Dallas Cowboys, losers of 3 straight, have fallen and have no clue how to get up
The Dallas Cowboys are crumbling and clueless.
They don’t know whether they are going or coming.
And they certainly have no answers for their struggles, as screaming, cursing, crying and getting chippy in practice have elicited no positive results.
Thursday’s embarrassing no-show in a 31-21 loss to the Chicago Bears was proof enough.
The only things they are certain of are that there will be no coaching change and they still control their destiny for the playoffs.
But that is not important to talk about for a team riding a three-game losing streak, and that has lost seven of 10 since starting the season 3-0.
Yes, they remain in first place in the NFC East (6-7) and could claim the division title with two wins in their final three games, as long as one is against the second-place Philadelphia Eagles (5-7). But who has confidence in the Cowboys winning just one game at this point?
Not a frustrated, disappointed and seemingly resigned owner Jerry Jones.
“It’s leveled out here. It’s losing, losing, losing,” Jones said when asked if the Cowboys were going backward. “I’m not trying to be funny here. But we have got to win a football game. I don’t care what the standings are. I don’t care what the numbers are. We had thought we could come up here and play a good team and play a fine football game and get our act where we are starting to look like a team that could, if by a slim chance, get in the playoffs where we could win. We can’t do that that until we start winning football games, and we got three more to play.”
Jones and the Cowboys continue to maintain that it’s not a lack of talent or want-to inside the locker room.
The Cowboys came into the season believing they had their best team since the Super Bowl squads of the 1990s. Yet, there only wins are against teams with losing records and they have no clue why they can’t put a good game together.
Now they can’t get out of their own way.
“It disappoints me, just because I know the type of guys we have in this room and I know the type of players we have,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “We’re just letting each other down.”
The Cowboys claim they are still confident. They say they have not quit.
But they also have no idea how to turn things around.
Tight end Jason Witten melted down on the sideline in the second half Thursday night, cursing at teammates and coaches alike.
“We’re all frustrated, we’re all pissed,” Witten said. “You see the game. It wasn’t good enough. We got to get better, and we better do it in a hurry. We’ve been given a gift with where our record is, 6-7, still on top of the division. But we got to play better football.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott was equally puzzled.
“It’s frustrating, I think that’s the best word for it,” he said. “It’s a blessing, fortunate enough, I don’t know how it is, and we’re still in the lead for our division. You have to be thankful for that. But we can’t hang our hat on that. We got to figure out our issues right now, fix them and get better.”
But how?
”Can’t put a finger on it,” Prescott said. “I wish I could right now. If I could, obviously, we wouldn’t be in this situation. We would be getting over this and out of this slump. But that’s the most frustrating part, that we have the skill level, we have the players, we have the chemistry at times, but we’re not playing together as a team complimentary enough when we need to and we’ve got to figure out what it is.”
And that is where the issue gets back to coaching for Jones. Because he says it’s not a lack of skill or quit in Cowboys players.
“All these guys are mentally OK for me,” Jones said. “All these guys are talented enough for me. That’s good. I’m questioning how to put together a coordinated one that complements each other, how to put together a team that can win a football game. It’s obvious. We know that we’re not putting together collectively on all phases of the game as well as within the same phase of the game. We’re not collectively getting together as a team and doing the things that it takes to win a ballgame. You don’t win games if you don’t do that.”
That sounds like Jones is blaming Garrett and his staff for the second time in three weeks. He went scorched earth on the staff following a loss to the New England Patriots before expressing belief in Garrett after the loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Now Jones simply said, “Everybody that’s coaching will be coaching,” when the Cowboys resume play Dec. 15 against the Los Angeles Rams.
But Jones made it clear that he is not the problem. And he wasn’t the problem in a loss to the Bears in game where “that score didn’t indicate how bad they beat us. The score was a lot closer. They beat us real good tonight.”
Garrett said he believes the players are still buying in and are not distracted by coaching rumors. He also said he doesn’t believe the players have quit.
”I just see how they come to work every day,” Garrett said. “I see how they practice, and unfortunately we didn’t carry the practice work to the game.”
Prescott and cornerback Jourdan Lewis say the team remains 100% behind Garrett.
”We are going to keep fighting for him,” Lewis said. “That is our coach. It might not please some of the fans, but that is what it is. We are going to ride this thing out, we still lead the division and our destiny is still in our hands.”
Jones said the postseason is still the goal and he will take it even if the Cowboys finish 7-9.
“Are you asking me if I would take the division and go to the playoffs, if we got in on any basis? The answer is yes. Absolutely yes,” Jones said. “Acceptable? I don’t know. Not if we’re not playing good but if we’re playing a lot better than we played tonight, I’ll take getting in.”
”I realize if we don’t play better than we looked tonight then that’s tough to think about having success in the playoffs. But your first goal is to get to the playoffs.”
And then what?
Nobody knows and nothing is guaranteed, which is the case now.
