Dallas Cowboys' drama-filled season spirals out of control

ATLANTA – It’s a long season.

After three consecutive defeats, a steady diet of drama and a glimpse of what lies ahead Dallas Cowboys – No don’t look, close your eyes – this could get much worse.

Just wait and see. The Cowboys, who suffered a 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, have not yet reached the halfway mark of the season and have already matched the number of games they lost last season. And the year before that. And before that.

Long year. No, this won’t be the season where the Cowboys (3-5) can end the franchise’s upset campaign streak without making a Super Bowl appearance in the 29-year-old running back. But the countdown clock to doomsday is definitely ticking.

“Sometimes in this league it just takes one,” star quarterback Dak Prescott continued. “Someone has to sustain it, get that confidence back, feel good about themselves, and bounce back from there.”

Prescott, He left the game in the second half with an injury to his right knee.He certainly meant well with such an assessment.

However, when translated, he may have meant: Please someone stop the bleeding.

These are tough times, and Prescott wasn’t the only one talking about self-confidence. With every week that “the one” Prescott talked about doesn’t happen, the season spirals further out of control. Bowel check time keeps coming back.

“There’s no secret to this thing,” All-Pro right guard Zack Martin said. “I went right back to work. We must regain our self-confidence.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be the Cowboys without something extra. Dallas went to Atlanta without veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott. Deactivated as a disciplinary measure due to a clear pattern of not attending team meetings or being late. The final straw came when he missed a meeting on Friday.

A week ago, Cornerback Trevon Diggs attacks a local TV reporter after having an angry outburst outside the locker room Defeat in San Francisco. The criticisms sent to X made him angry.

Previous game, Cowboys Detroit Lions lost at home The 47-9 humiliation – on team owner Jerry Jones’ 82nd birthday – was the franchise’s worst home loss since Jones purchased the team in 1989. Threatens to change co-hosts of weekly radio show Because of the tone of his questions.

Look, there was always something going on with the Cowboys, who started this season with coach Mike McCarthy in the final year of his contract.

But let’s stick to football for a minute. This time the Cowboys had a lot of trouble with the detail work. Of course, their 31st-ranked run defense “held” the Falcons to 3.3 yards per carry. However, this contrasted with pass defense that allowed Kirk Cousins to score three touchdowns; These included links to Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud, two of the most obvious receivers you’ll see in highlights. Coverage breakdowns.

They were terrible in many ways. The Falcons entered the game with the fewest sacks in the NFL (six) and then sacked Prescott three times. Long before Prescott was injured late in the third quarter, it was also bad news when it came to sustaining drives. They were 3/13 on third downs (23.1%) and 1/5 on fourth downs. Not the road.

On one of the fourth downs, CeeDee Lamb was blown up by Jessie Bates for a 3-yard loss on a jet sweep. In another, they faked a punt to make punter Bryan Anger’s pass into the flat look like a wounded duck.

And among the nine penalties were various self-inflicted blows. Infractions that preceded the snap (false start, delay of game, too many men in the crowd) were particularly frustrating.

“We need to stop beating ourselves up,” Martin said. “I’m not taking anything from Atlanta; They are a good football team. They did good things. But the things you can control…”

Someone mentioned instant penalties.

“Our margin of error is too small to do this kind of thing,” Martin added.

Long year. Martin was reminded of the 2018 season. That year, the Cowboys also started 3-5, then won five in a row and advanced to the NFC division playoffs by winning eight of nine games and earning a wild card.

This is the hope of this long year. Of course, no team sells hope like the Cowboys.

“I really regret the season we’ve had so far,” Jones told a group of reporters outside the locker room. “But personally I am far from appalled.”

Sometimes it was a matter of semantics, like Jones did after the loss to the Lions. “I’m worried,” he admitted.

Then came hope. NFL trade deadline expires Tuesday. Jones suggested the Cowboys will be active in the market.

“We need to do a few things this week,” Jones said.

Believe him at your own risk. It’s funny (or not if you’re a Dallas fan), despite being the most active trade market in years, the Cowboys have yet to make a move. That’s similar to the scant activity in free agency last season, even though Jones said the Cowboys were “all in” to chase a championship this season.

Jones was asked if he was still “all in” this year. He knows. People are laughing.

“We can say that things are looking pretty bleak right now,” he said.

He was telling the truth, but still wrapped it in hope and hyperbole.

“I’ve been in this game a long time and I’ve seen some dark situations turned around and turned into something you’re really proud of,” Jones said.

He also remembers 2018. But this version of the Cowboys is seemingly a far cry from the 2018 edition. Now it’s just a matter of surviving the NFL’s weekly reality checks.

“I’m disappointed,” Prescott said when asked to describe the team’s mood. “Like last week, I thought we could take it.”

Maybe next time. Or maybe not. Proving games over the next three weeks include divisional matchups against the Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) and NFC East-leading Washington Commanders (7-2) and an intrastate clash against the AFC South-leading Houston Texans (7-2) ( 6 -3).

This season could take a lot longer for the Cowboys in a hurry.

This story has been updated to correct an inaccuracy.