Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Jake Ferguson spoke to us about the current state of the Cowboys and how they need to take things one step at a time right now. The Dallas Cowboys are in the middle of a tough season. With a 3-6 record they have their work cut out for them if they want to be playing beyond the regular season, also an obvious statement. We may feel certain ways about the potential or future outlook of this current group, but it is difficult to ever expect the players within the locker room to back down from a challenge in general. Such was clearly the case when I spoke to Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson on Tuesday. It was my first time speaking with Jake and may I say he is as cool and interesting as they come. We discussed a variety of topics which obviously included this season, the infamous sun and Ferguson’s love of football in general. You can watch our interview below: One of the things we spoke about with Jake was his recent partnership with USAA. Ferguson worked with USAA on Tuesday on a controlled fire of a turkey fryer to spread awareness and educate the public on how to stay safe and avoid home fires ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in USAA’s Huddle Up for Home Fire Prevention & Safety campaign. You can learn more about the initiative right here. Something I shared with Jake was that no Cowboys tight end has ever scored a touchdown against the Houston Texans. Obviously we are not talking about 100 years of history here, but that is a bit of a fun fact. He (jokingly, to be clear, although with serious intent clearly) vowed to break the seal next Monday night. Our thanks to Jake Ferguson and to USAA for the time!

Tim Heitman-Imagn Images The Dallas Cowboys are making weekly history in the worst kind of way this season. The Dallas Cowboys made history on Sunday in the worst kind of way. In case you missed it, they became the first team in NFL history to trail by 20 points or more in five consecutive games at home. Hang the banner! Maybe even hang it in a place that it covers the sun. Something we have been doing every week this season here is chronicling history made by the team, although unfortunately it has mostly been of the bad sort of variety. The Cowboys are a bad football team making sure that they are remembered for that in ways that no other teams generally are. Every week we comb through the state of the team following their most recent game and assess it against both franchise and NFL history at large to see what we can learn. The phenomenal tools at Stathead and Pro Football Reference help make this possible, so you can blame them if any of the following things make you sad. Let’s begin! Amazingly, we have seen this game before sort of Cooper Rush started at and played quarterback for the Cowboys on Sunday. That is about the best possible way that what happened can be framed. It was a rough outing for Rush to say the least, but something specific about it will blow your mind. You see, Rush attempted 23 passes and threw for only 45 yards. That sounded impossible. It turns out that a quarterback has only thrown for 45 yards (or fewer) on at least 23 pass attempts nine times before Rush did across NFL history. What is particularly amazing though is that Cooper was not even the first Cowboys quarterback to do it! The most recent instance of this “phenomenon” was when Anthony Wright did it with a star on his helmet against the same opponent in the Philadelphia Eagles way back in the early days of 2001. That’s where we are, people. Ezekiel Elliott is among the most inefficient runners in some time Jerry Jones said on Tuesday during his appearance on 105.3 The Fan that the Cowboys are not living in the past with Ezekiel Elliott. Wherever they are indeed living, it is a tough time. To date Elliott has played in eight games for the Cowboys this season (remember his disciplinary violation happened so he missed the Atlanta game) and has 54 carries for 171 yards in them. What you are looking at above is the last 10 running backs to have at least 54 carries for no more than 171 yards in the first eight games of a season played. As you can see the list is uninspiring. Something particularly devastating about this list is the last person to “accomplish” this before Zeke was someone who fans want to see used instead of him in Dalvin Cook. You really cannot write this kind of stuff. While Cook did not “accomplish” this under Mike McCarthy’s supervision, it should be noted that James Starks did with the Green Bay Packers in 2016 so he has now overseen such an instance twice in his career. Ezekiel Elliott’s poor start is a rare thing in franchise history Focusing on Dallas Cowboys history just a bit, you are now looking at running backs who have, in their first eight games of a Cowboys season, had at least 50 carries for no more than 171 yards. The list is not a long one. Saying these things is only done so because they are factual and not from a place of malice, but Ezekiel Elliott is quite literally one of the most ineffective and inefficient runners (as far as who he is in this current moment) that the team has ever seen. Giving him any number of carries over literally anybody else is suspect right now. Not scoring a touchdown after the recovered fumble was almost impossible to do You will recall that Elliott fumbled in the redzone on Sunday and that shortly after the Cowboys, miraculously, caused a fumble of their own to basically undo it. Consider that they lost the ball on the Philadelphia six-yard line and recovered their fumble there as well. The above list is one of all NFL drives since 2001 that began off of a turnover that wound up scoring (so no fumbles, interceptions or turnovers on downs) that began inside of the opponent’s six-yard line. If that sounds confusing just think of it as exactly the circumstances that the Cowboys were in at that moment. 84.7% (call it 85% if you want to round up) scored in touchdowns. That isn’t quite 99% or anything, but consider that from the moment that Dallas took over at that moment in time that almost a quarter century’s worth of history gave them an 85% chance of scoring a touchdown. Dallas ran the ball to Zeke (shocker), saw CeeDee Lamb lose the ball in the sun (also a shocker) and then Rico Dowdle got stuffed before Brandon Aubrey did his thing. It is extraordinarily difficult to not walk away with a touchdown there and yet the Cowboys made sure that they didn’t. Home blowouts of this variety are not common for anyone except the Cowboys The Cowboys have lost every game that they have played at home so far this season. There have been four in total, but they have only lost three of them by 25 more points. At least it isn’t all four! Since 2021 there have now only been three instances of a team losing at least three games at home by 25+. The Atlanta Falcons did it twice in 2021 and the Washington Commanders had it happen to them three times last season. The Dallas Cowboys have done it three times already and still have five home games remaining. No Dallas Cowboys team with three wins through the first nine has made the playoffs The point in bringing

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Last week was gross. The Dallas Cowboys have now lost their fourth straight game, and their first without Dak Prescott. Despite falling to the Eagles 34-6, things were close in the first half before unraveling in the second half. So let’s get some grades after this one. Quarterbacks This was a glimpse into the very sad reality of what this team looks like without Dak Prescott. Prescott certainly hasn’t been good this year, but his worst games have been better than this. Cooper Rush turned it over twice, including one where he just forgot to catch the snap, and he went 0/6 on passes that traveled more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Trey Lance wasn’t much better, throwing an interception on his lone pass 10+ yards downfield. Together, the two quarterbacks averaged 2.3 yards per attempt. Yikes. Grade: F Running backs Rico Dowdle is a legitimately good running back. Let me say it again: Rico Dowdle is a legitimately good running back. Following this game, Dowdle is behind only Bijan Robinson in rush success rate among running backs. Despite that, he’s 33rd in rushing attempts, ranked right behind Robinson’s backup, Tyler Allgeier. Some of that is because the Cowboys throw the ball so much, but it’s also because they keep giving the ball to Ezekiel Elliott. Case in point: Elliott got a red zone carry on first and goal and coughed it up. On the Cowboys’ very next offensive play, they gave it right back to him. Outside of his turnover, Elliott wasn’t terrible, but it’s painfully obvious that this run game would be so much better if Dowdle handled the vast majority of carries. Grade: B+ Pass catchers You know what? I’m not going to give a grade to this unit. How can I? After watching the level of quarterback play in this game, it would be disingenuous to hold them to any sort of normal standard. When Jake Ferguson leads your team in receiving with 24 yards, it’s hard to judge these pass catchers. Oh, and that’s without even talking about CeeDee Lamb missing an easy touchdown catch because he was blinded by the sun that his own boss refuses to cover up with curtains. There were so many things working against this group in this game that handing out a grade for it just feels wrong. Grade: Incomplete Offensive line The Cowboys surprised us all with news that Tyler Guyton, who had been dealing with a neck stinger throughout the week, would be inactive. In his place, Asim Richards started at left tackle. And, honestly, the results were solid. Richards gave up four pressures and a sack but had plenty of solid, encouraging reps. The bigger issue was what it has been for most of the year here: Terence Steele. The right tackle is a turnstile in pass protection, and he gave up four pressures. He also allowed a strip sack and then foolishly tried to pick the ball up and run with it, which led to him giving the ball right to the Eagles. Steele also struggled once again in run blocking, supposedly his forte. It’s not a good sign that Steele has consistently been the weakest link on an offensive line that’s starting two rookies. Grade: C+ Run defense All things considered, the Cowboys held up well against the run. Philadelphia finished with 187 rushing yards, but 105 of those came in the second half after the game was out of reach. In the first half, Dallas allowed just 82 rushing yards, with 49 of those coming by way of Jalen Hurts scramble plays. Saquon Barkley, who’s been on a tear all year, put up just 23 rushing yards in the first half and three of his eight carries were stopped for a gain of one yard or less. Things broke wide open in the second half, but this defense showed up to play. They just needed some help from their offense. Grade: B Pass rush Jalen Hurts is not the easiest quarterback to bring down, and the Cowboys figured that out in this game. On one of the Eagles’ touchdown drives, Hurts evaded a near sack from DeMarvion Overshown to hammer home that point. That said, the pass rush was alive in this game, thanks partly to the return of Micah Parsons. Their 24 pressures was the most they’ve had since Week 1, and four players recorded at least four pressures. Parsons had two sacks, as did Overshown, and Hurts was taken down a total of five times. Grade: B+ Coverage Statistically speaking, this was a bad game for the Cowboys secondary. But a closer look reveals why: rookie Caelen Carson was picked on all game. Carson was targeted seven times, which is more than Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, and Israel Mukuamu (who replaced Carson in the second half) combined. In total, Carson gave up 108 of the Eagles’ 207 passing yards in this game. Outside of Carson, the secondary held up well for the most part. Diggs’ interception was a welcome sight, and the coverage unit largely limited yards after the catch, an area they’ve struggled in all year. Grade: B- Special teams Brandon Aubrey is still Brandon Aubrey, drilling both field goals and once again being the only Cowboys player to score any points. KaVontae Turpin had a pair of good kick returns as well. And Bryan Anger is still going strong, though he got far too much work in this one. The grade drops considerably, though, because of the huge punt return Dallas gave up to Cooper DeJean early in the third quarter. It set up a short field and an easy touchdown for the Eagles, who had largely struggled to move the ball against this defense. From that point on, it was all downhill. Special teams mistakes can break a team’s back, and that’s what happened in this game. Grade: B Coaching It’s hard to be too harsh on this staff

Tim Heitman-Imagn Images This week’s power rankings were predictably unkind to the Dallas Cowboys. There is always further to fall than you think. History has taught us this painful lesson many times, unfortunately. Just when we think that there is no way that the Dallas Cowboys could outdo themselves in the embarrassment department, America’s Team shows up true to form. This week the Cowboys are coming off of a 34-6 drubbing in their home building against the hated Philadelphia Eagles. Under normal circumstances this would upset many of us, but everything around has been so on fire that we have grown used to the new status quo temperature and are no longer phased when it feels a little warm. It will not shock you to learn that the rest of the NFL finds the Cowboys to be quite bad, but just how bad do people think they are? The time has come for our latest power rankings and gathering of where outlets across the internet have the Cowboys. You can view last week’s rankings right here. 1 – Detroit Lions (LW: 1) You have to find ways to steal a game or two if you are going to lift the Lombardi at the very end of the season. Detroit did that on Sunday night by winning a game that they were supposed to lose. They are such an impressive team to watch. 2 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 2) Talk about stealing games… my goodness. This is the weakest Chiefs team we have seen (from an organization that has won three Super Bowls since 2019!) and they are undefeated through their first nine games. It must be so nice. 3 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 3) They seem to be floating among the contending teams in the NFL at large. Up next for them is a chance to give Kansas City their first loss, although the Bills have made way too big of a deal of regular season games against the Chiefs before. Hopefully Buffalo recognizes this is the battle and not the war and even then not the most important battle (relatively speaking). 4 – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 4) Another team who stole one! Although I don’t know that Baltimore stole their win as much as they just fought a little bit harder. They remain an elite team that is so fun to watch as well. 5 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 7) It wasn’t even annoying that they beat the Cowboys by a score of 34-6 at AT&T Stadium. That is where we are at. 6 – Washington Commanders (LW: 5) Sunday was a tough loss, but this is clearly a very good team that is going to be playing in the middle of January. Their game against Philly on Thursday night will be highly entertaining. 7 – Minnesota Vikings (LW: 6) It never feels right to drop a team after they win, but Minnesota barely held on against a struggling Jaguars team. Kevin O’Connell is so impressive, but it feels fair to say that the Vikings are losing some steam a bit. 8 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 8) Do you mean to tell me that they did not look like juggernauts in the first game that they played after they played the Cowboys? Shocked! I am shocked! 9 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 9) Welcome back from the bye. 10 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 11) I’ve been absorbing Cardinals stock for weeks now and am very happy about it. Could they seriously win the NFC West?! These are my Cardinals and I am proud of them! 11 – Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 12) This whole thing still feels a little like the clock will hit midnight and it will fall apart. But for now Mike Tomlin, Russell Wilson, Mike Williams and everyone else are having the time of their lives. 12 – Houston Texans (LW: 10) It feels fair to say they are on a serious fraud watch, but given that they play the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium next Monday night that will stabilize soon enough. 13 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 16) It would be good for the NFL at large if this team made its way into the playoffs. They are tough and Baker Mayfield specifically is a huge reason for that. 14 – Atlanta Falcons (LW: 13) You cannot lose to the New Orleans Saints. The drop should be more, but I digress. 15 – Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 17) Kudos on the win. But my goodness they are so irrelevant in the bigger picture. Maybe playing on Sunday night this week will help with that. 16 – Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 18) Sometimes a season has a very good team who just caught some poor breaks at the most inopportune times and it all snowballs against them. It feels safe to say that this is the Bengals this year. 17 – Los Angeles Rams (LW: 14) They are so up and down these days. 18 – Denver Broncos (LW: 20) Are we not talking about Bo Nix enough? I know they lost, but wow what an outing at Arrowhead. I’m not ready to crown Sean Payton’s era in Denver as a success but there is no question that this was a step forward, even if they did lose. 19 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 15) Another team back from their bye week. 20 – New England Patriots (LW: 24) They had nine sacks against the Bears. What. How. 21 – Carolina Panthers (LW: 29) You can’t help but feel happy for Bryce Young what with everything he has been through. They are going to really enjoy that bye week. 22 – Tennessee Titans (LW: 22) Another team who is simply existing right now. 23 – Indianapolis Colts (LW: 23) Their season feels lost in a different way than Dallas’. Either way, they are not very good at all. 24 – New Orleans Saints (LW: 31) They finally got their first win since blowing the doors off

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Everything about Sunday was an embarrassment for the Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys kicked off their first game of the Cooper Rush era in 2024 just as you’d expect: with a loss. Rush barely completed over 50% of his passes and averaged a paltry two yards per attempt. Trey Lance finished out the game and averaged just 3.5 yards per attempt. The two quarterbacks combined for three turnovers on the day. The Cowboys came into this game as serious underdogs, and the final score of 34-6 reflects that. But they actually kept this one pretty close early on. These five plays were what made the difference and helped the wheels come off in the third quarter. Cooper Rush’s first fumble sets up easy touchdown The Cowboys’ first offensive drive went about how you’d expect given the circumstances. But then the Dallas defense flexed their upper lip and forced a punt from the Eagles, and suddenly it looked like we might have a game. The offense retook the field and lined up in the pistol at their own 20-yard line. When Rush went to snap the ball, he turned away too early and completely missed the ball. It bounced off his chest and hit the ground before an Eagles defender fell on it. That gave the Eagles the ball just 16 yards from the endzone and, sure enough, they were celebrating in there after just four plays. It’s hard to blame the defense for this one, but Rush’s fumble – the result of bungling one of the most basic requirements of the quarterback position – is what gave Philadelphia their first points. Ezekiel Elliott fumbles into the endzone To Rush’s credit, he kept his head in the game and managed to orchestrate a solid drive after his defense followed up an endzone interception by forcing yet another punt. Rush hit on four of his six passes, and also drew a pass interference penalty, to supplement a strong running game that took the Cowboys inside the 10. Facing first and goal just six yards from a touchdown, Rush handed it off to Ezekiel Elliott, who plunged forward looking for his third touchdown of the year. Instead, the ball got punched out of his hands and rolled into the endzone, where an Eagles player recovered it for a touchback. If Elliott scores there, or even if he just goes down and the Cowboys score on one of their next three downs, they take a 10-7 lead right before the two minute warning in the first half. And with the way the defense had been playing, that would have seriously boosted their odds of winning. But Elliott – who, not too long ago, publicly complained about not getting enough red zone touches – quite literally fumbled that golden opportunity away. CeeDee Lamb gets blinded by Jerry Jones’ arrogance The Eagles did nothing with the Cowboys’ turnover, fumbling it themselves just two plays later. That set the Cowboys up right where they had just been: first and goal from the Philadelphia six-yard line. After an Elliott run cut that distance in half, Rush rolled out to his right and fired a shot to a wide-open CeeDee Lamb, who made no real effort to catch the ball. Right afterwards, cameras caught him signaling what appeared to be an admission that the sun had blinded him. Lamb confirmed this was the case after the game. CeeDee Lamb on not catching the potential touchdown pass from Cooper rush in the sun:“I couldn’t see.”Are you in favor of curtains in AT&T stadium?“1000 percent.”#DallasCowboys #cowboys #NFL pic.twitter.com/0i5y6Dvslq — Pat Doney (@PatDoneyNBC5) November 11, 2024 This was arguably the most frustrating part of the game, as it was yet another reminder of Jerry Jones’ arrogance and unwillingness to help his team out. Jones has repeatedly insisted that he’ll do whatever it takes to win, but that doesn’t mesh with his fierce insistence against simply putting up curtains in the stadium. This has happened several times before, and here it cost the Cowboys a second straight shot at taking the lead. Dallas ultimately settled for a field goal on this drive. Big Jalen Hurts scramble flips field After the Cowboys settled for a field goal to cut the deficit to 7-6, the defense had a chance to keep it close. Outside of the drive that began in the red zone, the Eagles had punted or turned the ball over on every drive up to this point. But Philadelphia started executing their two minute offense and began moving the ball down the field with ease. Dallas took a timeout after giving up a third-down conversion right near midfield. On the ensuing play, the Cowboys had everything covered and Jalen Hurts was standing in the pocket looking for an open man. Then, he decided to scramble, and found nothing but open room for a whopping 24 yards. The defense had done a good job keeping Hurts in the pocket, and the pass rush got to him several times throughout the game. But this breakdown came at the worst moment, and it completely flipped the field. Hurts’ scramble came with just a minute left, and without it the Eagles may have had to settle for a long field goal attempt. But the big gain set up a touchdown to extend the lead to a near-insurmountable 14-6 at halftime. Cooper DeJean’s big punt return sets up easy touchdown To the credit of Mike Zimmer’s unit, the defense did not fall apart after that big scramble to end the first half. They forced a three-and-out on the opening drive, but the Cowboys offense returned the favor with a punt of their own. Bryan Anger boomed the punt way downfield, with rookie returner Cooper DeJean catching it at the Eagles’ own 32-yard line. He evaded the first tackler and cut to the far side of the field, getting an angle on the coverage unit. By the time he went out of bounds,

Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The latest and greatest Dallas Cowboys news. Micah: Cowboys’ defense has to ‘be the light’, can build on hot start vs. Eagles – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com Micah Parsons had another message that got lost in his Mike McCarthy comments. “Honestly, it felt great [to be out there],” said the All-Pro pass rusher. “I felt the energy on the sidelines was different. Being back with the guys was different, and you could tell the guys felt the energy that I was bringing. I just wanted to bring some juice to the team and I felt, for the most part, the defense played a pretty good game.” […] That said, what is the message in the locker room — sitting three games below .500? “We had a great message in chapel this week: You’ve gotta be the light. Even when the other side — the offense’s light— isn’t shining as bright as in the past … we’ve gotta be the offense’s light this time.” To Parsons, that means the defense will need to figure out a way to take their play from the first two quarters against the Eagles and spread it over each and every single quarter of football from here on out, given the context of a situation that includes quarterback Dak Prescott likely being done for the season with a severe hamstring injury. There’s currently little else to tie any hope to, as Cooper Rush and the offense moved in the wrong direction against the Eagles. “Hey, like I said, be the light,” said Parsons. “You can’t let it get to you. Understand that our quarterback is out, things ain’t always going to be how you expect it, and we kind of just gotta be the light; and I just gotta be on the sideline bringing the guys back up [emotionally]. It’s hard, but we’ve gotta do our job. “… It’s one of [those] years. It’s challenging but we got to be the light for everybody.” Mike McCarthy, Micah Parsons ‘had a conversation’ after edge rusher’s controversial comments following Cowboys loss – Jori Epstein, Yahoo Sports Setting up Mike McCarthy to fail this season was always a bad idea for the Cowboys, but the offense being as bad as it is has made the situation in Dallas a disaster. Micah Parsons generated headlines across social media and talk shows after Sunday night comments about his coach’s work ethic and the relative concern for McCarthy’s job status compared to his teammates’ looming retirement. “When [something] does create questions for others in the locker room, something that I’ve always done: Conversation has to happen,” McCarthy said. “So Micah and I had a conversation this morning about it. Handled those things as men should handle it.” Questions about McCarthy’s job status are heightening as the Cowboys sit at 3-6 during the final year of their head coach’s contract. McCarthy led the Cowboys to three 12-win seasons from 2021 through 2023. But early playoff exits, including a blowout home loss to the Green Bay Packers in January, kept team owner Jerry Jones from extending McCarthy’s contract past the 2024 season. With eight games to play, the Cowboys have a 1 percent chance of making the playoffs this season, per The Athletic’s playoff predictor. Blueprint Cowboys Must Follow This Offseason to Become NFL Contender Again – Alex Kay, Bleacher Report This is going to be one of the most seismic offseasons in the history of the Dallas Cowboys. Reload the Running Back Platoon Besides keeping McCarthy, Dallas’ other most head-scratching offseason decision was not taking a promising running back prospect in the 2024 NFL draft. After letting incumbent starter Tony Pollard walk in free agency with no proven depth behind him, the Cowboys instead re-signed the aging and ineffective Ezekiel Elliott to lead their backfield. The results have been predictably poor. Dallas is now averaging fewer rushing yards (83.7 per game) than any team besides the Las Vegas Raiders this year. The Cowboys have scored just three touchdowns on the ground across nine games, tying them with the Cleveland Browns for fewest in the league. Elliott has been particularly horrendous, averaging only 3.2 yards per carry and generating just eight first downs across 54 totes. Rico Dowdle has become Dallas’ top option since he’s the only effective ball-carrier on the roster, but even he leaves something to be desired. He has 374 yards and zero touchdowns on 83 carries. Dalvin Cook (2.5 YPC), Hunter Luepke (3.2 YPC) and Deuce Vaughn (2.9 YPC) are clearly not viable solutions, either. The Cowboys need to expend some capital on the position during the 2025 NFL draft. Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins—both of whom rank in the top 20 of the B/R Scouting Department’s initial big board—could immediately change the fortunes of this flailing backfield and provide a much-needed spark as rookies. The Cowboys haven’t used a Day 1 or 2 pick on a running back since selecting Elliott at No. 4 overall in 2016. They’re long overdue to take one early to finally patch this glaring hole. Mike McCarthy: Cooper Rush will remain starting quarterback for Dallas Cowboys – RJ Ochoa, Blogging The Boys Trey Lance did come in for Cooper Rush at the end of Week 10’s home loss to the Eagles, but Rush will remain the starter going into a primetime game vs. the Texans next Monday. The Cowboys aren’t in action again for a full week as they will host the Houston Texans next week on Monday Night Football. That is Cooper Rush in primetime, baby. In Rush’s defense he has only started one game for the team, an objectively awful one, and that is a very small sample size. On the other hand though, this Cowboys team is, and has been, going nowhere for a long time now which means giving Lance a full and firm opportunity could be in everyone’s best interest. What’s more is, as has been noted,