before Prescott was injured late in the third quarter. They were 3 of 13 on third down conversions (23.1%) and 1 of 5 on fourth downs. Not like that.
On one of the fourth downs, CeeDee Lamb was blown up by Jessie Bates for a 3-yard loss on a jet sweep. On another, they faked a punt to make punter Bryan Anger’s pass to the flat look like a wounded duck.
And there were an assortment of self-inflicted blows amid the nine penalties. The pre-snap infractions – false starts, delay of game, too many men in the huddle – were particularly annoying.
“We have to stop fighting,” Martin said. “I’m not taking anything away from Atlanta; they’re a good football team. They did good things. But things that can control…”
Someone mentioned pre-snap penalties.
“Our margin for error is too small to do this kind of thing,” Martin added.
Long year. Martin remembered the 2018 season. That year, the Cowboys also started 3-5, then reeled off five straight wins and won eight of nine games to earn a wild card berth and advance to the playoffs. NFC divisional playoffs.
This is the hope of this long year. Of course, no team sells hope like the Cowboys.
“I really regret the season we’re having so far,” Jones told a group of reporters outside the locker room. “But personally, I’m far from dismayed.”
Sometimes it’s semantics, like Jones did after the loss to the Lions. He admitted: “I’m worried. »
Then came hope. The NFL trade deadline is approaching Tuesday. Jones suggested the Cowboys would be active in the market.
“We have to do a few things this week,” Jones said.
Believe it at your own risk. Funny enough (or not, if you’re a Dallas fan), this is the most active trade market in years, and yet the Cowboys haven’t made a move. This is similar to the low free agent activity last season, despite Jones’ proclamation that the Cowboys were “all in” to win a championship this season.
Jones was asked if he was still “all-in” for this year. He knows. People laugh.
“You could say things are looking pretty bleak right now,” he said.
He was telling the truth, while wrapping it in hope and hype.
“I’ve been in this sport a long time and I’ve seen dark situations turn around and become something you’re really proud of,” Jones said.
He, too, remembers 2018. But this version of the Cowboys is apparently a far cry from the 2018 edition. Now it’s all about surviving the NFL’s weekly reality checks.
“Frustrated,” Prescott said when asked to describe the team’s mood. “Like last week, I thought we might get this one.”
Maybe next time. Or maybe not. Matchups to prove over the next three weeks include division matchups against the Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) and NFC East-leading Washington Commanders (7-2), as well as a matchup in the State against the Houston Texans, leaders of the AFC South (6-3).
This season for the Cowboys could be a lot longer in a hurry.
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: The Dallas Cowboys’ dramatic season has gotten out of hand
