ATLANTA – We've heard of that ol' saying about "adding insult to injury."
Well, the Dallas Cowboys reversed that here Sunday afternoon. They "added injury to insult.
The insult?
Falcons 27, Cowboys 21, Dak Prescott describing the team afterward as "obviously frustrated, obviously disappointed. … Thought we could get this, set up well for us, yeah, didn't get it done."
My thinking was just the same. Thought the Cowboys could end their second two-game losing streak of the season despite the Falcons coming into this game with a 5-3 record, winners of four of their last five. Guess put too much credence into Seattle, a now 4-5 team, with Geno Smith at quarterback beating the Falcons 34-14. Thirty-four now.
Instead, the Cowboys have suffered their first three-game losing streak since 2020, dropping their record to 3-5 and falling 3½ games behind the surging Washington Commanders in the NFC East and about to lose touch with their playoff ambitions, knowing up next are the 6-2 Eagles, the 6-3 Texans and the 7-2 Commanders, already now having lost these past three games to teams with records of 7-1 (Detroit), 4-4 (San Francisco) and now 6-3 (Atlanta), a combined record of 17-8.
The forecast seems dire. Dim, too.
Now for the injury compounding this insulting loss, one leaving the normally optimistic owner Jerry Jones saying, "I am concerned."
Prescott has a hamstring strain, one serious enough to miss the entire fourth quarter, wanting to return from something he said he had never felt before after being tackled and then unable to put anything into his next pass attempt. But when asking the medical staff if he was in jeopardy of making the injury worse by continuing to play, he did the wise thing handing the keys over to Cooper Rush.
As if so far this season it hasn't been enough heading into Game 8 playing without Micah Parsons, DaRon Bland, DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland, Sam Williams and Brandin Cooks, and almost Trevon Diggs, who pushed through a strained calf muscle that kept him out of practice all week, now this, Dak, along with backup safety Juanyeh Thomas (concussion).
Saying this is one of those "we'll see" injuries, Dak needed an MRI on Monday to determine how serious the strain really is, although QB1 did state just before leaving the interview room, "Hard for me to say if I'll be out there next week." But he can say, as we were boarding the charter flight home, his right hand that TV cameras caught him looking at on the sideline was no more than a minor cut bleeding. That no big deal.
But the other big deal could be CeeDee Lamb's shoulder, a right AC joint strain also in need of an MRI on Monday. He talked his way back in the game late to catch that two-point conversion pass from Cooper Rush pulling Dallas to within one score that was rendered moot when the Cowboys were unable to recover Brandon Aubrey's watermelon onside kick with 1:28 left in the game.
Is there any end to the health misfortune at the unofficial halfway point of this season?
"We just really need to keep the focus narrow, and thought we were doing that coming into this game," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy lamented, probably figuring in order to at least reach 9-8 and a chance to qualify for the playoffs, his team first must get some of these Pro Bowl players back on the field and then win at least six of the final nine games.
Seems the Cowboys are playing Whac-A-Mole with their problems this season. Usually in their losses they've been unable to run the football. Well, in this game they ran for 137 yards, led by Rico Dowdle's 12 carries for 75 yards (6.3 a carry) along with 107 total yards from scrimmage, his second 100-yarder this season.
Usually in these losses, teams have run rampart over the Cowboys, opponents averaging 212 yards a game. But in this one they held the Falcons to 100 yards, 3.3 a carry, though Bijan Robinson added 59 yards receiving to his 86 rushing.
Usually, they have turned the red zone into the dead zone in those losses, converting those possessions inside the 20 into touchdowns over the first seven games at a 42.1 percent rate, ranking 31st in the NFL. But in this one they converted touchdowns on two of three opportunities.
However, in this one, here is a new crinkle. Third- and fourth-down conversion attempts turning into rare occurrences. Look at it this way. The Cowboys converted just 3 of 13 third-down opportunities, a woeful 23.1 percent. Forced into gambling thanks to their defensive shortcomings, this inconsistent offense converted just one of five fourth-down attempts. Combined, that's a grand total of an anemic 4 for 18, but 22 percent.
And a couple of the misses cost them dearly. Trailing just 7-3 with 11:26 left in the second quarter, the Cowboys tried a Lamb end-around on fourth-and-1 from the Atlanta 44-yard line. Came up snake-eyes, losing three yards. Five plays and 53 yards later, Falcons 14, Cowboys 3.
First possession of the third quarter, now down only 14-10, the Cowboys were facing fourth-and-2 from their own 38-yard line. Decided to pull out a fake punt, Bryan Anger throwing to gunner C.J. Goodwin. Unfortunately, Falcons cornerback Natrone Brooks was anticipating such shenanigans, and instead of an expected bailing out, he stayed on Goodwin man-to-man, incomplete, Goodwin saying, "He kind of knew it was coming. … He was waiting on it," though slipping down trying to untangle himself. Play should have been called off once seeing the alignment.
Once again, five plays, just 38 yards later, it was now 21-10, the gamble precipitated by the Cowboys struggling to put pressure on Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who at one point in the first half had completed 13 consecutive passes.
And on their next possession, facing a fourth and-1 at the Atlanta 49-yard line, again desperate to retain possession barely crossing the 50, the Cowboys were called for 12 guys in the huddle, having run on fullback Hunter Luepke but failing to get Dalvin Cook out of the huddle. Minus-5, and now punting.
Little things like that turn into huge things when once again the Cowboys mounted a rally, too little too late, outscoring the Falcons the rest of the way, 11-6, sort of like what took place late in the Baltimore three-point loss and again in the six-point loss to San Francisco when actually earning one more possession down just six only to go four-and-out.
So as bad as 3-5 looks, getting wiped out by New Orleans and Detroit, the Cowboys have now lost three games by 3, by 6 and now by six again.
"Some games, they're all there in front of us, a lot of division games starting next week, right, the second one of the year," Dak says. "Sometimes in this league, it takes just one. It takes one to get it going, get that confidence back, feel good and rally from there.
"I'm not looking too far ahead, it's about getting our bodies back and healthy tomorrow, trying everything in our power to put on our best performance next week, it's at home, and against a good Philly team."
Sounds right. But can't continue to keep absorbing these insulting losses on top of these debilitating injuries to prime-time players.
