Dallas City News

On January 4th, 2019, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones told the local Dallas media that “he doesn’t have time to have a bad time” and “each year does create more urgency” in regards to fielding a championship contending team. His team was two days away from playing the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round, a game the 76-year old Jones would see the Cowboys win from AT&T Stadium 24-22 for quarterback Dak Prescott’s first career playoff win. On Sunday, Jones turned 82 years old, having witnessed just one additional Prescott playoff win since that 2019 game, and spent his latest birthday watching a Prescott-led team that perhaps has the least sense of “urgency” of any in relevant Cowboys history.

The Cowboys dropped their third straight home game 47-9 to the Detroit Lions. It was objectively a “bad time” all around for Cowboys fans, players, coaches, and truthfully everyone involved, and just how much Jones “doesn’t have time for it” will be a hot topic of conversation this week with the Cowboys going into a bye. The Cowboys have started the season 0-3 at home for the first time since 2010, the last time Jones made an in season coaching change and moved on from Wade Phillips after a 1-7 start to promote Jason Garrett to head coach.

That Cowboys team lost five one-score games of the eight coached by Phillips, including all three of the home losses at the start of the season. So far, Mike McCarthy’s 2024 Cowboys have been outscored 119-53, with the Lions winning by 38 to tie for the fifth largest loss in Cowboys history and worst since that fateful 2010 season. That 38 point loss for Dallas was suffered in week nine at Lambeau Field to none other than McCarthy’s Packers, and Wade Phillips did not survive the Sunday night embarrassment. Sunday’s loss to the Lions was the Cowboys worst home loss since 1988 to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Cowboys lack of urgency in this game was glaring because they faced the team with perhaps more of this crucial trait than any other in the NFL right now. The Lions are out to prove last year’s trip to the NFC Championship game was no one-year wonder. They did so well against the Cowboys that offensive tackles were reporting at wide receiver, more cheers could be heard over the broadcast for positive plays from Detroit compared to Dallas, and trick plays were going the distance for an offense that averaged 7.5 yards a play. For the second week in a row, early trips to the red zone that didn’t result in touchdowns for the Cowboys proved costly, as the Lions quickly seized control of the game and never came close to looking back.

The time has quickly come in this league for true playoff teams to start separating themselves from pretenders, and the now 3-3 Cowboys look hopelessly far behind the 4-1 Lions with a laundry list of issues that feel unfixable anytime soon. Dallas does not run the ball well, does not create easy completions for a QB making more money than anyone in NFL history, does not set the tone in the trenches, tackle well, avoid penalties, or show much tangible leadership that can help handle adversity.

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McCarthy’s team will now be soul-searching for what in the world they might actually do well enough to get back in the win column after a contentious bye week, where anything and everything will be on the table as far as discourse concerning how much this team has regressed in every way. Even with extra time to review this debacle against the Lions, the Cowboys won’t find an abundance of new issues that led to this blowout loss, as the same familiar problems that have particularly plagued them at home this year were all on full display.

An honest look at how the Cowboys were outclassed by one of the best teams in the league is as good a place to start as any though, so here is a look behind the curtain on the serving of humble pie delivered to Jerry Jones on his birthday from Dallas versus Detroit on Sunday.

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• The Cowboys elected to take the ball first for the fourth consecutive week, but for just the second week in a row they managed points on their opening drive. The Cowboys 3-0 lead was their only lead of this game after a nine-play, 49-yard drive ended in Brandon Aubrey’s first of three field goals. The Cowboys getting to the red zone with relative ease was an early sign of optimism for them, but they couldn’t finish consistently last week against the Steelers, and unfortunately this trend continued. Dallas’ first red zone sequence of the game was a screen to CeeDee Lamb for two yards, an incompletion in the endzone to Lamb in single coverage against Quandre Diggs, and then an incompletion on third down where Zack Martin was called for holding anyway.

Lamb did make the longest play of this drive with a one-handed snag on a crossing route for 27 yards, but once again in the game’s most critical moments the Cowboys’ WR1 and QB1 Prescott were never on the same page. That opening drive completion to Lamb was Dallas’ longest of the game, as any receiver being that open and having space to operate from that point on was a rare sight to say the least.

Perhaps better than any Cowboys opponent this season, the Lions were ready to pounce on every miscue to leave no doubt who the far superior team was this week. After settling for just three on their opening drive, the Cowboys found themselves quickly trailing 7-3 after a David Montgomery touchdown capped off a punctual five-play, 70-yard drive. Montgomery also picked up a third-down blitz on the only third down Detroit would face on this drive, allowing for a 42-yard completion to Tim Patrick working against Amani Oruwariye.

The Lions scored again after another trip to the red zone for Dallas ended in an interception on a throw intended for Lamb (also the second week in a row this has happened), this time leaning even further into a physical run game that Mike Zimmer’s undermanned defense had no answers for. Starting the drive with six straight runs that got the Lions from their own 20 into Cowboys territory, the drive stalled when linebacker Damone Clark finally made a splash play to tackle Jahmyr Gibbs for a loss. Clark stepped up as well as possible in the absence of veteran Eric Kendricks, but was clearly not enough to stop Detroit from having their way with the Dallas front seven.

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In very limited stretches, this was a game where Zimmer’s defense looked at it’s best when forcing Ben Johnson’s offense behind the sticks to show pressure. Having some success here with three sacks on the afternoon, the Cowboys will need to find a way to be more sound in neutral situations to earn more pressure opportunities. This is a defense expecting DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons back soon, which changes the entire complexion of the front seven. It may not matter if the amount of Lions skill players that gained positive yards before even being touched in this game becomes a trend for the Cowboys defense, with the Lions having no issue running between the tackles or testing the willingness of the Dallas secondary to play in run support on the edge – where Malik Hooker and Trevon Diggs both struggled.

• If the Cowboys first two red zone trips only yielding three points and allowing the Lions to jump out to a 10-3 lead were the early body blows from the visiting team, their next three drives resulting in two three and outs and a four and out turnover on downs was the early knockout punch. Unlike the Cowboys’ thrilling late-night win at Pittsburgh a week ago where everybody given a chance to make a big play was able to do so in big spots, the team was let down at home again by players they will have to continue relying on.

The first three and out of the game for the Cowboys got out of sync when a low-percentage second down rollout play was taken away. It was a play McCarthy has called numerous times for Prescott to hopefully find an easy completion on the move to Lamb, but the lack of secondary options while already shrinking the field in half is alarming. Prescott threw across the field to tight end Jake Ferguson, who couldn’t come up with a ball in coverage that hit him in the hands. The Cowboys’ third-down play was not drawn up much better, as two receivers occupied the same area in the middle of the field and Alex Anzalone nearly intercepted a pass intended for Jalen Brooks. The drive highlighted the Cowboys’ complete lack of ability to influence second level defenders and put defenses on their heels, which is a must in this league to have any consistent success moving the ball.

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Sticking with the theme of Detroit embarrassing Dallas in every possible way, they showed the Cowboys what this looks like on the first play of their next possession. A trick play with multiple laterals in the backfield led to Sam LaPorta being wide open for a 52-yard touchdown, and just like that the Cowboys were in the familiar position of trailing big at home, 17-3, in the first half.

Led by Anzalone and Jack Campbell at linebacker, the Lions defense had no issues loading the box, handling a nonexistent Cowboys run game, and still being in good position against a passing offense with no consistent vertical threat. The next rapid three and out they forced led to three more points for the Lions. Clark was able to make another splash play with a third-down sack to keep the Lions out of the end zone, and Donovan Wilson also had one of several big tackles around the line of scrimmage on the play before. Wilson looked his best as a box safety at times in this game, also coming up with a third-and-goal sack after the Lions tried to score throwing the ball to tackle Taylor Decker. His emergence in this role leaves the Cowboys still searching for answers in the backend as Hooker has been a liability in this area as the deep safety.

Markquese Bell and Israel Mukuamu, two players with upside that were expected to help bolster the all-important safety position in Zimmer’s defense, have not been utilized in recent weeks.

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With ten more points piling on in no time for the Lions, the final right hook came after a four-and-out by the Cowboys. Yet another miscommunication between Prescott and Lamb led to a spiral that was impossible to overcome, as the QB and WR were not on the same page on second down. Two plays later, the best the Cowboys could do was throw a contested ball on a whip route to return man KaVontae Turpin, who was contacted before the pass arrived but still couldn’t make the play nor draw a penalty. Montgomery’s second touchdown of the game put this one out of reach at 27-3. For those wondering, Dan Skipper was eligible on the play, a simple one-yard plunge across the goal line.

The Lions pulled out all of the stops with tackle eligible plays as a final bit of salt in the wound for the Cowboys, given how last year’s game between these teams ended. A late-season meeting of playoff teams proved to be a triumphant defense of home field for the Cowboys in primetime. What a difference a year makes, as this year’s Lions still looked like a playoff team here in week six, but one capable of making the Cowboys look like anything but. The Lions will now get ready for a road game at the first place, undefeated Vikings off this big win while the Cowboys will have extra time over the bye to sort out the aftermath of their latest loss before a week eight Sunday Night Football date at the 49ers.