ARLINGTON, Texas -- To say it's been a tough 2024 season for the 3-6 Dallas Cowboys would be an understatement.
The Cowboys are on a four-game losing streak, the longest of the Mike McCarthy era, and injuries have eaten up their core. They are down quarterback Dak Prescot for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury, 2023 NFL interceptions leader DaRon Bland hasn't played a snap in 2024 after suffering a stress fracture in his foot at the end of training camp. That's not all, either: Edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) and Marshawn Kneeland (knee) have been sidelined for weeks, while Sam Williams tore his ACL in training camp.
Micah Parsons, while successful Sunday with two sacks against the Eagles in the Cowboys' 34-6 loss, missed four games because of a high ankle sprain suffered in the second half of Week 4 at the New York Giants.
Sloppy play has been constant as Dallas became the only team in NFL history to trail by at least 20 points in five consecutive home games following their Week 10 loss. With that performance following up a 47-9 stinker against the Detroit Lions in Week 6, the Cowboys home game previous to Sunday afternoon's debacle, Dallas' 2024 squad is now the second team in the last 40 seasons with zero touchdowns and five or more turnovers in consecutive home games, joining the 2006 Raiders, per CBS Sports Research. That Raiders team went 2-14 and drafted LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell first overall in the 2007 NFL Draft.
"I've never seen anything like this, even on teams that I was on as an assistant, I don't recall ever having back-to-back home games with five giveaways," McCarthy said after Sunday's loss.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he is "just frustrated like everyone else" and delved into his criteria for making coaching changes. Parsons was asked about McCarthy and his staff being in the last year of their coaching contracts in 2024, and he chose to bemoan how the Cowboys' 3-6 start impacts some of the team's aging veterans like nine-time Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin, who will turn 34 on Nov. 20 and is in his 11th NFL season.
"That's above my pay grade about if Mike [McCarthy] is coaching against next year," Parsons said postgame. "All coaching aside, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants. I kind of feel bad for guys like Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year on their way out. Because that's who I wanted to hold the trophy for. You want to win games and do great with those types of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did. Those are the kind of guys I have so much sympathy and hurt for."
Dallas was a 2-2 squad when Parsons went down at MetLife Stadium in Week 4 against the Giants, and despite him returning with a vengeance on Sunday, the Cowboys are still racking up losses. The three-time All-Pro is in just his fourth NFL season and previously only knew three consecutive 12-5 regular seasons. Going forward, his mindset is that he and the Dallas defense has to "be the light" for a struggling Cowboys offense.
"Be the light, you can't let it get to you," Parsons said. "Understand that, you know, our quarterback's out. Things ain't always going to be how you expect it. ... It's one of them years where, like I said, it's challenging, but we've got to be the light for everybody. ... Be the light, even when it's dark as f---. Light up, bro. Be the light."
