ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys (3-3) were playing at home at AT&T Stadium in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions (4-1), but what happened on the field, and in the stands wasn't friendly: it was downright hostile.
Detroit steamrolled Dallas 47-9, which is the worst Cowboys home loss since owner and general manager Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989. It's also tied for the worst loss, home or away, under Jones' ownership along with a 45-7 road defeat at the Green Bay Packers in Week 9 of the 2010 season and a 44-6 setback at the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17 of the 2008 season.
"I regret that for our fans," Jones said postgame. "Regret it for everybody that is a part of the Cowboys or have been a part of the Cowboys. … We don't like where we are right now. There's a lot of work to do. Got a lot of improvement before we'll sit here with any smiles on our face."
Dallas has surrendered 167 points across their last four defeats: last season's 48-32 NFC wild-card round loss, the 44-19 Week 2 defeat vs. the Saints, the 28-25 Week 3 defeat vs. the Ravens and the Week 6 47-9 defeat against the Lions. That's the third-most in a four-game at home span, including the postseason in NFL history, according to CBS Sports Research. Only the 1948 New York Giants (177) and the 1972-1973 Houston Oilers (176) have had a worse four-game stretch at home than the 2023-2024 Dallas Cowboys. On Sunday, a chorus of boos, "Let's go Lions" and "Jared Goff" echoed throughout AT&T Stadium all game long.
That makes sense considering Detroit scored on its first nine drives of the game, excluding the end of the first half kneel down. Those chants from away team fans have been a constant across this historic four-game losing streak with the Packers' "Go Pack Go," the Saints' "Who Dat" rallying cry and the Ravens' "Oh, oh, oh, oh" to the beat of "Seven Nation Army" after touchdowns. Not a very fun environment for the host Cowboys.
"Very, very [disappointing]," Jones said when asked again about the struggles at home. "We all know you should feel better at home. …. That's one of the first things you look at. … I'm well aware that we're in the proverbial shitter right now."
Defensive issues are near the top of the list of problems for Dallas during this run. The Cowboys are also the first team in NFL history to allow 12 or more yards per pass attempt to opposing quarterbacks in four consecutive home games, including the postseason, according to CBS Sports Research. Here's the list of quarterbacks who have taken turns shredding Dallas' defense at AT&T Stadium across the Cowboys' last four home games:
Cowboys' last 4 home games
| Pass Yards/Attempt Allowed | Opposing QB | |
|---|---|---|
NFC wild card vs. GB | 13.0* | |
Week 1 vs. NO | 15.2 | |
Week 3 vs. BAL | 12.1 | |
Week 6 vs DET | 12.4 | Jared Goff |
* Packers' single-game playoff record
** Cowboys are first team in NFL history to allow 12-plus pass yards/attempt in four straight home games including playoffs
So how can that type of porous defense be fixed? Jones pointed to being healthier with Dallas playing without their top edge rushers (three-time All-Pro Micah Parsons, four-time Pro Bowler DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland), two of their top three corners (2023 All-Pro DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson) and top inside linebacker (Eric Kendricks). Cornerback Jourdan Lewis refused to make injuries an excuse postgame, pointing out that they won shorthanded in their 20-17 Week 5 win at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"Any time you get beat, you create question marks. When you get beat like this you create more question marks," Jones said. … "We just got a bunch of them right now. A lot more than I would have hoped or thought. I thought defensively we were compromised, but I thought we could come in here and really make up for where we were compromised on defense with our offense. Detroit again had a lot to say about that. This was a stunner as well as just a disappointment."
Offensive disconnect
Jones was clearly alluding to the Cowboys two-highest paid players in 2023 second-team All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott, and 2023 All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb when talking about making up for the compromised defense with their offense. Jones signed Prescott to a four-year, $240 million extension hours before Week 1 kicked off, and he re-signed Lamb to a four-year, $136 million at the end of August after he missed the entire offseason program holding out for his first non-rookie contract.
The lack of reps because of Lamb's holdout and the rust it caused is evident. Week 6 was the second consecutive game that Prescott tossed an end zone interception intended for Lamb, something he did in the Week 5 win at the Steelers. Prescott threw for 178 yards and two picks on 17 of 33 passing while Lamb caught seven of his 14 targets for 89 yards on Sunday. There was a play vs. the Lions on Sunday in which Lamb was running deep down the right sideline, and Prescott clearly thought his top target was running some type of comeback route. The quarterback let it rip, but the football bounced harmlessly to the turf with Lamb's back still turned toward the quarterback. That play was an encapsulation of the issues.
"It wasn't just about me and CeeDee," Prescott said postgame. "Yeah, sure, there was one throw here, a route there, he would tell you. A protection that wasn't great on one. If I had an answer, I promise you, we'd be a lot better and as I mentioned, the same in the run game. It's a great time for us to figure it out and how to get better. But just reiterating, the people in the room, in that locker room, the trust I have in them, the faith I have in them. You're talking about a guy that'll double down with those guys and go to war every single day. Restart this one and run it back, whatever. A lot of faith in those guys in the locker room and let's get it right."
Prescott revealed he plans to spend part of the team's Week 7 bye making up for the time the Dallas duo lost this offseason.
"Yeah, communication, spend a couple of days putting the ball in the air," Prescott said of his bye week plans with Lamb. "I mean, honestly it's simple as that. Communication, a little bit of work, and understanding that these defenses are doing a good job. Let's not discredit them. This is the NFL, when you've put up numbers like we have together guys aren't just going to come out and play you one on one with CeeDee and let you have a field day. ... We got to give credit where it's due and just continue to push and maybe scheme up some of these double teams better as well and understand that when we get going it's going to be hard to stop."
Jerry Jones' culpability
Jones could have prevented his dynamic duo's issues from even becoming a thing in 2024 if he had aggressively re-signed them earlier in the offseason. Having a run game would also help Prescott and Lamb: the Cowboys 77.2 rushing yards per game in 2024 is the worst in the NFL. Had he re-signed with them in March, prior to the start of free agency, he could've had the cap space to sign the league's leading rusher in Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who was interested in Dallas since he trains and lives in the city in the offseason. Doing so may have also given Dallas enough cap space to re-sign Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who played a critical role with the Cowboys last season when Trevon Diggs went down with a torn ACL. Now, he is making a difference for the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings.
However, when Jones was asked if his current roster has the talent to be one of the NFC's top teams by the end of the year, he said he did, but he couldn't explain why he felt that way.
"I do. I just do," Jones said.
The problem for Jones is history says his Cowboys don't have what it takes in 2024. Dallas is 0-3 at home and has been outscored by 66 points (119-53). No team has ever surrendered that many points (119) in their first three home games and made the playoffs in NFL history, per CBS Sports Research. Neither has a team been outscored by that many points (66) in their first three home games and made the postseason in NFL history, per CBS Sports Research.
Mike McCarthy on the hot seat?
Dallas looked similarly lost at sea in a 45-7 defeat at, coincidentally, McCarthy's Green Bay Packers, in Week 9 of the 2010 season, the last game then-head coach Wade Phillips coached for the Cowboys before being fired. McCarthy is currently coaching out the final year of his original five-year contract in 2024. Jones says he hasn't considered axing McCarthy in-season despite the deflating defeat.
"I haven't even considered that," Jones said. "I'm not considering that, just so you're clear. I'm not considering that. I wouldn't be hypothetical in that matter. 'Do you think I'm an idiot?' Do you? I'm not going to hypothetical with you about when I would consider a coaching change in light of the timing we're sitting here with. I'm not. At all."
Now, the Cowboys have two weeks to attempt to right the ship and pray Parsons and Bland can return before they head west to face a nemesis in the San Francisco 49ers, the team that has sent them packing in two of the last three postseasons.
"Well, we're disappointed that we're three and three," Jones said. "I don't blame that all on, being on the three-loss side of it, I don't necessarily totally blame on McCarthy. The players will tell you they had something to do with it too as the other part of the staff will tell you and the owner sure will tell you he had something to do with it. That's not all on that [the head coach]."
