Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images Who wins tonight… Cincinnati or Baltimore? The Cincinnati Bengals play the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football. FanDuel has the Ravens as 5.5-point favorites over the Bengals. Final score prediction: Ravens 31 – Bengals 23. Check out FanDuel for all of your NFL betting needs. This is an open thread for game chat.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images A loss to the Eagles on Sunday would put the Cowboys in some pretty bad historical company. There are two teams who have yet to win a game at home this season. As we reach the double-digit week portion of the NFL season only the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys have lost every home game that they have played so far. It goes without saying that this is not a list that you want to be on. Focusing on the Cowboys here, they have only lost three games at home this season specifically. If we date things back to last year and include the playoffs though, then that number grows to four thanks to the Green Bay Packers. This is the necessary context for the rest of our conversation. Shout out to Stathead and Pro Football Reference for the assists on these searches. Another home loss breaks a franchise tie that the current Cowboys are currently a part of As noted, the Cowboys have an active home game losing streak of four games. This is tied for the fourth-longest streak of such kind in franchise history with a few different other groups. If Dallas loses another home game they will sit in fourth place (if we want to call it that) all alone and trail the 1960 group by just a single game. Consider that the 1960 team you see here did lose six consecutive games at home, and that they were literally the first six home games in franchise history. That is the company the current team is approaching. There are six home games remaining on the season and if Dallas were to lose them all then they would surpass the mostly 2015 group that was dreadful without Tony Romo under center. As things currently stand eight consecutive games lost is the longest streak ever at AT&T Stadium which as mentioned is technically in some level of jeopardy at the moment. A home loss would tie the longest active streak in the NFL for the Cowboys At the moment there are three teams across the league with active home game loss streaks of at least four contests. You know the Cowboys are one, likely assumed that the Giants were, and the other is the Seattle Seahawks. New York and Seattle are technically safe this week in that the former is visiting the Carolina Panthers (without Jonathan Mingo!) and the latter is on bye. This means that if the Cowboys do lose that they will end Week 10 tied for the longest active home game loss streak in the NFL. If you are curious, these are the remaining home games for each of the three beginning with Week 11: Giants: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts Seahawks: Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings Cowboys: Houston Texans, New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders Interestingly, New York is on bye in Week 11 while Seattle is on the road (a reversal of the roles as they are this week) which means that if Dallas loses to both the Eagles and Texans that they will end that week with the longest streak in the NFL. The number to avoid is 415 We talked about this a few weeks ago in our historical notes after the loss to the Detroit Lions, but given that this is the first home game since then it is worth bringing back up. At the moment the Cowboys are riding a different sort of streak at home. For five consecutive games in their building now, this dates all the way back to the Lions win late last season, the Cowboys have allowed 415 total yards against them. That is a lot! You can see that only one other team in NFL history has had a streak of such kind in the 2012 New Orleans Saints. Those Saints literally did not have their head coach at the time as Sean Payton was serving his season-long suspension for the team’s Bountygate scandal. If the Eagles are able to produce at least 415 total yards in this game then the Cowboys will have the longest streak of this kind of any team ever in NFL history. For what it’s worth, Philadelphia has only broken the 415 total yards seal twice this season, although the most recent instance of it was last week in their win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images It’s getting rough for Cowboys fans in 2024, but there are still things to hope for across the week as a whole. Now at 3-5 and having lost QB Dak Prescott for multiple weeks, if not the rest of the season, the Cowboys’ chances in 2024 have all but evaporated. But as eyes turn away from the playoffs, we now focus on the 2025 NFL Draft and how high up the board Dallas could now land. That means, with adjusted priorities, we should still be very interested in how the rest of the league is doing from week to week. Our rooting guides have previously focused on playoff contenders in the NFC. But as we turn our attention to the draft, the AFC becomes equally important. The Jaguars can just as easily trump the Cowboys for a higher pick as the Panthers, so we’ll be widening our scope for the rest of the season. Of course, anything can happen with nine games still to play. If Dallas somehow gets back into the playoff picture then we’ll pivot again. But we’re keeping it real and going with what seems far more attainable for our struggling team. Here are the current standings at the bottom of the NFL. As we get closer to Week 18 we’ll dive more into tiebreakers like strength of schedule and head-to-head wins. For now, we’ll just keep it simple with the overall records and hope for more clarity as the season goes. Cleveland Browns (2-7) Carolina Panthers (2-7) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7) Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) New Orleans Saints (2-7) New England Patriots (2-7) New York Giants (2-7) Tennessee Titans (2-6) Miami Dolphins (2-6) New York (3-6) Dallas Cowboys (3-5) Thanks to some teams having not had their bye weeks yet, the Cowboys are the only 3-5 team in the league. Several teams (Bengals, Bucs, Colts, Seahawks) are right behind them with 4-5 records, and we’ll pull them into the list if they start getting in Dallas’ way. But for now, the Cowboys would have the 11th pick in the 2025 Draft. They’ll likely move up the board this week with the Eagles coming to town. Dallas would’ve been the underdogs even with Prescott, and now Cooper Rush is in the unenviable position of dealing with Philly in his first start since 2022. Even if Micah Parsons makes his return, the Cowboys still feel woefully outmatched in this one. So with draft positioning now the focus, what should you root for in the rest of the Week 10 schedule? Giants over Panthers Both are 2-7, so why prefer New York winning over Carolina? The G-Men have an arguably tougher schedule the rest of the way, especially with Baltimore, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia making up their final four weeks. The Panthers do have some tough ones left themselves like Kansas City in Week 12, but they could easily snag a few more wins in a weak NFC South. If the goal is to get below both of these teams in the standings, a Giants win could give Dallas a better shot. Buccaneers over 49ers This one’s a little interesting because if 4-5 Tampa beats 4-4 San Francisco, that would flip things between them in terms of a .500 team and a losing team. Between them both, the Niners feel more likely to settle down and make a run in the back half of the season. Christian McCaffrey should be back soon and that will likely propel San Francisco away from the Cowboys. Patriots over BearsDolphins over RamsBengals over RavensColts over BillsSaints over FalconsJaguars over VikingsJets over CardinalsTitans over Chargers These are all easy picks; losing teams getting upsets over opponents with .500 or better records. Some of the margins are slim, like those Patriots-Bears or Dolphins-Rams games, but it’s all about the standings math at this point. If the Cowboys are going to have a bad year, then all we can do is hope for some kind of reward for it through the draft. There are three other games on the Week 10 schedule: Broncos @ Chiefs, Steelers @ Commanders, and Lions @ Texans. But with Denver at 5-4 and the rest even better, these outcomes feel irrelevant to the Cowboys.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Everything feels chaotic around the Cowboys right now. Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy entered the 2024 NFL season already on shaky ground. After his Cowboys were demolished in the playoffs by the Green Bay Packers to end the 2023 season, there was a discussion about Jerry Jones going ahead and firing him then and starting anew. Jerry Jones decided not to do that, but he also didn’t extend McCarthy’s contract, creating a lame-duck season for the veteran coach. Now the season is spiraling down. Dallas has a 3-5 record, haven’t played well in many of their games, and face a prolonged absence from their starting quarterback. Dak Prescott will miss significant time due to a hamstring injury, leaving the Cowboys season even bleaker than it was the previous week. It has been argued that the Jones family didn’t really put all their resources into this season, setting McCarthy up to fail and then let the whole franchise undergo a re-build for 2025. The question we have for your today, besides our standard confidence question, is whether Jerry Jones should just go ahead and fire McCarthy now or let him serve out the rest of the season? Vote in the poll then hit the comments. Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Dallas Cowboys fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Please take our survey

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images It’s time for the Cowboys to turn their attention to the future. 2024 is a lost season for the Dallas Cowboys. Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury that will force him to miss at least the next four games was the kiss of death for a Cowboys’ season that never really had any real hope. It’s time for Dallas to turn their attention to the future and make moves that will benefit them next year and for years to come. With that big picture in mind, today we look at two young players the Cowboys should use more as they play out the stretch this season. Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images 1) OL Asim Richards Coming into the season there was plenty of hope that the Cowboys’ new-look offensive line could be their best in years. Dallas’ two rookie starters, Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe, have had plenty of ups and downs, but they have not been the biggest problem on the offensive line. Shockingly, Dallas’ right side of their line, featuring All-Pro Zack Martin and right tackle Terence Steele, has been extremely disappointing. While Martin has not played up to his high standard, it’s unlikely the Cowboys would make a move involving him considering there’s a good chance he’s in his final season in the NFL. Steele, on the other hand, is a much different story. This was supposed to be a big year for the 27-year-old tackle as he entered his second season post-ACL/MCL tear back in late 2022. So far, Steele has played just as poorly as he did last season. Steele has allowed 25 pressures and six sacks, both in the top five most in the league. He’s on pace to allow more pressures (56) than he did last season when he finished tied for fifth among all offensive linemen. It’s pretty clear that Steele is not going to be a part of Dallas’ long-term future and they need to start considering their other internal options. One way to do so would be to give 2023 fifth-round pick Asim Richards some playing time down the stretch. Richards got in for a brief moment in last week’s game at left tackle when Tyler Guyton departed with an injury. If the Cowboys were to insert Richards in the lineup, they could play him at right or left tackle, either keeping the rookie Guyton in his current spot or moving him back to his natural position on the right side and sliding Richards in on the left. There’s a chance Richards isn’t able to live up to being a starting-caliber NFL tackle, but in an essentially lost season, the Cowboys have no reason not to figure out what he’s capable of. It’s time for the Cowboys to realize they must cut their losses and try to find out who can start at tackle alongside Guyton next season. Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images 2) LB Marist Liufau Similar to the offensive line, the Cowboys need to think of their long-term future at the linebacker spot. Veteran Erik Kendricks has been a nice addition to the defense and has played some good football at times, but at age 32 on a one-year deal it seems pretty unlikely the veteran will be back in Dallas next season. If that is the case, barring an unlikely early draft pick or free agency signing, Dallas will need 2024 third-round pick Marist Liufau to step up in a big way next year. Liufau has gotten some decent playing time this year as a rookie linebacker, playing at least 25 defensive snaps in five of Dallas’ eight games. On the year, Liufau has 11 total tackles, and eight defensive stops and has allowed just three catches for 36 yards in coverage. It hasn’t all been pretty, but Liufau has shown he has the potential to be a starting-caliber linebacker in the NFL. The Cowboys just invested a third-round pick on the Notre Dame product, so they’ll need him to step up alongside DeMarvion Overshown in the coming seasons as the faces of the linebacking corps. Taking Kendricks off the field in favor of Liufau will hurt the Cowboys’ defense in the short term, but it’s the best move for the future of the franchise. It does not have to be a full switch, but the Cowboys need to start giving Liufau more snaps moving forward, even if it means sacrificing their most experienced linebackers’ playing time.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys Rumors: Dak Prescott’s Injury Diagnosed as Tendon Partially Torn off Bone – Doric Sam, Bleacher Report The news continues to worsen for Dallas. Dallas Cowboys star Dak Prescott suffered a partial avulsion of his hamstring tendon based on an initial examination, according to NFL Network’s Jane Slater. Slater reported a recovery “typically” requires more than a four-week recovery, though Prescott is soliciting additional medical opinions. That’s why the Cowboys haven’t officially placed him on injured reserve just yet. The veteran quarterback picked up the right hamstring injury in Dallas’ Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the 31-year-old is “expected to miss several weeks.” He reportedly was seeking a second opinion that would help the Cowboys determine whether or not to place him on injured reserve, which would rule him out for a minimum of three games. Prescott and the Cowboys had struggled to find consistency this season, with the team losing three straight games to fall to 3-5 before he went down with the injury. He threw for 1,978 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 64.7 percent of his passes. He had thrown nine interceptions in all of 2023 against a league-high 36 touchdowns. Without Prescott, Dallas will turn to veteran backup Cooper Rush to start under center. The 30-year-old has a career record of 5-1 as a starter, including a 4-1 run in 2022 when he was thrust into action after Prescott suffered a thumb injury in the season opener. The Cowboys chose not to add another quarterback at the trade deadline. Prescott has endured multiple injuries throughout the years. Since 2020, he’s missed time with a fractured and dislocated ankle, a calf strain and a broken thumb. He’s no stranger to making a comeback, so Dallas is certainly hoping he will perform like his old self when he’s healthy enough to return. NFL insiders regard trade price Cowboys paid for Jonathan Mingo as ‘shocker’ – RJ Ochoa, BloggingtheBoys.com Many from around the league are surprised at the compensation Dallas provided in their trade. ESPN discussed all of the action and noted insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano discussed how the Mingo trade was a “shocker” and that the Panthers were “eager” to deal him. Fowler: Carolina getting a fourth-rounder from Dallas in exchange for Mingo was a shocker. Former Day 2 picks who are out of the lineup typically don’t garner that. The Panthers were eager to deal him. Yes, contractual control was a factor in his value. Mingo is in the second year of his rookie deal, meaning Dallas has him under contract for the next 2½ seasons for slightly more than $4 million in total. The Cowboys felt they had to pay a premium for that, and Mingo does have some upside. But Carolina didn’t have much leverage here. On a day that mostly followed a well-worn script, this move was off script. Graziano: Yeah, Dallas wasn’t going to trade players and wasn’t going to make a move for a rental. The Cowboys liked Mingo when he came out in the 2023 draft, where he was the No. 39 pick, and they felt they needed some size in their wide receiver corps. Having Mingo under contract for two more years after this season justifies the price in their eyes; basically, they didn’t think they’d get anyone they liked better with that fourth-round pick. Fowler’s analysis is the more damning one as it is he who mentions the word shocker, that Carolina was eager and he even goes on to add that the Panthers had no leverage. All of that makes the trade even more confusing. Graziano also notes that the Cowboys feel that the two extra years of team control is what justifies the price, but he also adds that the group didn’t believe they could get anyone that they liked better with that fourth-round pick. Excuse me, but that is insane. Trey Lance ‘prepared’ in absence of Dak, praises Cooper Rush – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com It may finally be time to see what Dallas paid a fourth-rounder for before last season. FRISCO, Texas — The timeline for the return of Dak Prescott has yet to be determined by the Dallas Cowboys, though it’s likely he’ll be moved to injured reserve with the hamstring injury suffered against the Atlanta Falcons. In his absence, head coach Mike McCarthy has made it clear the quarterback rotation will feature Cooper Rush as QB1 and Trey Lance on standby as QB2. For Lance, this marks the closest he’s been to meaningful in-game action for the Cowboys since arriving via trade with the San Francisco 49ers in late August 2023, his only game action thus far having occurred in this year’s preseason slate. “Last year was probably a whole different story,” said the former third-overall pick. “But having gone through the whole offseason program, and this season up to this point — great coaches, great guys around me — I feel prepared if that opportunity does happen at some point.” “Man, you saw it,” said Lance of Rush. “I think, on Sunday, he made a ton of plays and I think we didn’t make as many plays as we needed to in the game, but I think he came in and gave us every opportunity to win.” NFL trade deadline winners and losers: While Chiefs and Lions bolster Super Bowl hopes, Cowboys sacrifice only their future – Jori Epstein, Yahoo! Sports You’d be hard-pressed to find someone considering Dallas’ trade a success. NFL teams cast their final roster votes Tuesday as the league’s trade deadline arrived halfway through the 2024 regular season. Eight players were swapped Tuesday before the 4 p.m. ET deadline, bringing the final count to 18 moves during the league’s trading period. Receivers accounted for the most frequently traded position (six) and highest-profile trades (looking at you, Davante Adams), while edge rusher ranked second, attracting

Brett Davis-Imagn Images The Dallas Cowboys made some more unfortunate history during and as a result of their loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in a game that felt somewhat close, but honestly never really was. On the whole the Falcons do not appear to be a particularly robust team, but the Cowboys could not push them around at all and even though they “only” lost by six points, they were sent home after not really or ever fully competing at any one point. The days since have brought all sorts of headlines for the team. Dak Prescott will miss time with a hamstring injury suffered during the game, CeeDee Lamb sprained his AC joint and could also be out for a while and, oh yea, the team traded for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo and surrendered their 2025 fourth-round pick to do so. But before we fully put the Atlanta loss in the box of things that we will never discuss again, we have to look at it through the prism of history. As we do every week, we have assessed certain marks and points from the contest relative to Dallas Cowboys franchise history as well as history across the rest of the league. Thanks to our friends at Stathead and Pro Football Reference who have the tools that make these kinds of searches possible. Rico Dowdle is unquestionably the best running back on this roster To say there was some drama surrounding who would be active for the Cowboys at the running back position in this game would be putting it mildly. Nevertheless, Rico Dowdle was the featured back and made do with his opportunities. In this game Dowdle had 12 carries and amassed 75 yards which is good for north of six YPC. Above, you are looking at the last 10 performances in franchise history where a runner had at least 12 carries and 6.0 YPC. Note that one had not happened in almost an entire year, it was Tony Pollard on Thanksgiving last season, but that Dowdle was the most recent one to do it before him. He has earned his spot. Nobody else should get any serious amount of carries. This offense is so bad at scoring points which is kind of important The team who scores the most points in a given game wins it. Those are the rules. I regret to inform you that the Dallas Cowboys are not exactly good at doing this! To this point in the season the Cowboys have scored only 171 points. This is the fewest amount of points through the first eight games of any season in team history since 2018 (when they famously traded for Amari Cooper before the deadline… Jonathan Mingo, everybody!). Before that season? It was 2015 when everything was broken during Tony Romo’s injury. The argument that this team is putting up garbage time yards seems fair People like to say things along the lines of how the Cowboys amass work in the fourth quarter of games once things are well out of serious contention. Assessing whether or not an opposing team has checked out and isn’t trying as hard is obviously a bit difficult, but this piece of data sort of proves that point. Sort of because you have to rely somewhat on the proverbial eye test here. Consider that the Cowboys have already lost three games this season in which they have had over 350 total yards. The games in question were this most recent one as well as the losses to the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens. The eye test method tells us that the Cowboys were never really competitive in any of those games, in a true sense at least. Whatever the case, they are already climbing the ranks of franchise history for most losses of this variety. History tells us this team is not going to do much more this season We are in the middle of the 17th season in franchise history in which a Cowboys team had three or fewer wins through the first eight games of the season. As we noted last week, when forecasting this potential likelihood, only one of these teams has gone on to make the playoffs and it was that 2018 group we already referenced. Look at the final records for these teams. It is sobering. In 12 of the 16 non-2018 seasons the Cowboys finished with six or fewer wins. Dak Prescott had a rush of 22 yards, something that is not all too common for this team these days Getting back to the actual game for a second, an interesting moment was when quarterback Dak Prescott had a run of 22 yards. This was interesting given that the subject of Prescott running and utilizing his legs was a polarizing one all week, and he wound up doing it which was either supreme coincidence or the powers-that-be read this blog. Sup. It had been a very long time since the Cowboys saw any player run for at least 22 yards on a single play, The last instance of it was Prescott against the Miami Dolphins on Christmas Eve last year. Before him the last players to do it were KaVontae Turpin and CeeDee Lamb. You have to go all the way back to Thanksgiving of last year, a game we have referenced already, to find a running back who did it – Tony Pollard. Runs of 22 yards or more are not exactly common, but that the Cowboys went so long without one proves how non-explosive their offense has been for some time now. The Cowboys were really bad on third down and fourth down, despite a number of opportunities At one point in the Cowboys/Falcons game the FOX broadcast talked about how poor Dallas was on third and fourth down at the moment in question. With the game fully behind us, we can see that it was indeed quite