FRISCO, Texas – Somehow, the Cowboys are still in first place in the NFC East with a 2-4 record after Monday's 38-10 home loss to Arizona.
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones wasn't in much of a "feel-good mood" Tuesday morning, though.
For the fifth straight game, the Cowboys fell behind by at least two touchdowns. This time, with quarterback Dak Prescott sidelined by recent ankle surgery, there was no second-half comeback. The 10 points scored was a season-low and the 28-point margin was a season-worst.
"We just got outplayed," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. "Sometimes when you have a game that you can point your finger directly at the issues and field position, turnovers, some of the just specific reasons why you didn't win the football game, it's easy to point to those. The facts are that we were just outplayed."
The Cowboys also beat themselves with four more turnovers, pushing their season total to a league-high 15. Arizona scored 24 of its 38 points off those miscues.
To make matters worse, Zack Martin became the fourth offensive line starter to suffer an injury this season. The All-Pro right guard left the game with a concussion in the first half and will be in the league's concussion protocol this week, making his status for Week 7 at Washington uncertain at the moment.
The injuries have piled up all season, and Prescott's injury is the biggest obstacle. He's expected to miss four-to-six months following a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle Oct. 12 against the Giants. Jones and the Cowboys have a lot of confidence in backup Andy Dalton (34-of-44 against Arizona for 266 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions) but have to give him more help.
It starts with eliminating those slow starts and giveaways. Do that, and Jones believes there's still enough talent available to win games.
"What I do feel good about with this entire group is our ability … we do have the ability and we do have the talent to make adjustments and play football with the personnel that we have. We just haven't done it," Jones said. "We will not have success until we take the personnel that we've got today and put it out there, not giving ourselves a big hole when we start the game to dig out of."
