The Dallas Cowboys went into Week 8 coming off a bye, but opened things pretty much the way they closed things before their break: with an underwhelming performance against an NFC opponent. The Cowboys made it interesting in the end, but lost 30-24 to the San Francisco 49ers.
This one had those 28-25 loss to the Baltimore Ravens feels: trailed big, battled back, lost a game that looked close on the scoreboard, but really quite wasn’t. Sunday night was more of the same for Dallas, which has dropped two in a row to the Lions and the 49ers and now face an imposing run of teams on the schedule: at 5-3 Atlanta, then the 5-2 Eagles, then the 6-2 Houston Texans and then at the 6-2 Washington Commanders. That’s three current division leaders and the Eagles, who were picked to win the NFC East.
Thanksgiving and the New York Giants can’t get here soon enough.
Here are three takeaways from the Cowboys’ second straight loss:
Dak Prescott has regressed on the field
First, let’s acknowledge that Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb got hot in the fourth quarter and made this a game, turning a 27-10 yawner into a finish worth watching till the end. But for the first three quarters, we got Bad Dak, who has regressed this season since signing the big new contract. He finished 25 of 38 for 243 yards with 2 TDs and 2 interceptions. He’s not as mobile as he used to be, he’s a streaky passer and his performances tend to be four-quarter rollercoasters.
Both interceptions were bad decisions. The first one was thrown deep into double coverage. He threw into three 49ers on the final drive, though that one wasn’t picked. When the Cowboys needed that last drive for a touchdown, Prescott threw four straight incompletions.
And likewise, the Cowboys have regressed, too
How will the Cowboys fare against the Falcons, Eagles, Texans and Commanders: 4-0, 3-1, 2-2, 1-3 or 0-4?
The problems range from the short term to the long term for Dallas, which s eems to be trying to figure out its running game, but obviously still trying to find the answer. We got our first look at Dalvin Cook, who got seven touches and averaged a little more than 3 yards a touch. Ezekiel Elliott averaged 3.4 yards a carry and was the choice on first-and-goal for the touchdown, not Cook. But Lamb needs help on the other side and the offensive line continues to need to be upgraded in the offseason. The defense has been ravaged by injuries.
The Cowboys are 3-4, one game ahead of the Giants at the bottom of the division and starting to feel the distance between themselves and the Commanders and Eagles.