Dallas Cowboys off to worst start in 10 years, but they believe they can fix this
The 1-3 Dallas Cowboys have started the Mike McCarthy era with their worst record after four games in 10 years and are on pace to have their worst season, defensively, in the club’s 60 years.
The good news is that three-quarters of the season remains ahead and the Cowboys play in the NFC East where the 1-2-1 Philadelphia Eagles currently occupy first place after getting their first win of the season Sunday night against the depleted San Francisco 49ers.
The Washington Football Team is also 1-3, and the New York Giants, who visit AT&T Stadium Sunday, are 0-4.
Turnovers aside, quarterback Dak Prescott is one of the team’s few bright spots. He has an NFL-record 1,690 passing yards after four games and has become the first player in NFL history with three straight games of at least 450 yards passing. On Sunday, Prescott threw for a career-high 507 yards and four touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 49-38 home loss to the Cleveland Browns (3-1).
Though disappointed in the team’s woeful start, Prescott remains confident that the Cowboys can turn their season around for themselves and McCarthy.
“The men that we have. The men that we have on this team and the coaches,” Prescott said when asked what gives him confidence in a turnaround and improved play. “We’ve got great leaders, and that starts with Coach McCarthy. He’s one of those coaches that it hurts when you lose a game like this. It hurts that you let him down. You’re more hurt that you disappoint him, and you’d rather him be mad at you.
“We have to be better executing on the field for him and the rest of the coaches.”
Turnovers remain a huge problem for the Cowboys. They (and the Eagles) have given the ball away nine times this season, more than any other team in the league. On Sunday, the Cowboys had three turnovers against the Browns, including two that led to touchdowns on back-to-back offensive plays for the second straight game.
Combine that with the team’s inability to create takeaways and Cowboys have a turnover differential of minus seven, also worst in the NFL.
“It ultimately falls at my feet. It’s my responsibility,” McCarthy said. “There was a lot of good football that will go unrecognized. That’s what happens when you lose. I don’t like the pattern of the four games that we played. The points are outrageous. The time of possession is totally lopsided. We’re minus seven in the turnover ratio.
“That’s not a winning formula. That’s unacceptable. It will not be the identity of this football team. It can’t be.”
The team’s biggest problem is that their defense can’t get stops either in the running or passing games, and they’re gives up points by the bushel.
One week after allowing five touchdowns passes in a 38-31 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Cowboys allowed a franchise-record 307 yards on the ground to the Browns.
It was the third straight game that they surrendered at least 38 points, a feat matched only by the expansion Cowboys during their inaugural season in 1960. They have given up more points through four games than any defensive unit in franchise history and they’re on pace to set a new franchise record for points allowed in a season.
Blaming the Cowboys’ struggles on the growing pains of putting in a new scheme with a new staff without the benefit a full offseason program and preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic don’t hold much water when you consider that that the Browns appear to be doing just fine with a new scheme and new staff under coach Kevin Stefanski.
As of now, don’t expect any massive changes for the Cowboys, who switched from a 4-3 to a multiple scheme with a lot of 3-4 looks under new coordinator Mike Nolan.
They plan to continue the same approach, and look solve the communication breakdowns that have plagued the defense.
“Well, you know we’re in a scheme change from the prior scheme here and we’re not off to a good start,” McCarthy said. “The worst thing we can do is narrow everything down and be a one-call defense. I refuse to do that. That’s not the path. We have a defense that fits our players, and we have to make sure we are getting those guys in position.”
McCarthy told the Cowboys after the loss to the Browns that they are not playing with enough confidence at the start of games. The Cowboys trailed the Browns, 41-14, before mounting a comeback only to come up short, marking the third straight game in which they trailed by 15 points or more.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott doesn’t know why that is but he said it’s something that needs to be corrected.
“We gotta figure this thing out,” he said. “We gotta figure out how to find some confidence. We gotta figure out just how to come out hotter. We are not coming out with confidence at the beginning of the game, and it is showing.”
Said Prescott: “We have to come out knowing that we’re going to get the win. We can most definitely play with more confidence and trust in one another more and know that we’re going to get the job done, no matter what it takes.”
