How the Dallas Cowboys suffered worst home loss in AT&T Stadium history to Detroit Lions
At the hands of the visiting Detroit Lions, the Dallas Cowboys suffered their worst home defeat in the history of AT&T Stadium, 47-9, on Sunday afternoon.
And it could have been worse.
From start to finish, it was a complete domination by the visiting Lions, as they outgained Dallas 492-251 in total yardage, generated five turnovers and played more than 65% of their offensive snaps in Dallas territory.
There was never a doubt on Sunday afternoon, but doubts are now swirling around where exactly the Dallas Cowboys are headed in 2024. Here are five thoughts from the big defeat.
False confidence
The success that Dallas found in the last two weeks against the Giants and Steelers was, in fact, not the turning point of the season. The same issues that the Cowboys faced against the Saints and Ravens came around once again on home turf against the Lions.
Detroit rushed for 184 yards. Dallas rushed for 53. Dallas went 0-for-3 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Detroit scored at will.
The key foundational issues have not been corrected, even if the defense is dealing with a mountain of injuries. The trends only further cemented the team’s identity as non-physical off the line and undisciplined in the second level and secondary.
“We’ve gotta assess,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said after the game. “It was concerning, it was humbling…This was a shocker. I thought we would do a lot of things better than that football game.”
Which team is Dallas? The bye week will give the Cowboys 14 days to change that identity before it’s too late in the season to correct.
The offense has no excuses
The defense had every excuse to play as poorly as it did. Down four starters (Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, DaRon Bland, Eric Kendricks) and two backups (Caelen Carson, Marshawn Kneeland), the defense was set up for failure, especially against as a team with as many offensive weapons as the Lions.
“I thought we could come in here and really make up for where we were compromised on defense with our offense,” Jones said. “Detroit had a lot to say about that. This was a stunner and a disappointment.”
Offensively, not having Brandin Cooks — who had yet to show this season that he could be a game-changing weapon — is not enough to place the blame for the poor performance the offense had on Sunday. There were multiple missed red zone opportunities. An ineffective running game. And unlike other previous games this season, a downright bad performance from Dak Prescott.
“I anticipated a little too much, a little too early,” Prescott said. “I gotta play better, better than I did, especially when you’re playing a team like that.”
In a game coming in that the Cowboys knew they were going to have to score to keep up with the combination of a Lions high-flying offense and a depleted Dallas defense, the offense showed zero fight.
Offensive line woes
In a game where the Cowboys elected to go with the more experienced group by benching rookie first-round tackle Tyler Guyton in favor of moving Tyler Smith out to left tackle and putting T.J. Bass at left guard, Dallas was completely overwhelmed by the Detroit pass-rush unit.
In 38 dropbacks for Dak Prescott, the Lions sacked him four times and pressured him 18 times. In the run game, the Cowboys quarterback completed just 17 of 33 passes for 178 yards and two interceptions.
Before Aidan Hutchinson left with a devastating lower left leg injury, he lined up over Terence Steele and bullied him all afternoon in generating multiple pressures and one sack.
If that is the offensive line group that Dallas feels most comfortable with, it will be a long season for Prescott if o-line play like it did Sunday.
Could a trade make a difference?
The NFL is benefited by a later-than-usual trade deadline in 2024, as teams will have until Nov. 5 to make deals toward roster construction. Cases could be made for Dallas to look at making making a trade for a running back, defensive end, safety or an offensive playmaker in general, but would any one acquisition really make that big of an impact?
“That’s up to the front office,” Dak Prescott said about if a move is needed.
After a loss as demoralizing as that against a team that is expected to compete for the NFC crown, there’s not one player in the NFL that could make an impact large enough to overcome that type of skill-gap — especially any trade-available player.
“Maybe change would be just try harder, go harder,” Jerry Jones said. “I’m not ready to talk about changes right now. I do think we have personnel out there that can play better than they did today.”
At this point, Dallas would benefit more from continuing to play young talent and focusing on getting reps for the youth on both sides of the ball.
Wait…that was the plan all along? You fooled me.
The bye comes at a perfect time
The bright side — or perhaps less dark — is that Dallas will have a bye week to get back to the drawing board after this embarrassing defeat. Last season, it took a bye in week seven to correct a stale offense and to get CeeDee Lamb back involved in the offensive gameplan that led to him having a career season.
Truly, it didn’t feel like Dallas found its identity until after the bye in 2023. Could that be the same in 2024? Fans would hope that the identity hasn’t already been cemented.
“Any time you get beat, you create question marks,” Jones said. “When you get beat like this, you create more question marks. Certainly, there’s a lot of question marks there…We just got a bunch of them right now. Way more than I would’ve hoped or thought.”
It won’t get any easier after the break, as the Cowboys will head to San Francisco to take on the defending NFC champs. It’s an opportunity to right the ship… or to further sink into the depths of the ocean.
“We’re going into the bye week 3-and-3,” Prescott said. “A long season to go. I’ve been in worse situations with teams and got it going…It’s about us to stick together. After a loss like this, there’s no better way to test the character.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2024 at 6:43 PM.
