ATLANTA — Has the Dallas Cowboys' season hit a low point after Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons dropped them to 3-5?
It depends on how you want to see things.
If all you want to see is that the next three opponents are the Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans and Washington Commanders, who have a combined record of 19-7, then maybe not. This is shaping up to be another 2020 (6-10) season or, gulp, 2015 (4-12).
If you want to focus on the impending returns of Pro Bowl running back Micah Parsons (ankle) and cornerback DaRon Bland (foot), as well as wide receiver Brandin Cooks (knee) and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) a little further down the road , then you can chart a path to reach the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
And maybe the hamstring injury that forced Dak Prescott out of Sunday's game isn't serious and the late shoulder injury suffered by CeeDee Lamb isn't so serious either.
“Sometimes in this league you only need one [win]Prescott said. “It takes you to get it going, get that confidence back, feel good and bounce back from there. So not looking too far into the future, it's about getting our bodies back and being healthy. [Monday] and then try everything in our power to put together our best performance next week at home against a good Philadelphia team.”
Last week, Prescott called the Atlanta game a must-win for the Cowboys, who entered the season with a 63% chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN Analytics. With Sunday's loss, they have an 8% chance, behind only the Panthers, Giants and Saints in the NFC.
At 3-5, their best path to the postseason (although not that easy right now) is through the NFC East. They are currently 3½ games behind the Commanders and 3 behind the Eagles.
Prescott has an 11-2 career record against the Commanders. He is 9-4 against the Eagles. He hasn't lost to the Giants since 2016, his rookie year, winning 13 in a row against them, including a win in Week 4 this season.
“Well, we just have to keep the focus limited,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I felt like we were doing that coming into the game. We need to win a game. I know everyone wants to talk long term. We have five losses. We clearly understand where that puts us and what it's going to take.” “
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Mike McCarthy hits tablet after Darnell Mooney's open touchdown
After Darnell Mooney scores a fourth-down touchdown, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy shows his frustration by hitting a tablet.
A McCarthy-coached team has never made the playoffs with a record below .500 after eight games. As coach of the Packers in 2018, they went 3-4-1 before finishing 6-9-1 in a season in which he was fired with four games left. In 2006, his first year in Green Bay, the Packers were 3-5, en route to an 8-8 finish.
In 2020, the Cowboys went 2-6 and finished 6-10.
Only once have the Cowboys started 3-5 and made the playoffs: 2018. That season they made a bold trade for wide receiver Amari Cooper that boosted their season, going from 3-5 to 10-6 with an NFC East title and victory in the playoffs.
Guard Zack Martin is one of five players remaining from that team on the current 53-man roster or injured reserve; Prescott, backup QB Cooper Rush, RB Ezekiel Elliott and Lawrence are the other four.
“Absolutely that's what we want to do,” Martin said. “I've said this before, there is absolutely no secret to this. Now we get back to work and we just have to get our confidence back and go in with some style and hope to win.”
What comes first, victories or confidence?
“I mean, we have to have some confidence before the wins start coming, right?” Martin said. “So we have to believe that we can win and play that way.”
However, even when healthy, the Cowboys haven't played that way.
Against the Falcons, they were penalized nine times for 55 yards, with too many pre-snap penalties. They took advantage of just three third-chance opportunities and none in the first half. Lamb averaged more yards per carry (7.5) than yards per catch (5.9).
Defensively, they were better, but still couldn't stop the red zone and allowed three pass plays of 22 yards or more. Kirk Cousins was sacked twice but threw three touchdown passes. The Falcons averaged just 3.3 yards per rush, but Bijan Robinson controlled the pace of the game.
“We're having too many self-inflicted wounds,” McCarthy said.
Perhaps the Cowboys making a trade before Tuesday's deadline will help, although Jones cautioned that any deal wouldn't be as big as Cooper's. Maybe the offensive line will start playing well and the running game will find its groove (21 carries, 137 yards). Maybe the conclusions will come back when Parsons and Bland return. Maybe the big plays will return when Cooks recovers.
Maybe.
“I mean, we've got the guys here. We've just got to take ownership of this as players, and we've got to go out there and execute plays better,” Martin said. “We can't beat ourselves up and dig ourselves into a hole. Our margin for error is too small for that. Let's get back to work. And everything we still want to do is in front of us, right?
“We have a lot of division games ahead of us, and we have to get one and move on.”
