In one of the most hapless and embarrassing offensive performances in franchise history, the Dallas Cowboys committed five turnovers and managed only 49 yards passing in an embarrassing 34-6 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium.
At this point it's fair to ask: Was Bill Belichick watching this complete implosion?
Our Top 10 Observations ...
10. BOTCHED BEGINNING: The Cowboys were 7.5-point underdogs and to beat the Eagles they had to play almost a perfect game and ... oops, that didn't take long. On Dallas' fourth offensive snap, Cooper Rush bobbled and fumbled a perfect shotgun snap to gift-wrap Philly the ball at the 16-yard line.
Bad teams can't spot good teams a 7-0 lead and hope for a happy ending.
9. RED, WHITE AND BLUE?: The Cowboys wore a red stripe on their helmets instead of the the traditional two blue ones. It wasn't a distress signal (or was it?). No, it wasn't a nod to last week's Presidential election. Nor was it a tribute to the team that wore the same design in Super Bowl X in 1976. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. So ... Go America's Other Team!
8. ERROR, ELLIOTT: A week after not making the team's trip to Atlanta for disciplinary reasons, Ezekiel Elliott produced one of the Cowboys' game-changing blunders. After an impressive drive moved the ball inside Philly's 10 near the end of the first half, Zeke took a first-down handoff, was hit at the 3-yard line and fumbled into the end zone for a touchback.
At this point in his career, any hand-off to Zeke feels counter-productive. Rico Dowdle isn't exactly the second coming of Emmitt Smith, but the 29-year-old Zeke just seems to be ... done.
7. SUN OF A ...: The brief moment the Cowboys seemed to have a chance in this game was quickly eclipsed by the sun. Trailing only 7-3 and inside Philly's 5-yard line after a turnover, Rush rolled right and threw to an open CeeDee Lamb in the end zone. But because he was blinded by the strong-shining sun piercing the stadium's west plaza, Lamb never saw the ball as it grazed his arm.
The Cowboys settled for a field goal and Philly never looked in back in scoring touchdowns on their next three drives.
But one guy who is looking back? That would be Lamb, who "1,000 percent'' disagrees with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' unwillingness to use the stadium curtains to block the sun (and all of those majestic TV pictures of streams of light.
6. WELCOME BACK, MICAH: After missing four games, Micah Parsons almost immediately made his mark. The good news: He sacked Jalen Hurts in the second quarter. The horrible news: It was only his second of the season, and it came in Week 10.
He also sacked and stripped Hurts in the second quarter to give Dallas the ball the Eagles' 6. Not that the offense is good enough to take advantage but, still, good to have him back. ... at least until he opts to start talking about world affairs or even Cowboys affairs.
Yes, Micah did it again in the postgame scrum, making comments about coach Mike McCarthy's (lack of) job security by suggesting that veteran players like Zack Martin are more deserving of accolades than McCarthy because of ...work ethic?
"You want to win games and do great things with those types of legends who put in more time and work,'' Micah said, "than Mike McCarthy ever did.''
Wow.
5. DAK DOUBTING?: Dak Prescott still hasn't been placed on the injured reserve and still hasn't made up his mind about having season-ending surgery on his partially torn hamstring. It's not like he's hoping for a miraculous recovery, just that the surgery would require three-to-four months of recovery so he wants to be certain it's the correct path.
He's seeing a specialist Monday before making a final decision. Either way, the chances for his return this season is zero-to-zilch.
By the way, Prescott was almost steamrolled while standing on the sideline during Reed Blankenship's fumble return late in the game. (He was actually grazed by both Blankenship and Cowboys' tackler Trey Lance.) Can't believe it? Watch this ...
Hard to be adequately mobile while trying to avoid crashing players with a torn hammy. If he's going to get hit and have to quickly jump out of the way, might as well be in the dang game.
4. (THIS WEEK'S) ROCK BOTTOM: Just when you think these Cowboys can't play any worse, they surprise us. Already trailing by 22 late in the third quarter, they produced one of the more laughable plays that will surely litter their 2024 lowlight reel.
Rush dropped back to pass but showed zero awareness in the pocket and fumbled when an Eagles' rusher knocked the ball from his hand. Trying to recover the bounding ball, offensive lineman Terence Steele and fullback Hunter Luepke stumbled into each other and allowed the Eagles to fall on it.
Said CBS' Jim Nantz "They Keystone Cops have broken out."
Added Tony Romo: "This is Bad News Bears stuff."
3. OVEREXHUBERANT OVERSHOWN: Yeah, we know, every time DeMarvion Overshown makes any sort of play he punctuates it with a silly, skipping celebratory dance. But after he over-gyrates after a first-down stop, he consistently misses tackles on much more important plays.
The Eagles converted a 3rd-and-6 at Dallas' 13 when Overshown and Kendricks both whiffed on Saquon Barkley in the open field. Hurts scored on the next play to make it 7-0. And on Philly's touchdown just before halftime Overshown had a free blitz lane and again just totally whiffed on sacking Hurts, allowing the quarterback to step free and hit Dallas Goedert for a touchdown.
Bottom line: Overshown's gaffes led directly to both of the Eagles' first two touchdowns. A running Cowboys theme: style over substance. He's a promising talent, but how about less dancing and more discipline?
2. GRASPING AT STRAWS: You can't blame the Cowboys for inserting third-string quarterback Lance into the third quarter of a 28-6 blowout. After all, in Dallas' first 10 drives Rush managed a whopping 45 yards passing. Forty-five!
Fittingly, Lance was sacked the first time he dropped back to pass. The last time we saw Lance he threw five interceptions in Dallas' preseason finale. Against the Eagles his fourth pass? It was of course picked off.
1. HOME SOUR HOME: Pee-yew! Welcome to the stenchiest stretch of home football in the history of the Cowboys.
In their last five games in Arlington they have trailed by these gaudy deficits: 32 to the Green Bay Packers, 25 to the New Orleans Saints, 22 to the Baltimore Ravens, 38 to the Detroit Lions and 28 to the Eagles. There's never been an uglier non-competitive stretch in the franchise's storied history. As a matter of fact, the Cowboys are the only team in NFL history to trail by 20+ in five consecutive home games. Dak or not, this team deserved to be booed out of AT&T Stadium. ... as at 3-6 the sun is now about to set ... permanently.
