FRISCO, Texas – Here we go … again.
The 3-4, third-place-in-the-NFC-East Cowboys at the 5-3, first-place-in-the-NFC-South Falcons.
Yet another in a season-long string of pivotal games for these inconsistent Cowboys. Some might call Sunday's noon game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium a "must win game," though mathematically not so much, other than for the Cowboys to at least keep their heads at athletic sea level.
But as Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb qualifies, "Every game is a must win."
Well, the Cowboys have been here before. Even in the season opener at Cleveland, knowing starting 0-1 with New Orleans and Baltimore on deck could be detrimental to their chances of becoming the first NFC East team to repeat as division champs since the Eagles did so from 2001-04.
And they won. Nice, 1-0.
But then they got off to that 1-2 start, losing back-to-back games to the Saints and Ravens. Next the Cowboys had to play a Thursday night game against the Giants at MetLife Stadium, knowing falling to 1-3 with the next two games before the bye at Pittsburgh and home against Detroit could dig a hole too deep.
And they won.
Then on to Pittsburgh, not necessarily a "must win," but be nice to hit that six-game gauntlet facing Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston and Washington with a winning record.
And they won again. Beat Pittsburgh, a breath-sighing of relief to 3-2.
But now this: The second streak of back-to-back losses, first wiped out by Detroit and then last weekend after the bye crushed by San Francisco, thus the now 3-4 record.
That brings us to Sunday, and not since the COVID season of 2020 have the Cowboys lost three consecutive games, and that year actually four from Weeks 6-9 when they scored in succession but 10, 3, 9 and 19 points while losing to Arizona, Washington, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Now on to Atlanta, winners of four of its last five games, featuring a red-hot quarterback Kirk Cousins, this week's NFC Offensive Player of the Week and the No. 3 QB in passing yards, along with 2023 first-round running back Bijan Robinson, his 546 yards rushing ranking ninth in the NFL but fourth with 790 yards from scrimmage.
So to win this one, to reach .500 once again, the Cowboys need to, well heck, this is starting to sound like a broken record.
To steal a Bob Seger 1978 song title, it's "Still The Same" when coming to those keys to winning, now week after week after week.
Stop the run.
Run the ball more efficiently.
Get pressure on the quarterback, this time Cousins, one of the more stationary quarterbacks in the NFL, only leaves the pocket when absolutely necessary. And that's just 14 times so far this season, inconceivably totaling eight yards despite a long of 13.
Protect Dak.
Score touchdowns in the red zone.
Protect the ball.
And leave it to Lamb to hit the nail right on the head since it's been all these reasons in the four losses, three of those two teams either in first place in their division, tied for first place or a half-game out of first place.
"A sense of urgency to win, absolutely, yeah," Lamb says rhetorically. "But as far as a sense of urgency for anything else, we just need to get better overall in the end."
Second that notion.
Then there is this, the elephant in the room few want to give credence to, as if it's a lame excuse for the first half of the season's slow start.
Injuries.
We seem to talk about these injuries all week, every week. Who is practicing? Who isn't practicing? Who is limited practicing? Who has been placed on injured reserve? Who might return from injured reserve?
And guess what for Sunday in Atlanta?
"Still The Same."
In fact, this laundry list of injuries is just growing worse if that's even possible, compounded with those needed reinforcements not yet ready to come charging in over the hill to the rescue.
Here is what we've known. The top four defensive ends entering training camp don't seem even close to being ready. Sam Williams, out for the season. DeMarcus Ware and Marshawn Kneeland still on injured reserve, still working on the resistance cords. Micah Parsons more of the same, with some running starting to take place, those high ankle sprains tricky boogers. Not ready to practice, much less even play.
These things take time.
Now then, cornerback. Pro Bowler DaRon Bland, last year's NFL interception leader with nine, has yet to play, having surgery before the season began to repair his fractured fifth metatarsal, a plate with screws inserted to facilitate recovery. Remember back in 2014, the same injury kept Lawrence out the first eight games of his rookie season.
Bland has not practiced this week. He's out. At least rookie Caelen Carson, who had been starting in Bland's absence until missing the past four games with a shoulder injury, appears ready to return against the Falcons, removed from the injury report.
And that's a good thing because the guy who has started the past three games and played a half of a fourth, Amani Oruwariye, suffered the three fractured transverse processes late in the Niners game and has been placed on injured reserve. Seriously now. And potentially making matters worse, Trevon Diggs, just seven games into his return from last year's season-ending ACL injury, now has what he's calling a "tight" calf injury coming out of the San Francisco game.
Hasn't practiced yet this week. Rehabbing. Probably won't know his status until after Saturday's practice, being listed on the official injury report as "questionable." Hate to even have to say this, but if Diggs is out, the starters at corner Sunday against the NFL's sixth-ranked passing offense, averaging 250.9 yards a game and nearly eight yards a completion, will be Carson and either Josh Butler if he's elevated on game day from the practice squad, or second-year corner Andrew Booth, who's only start this season lasted but a half before Oruwariye took over against the Giants.
And look, that would mean a rookie starting at one corner and a guy in his second season on the Cowboys practice squad and yet to play in an NFL game on the other when the Cowboys are in their nickel defense, with veteran Jourdan Lewis in the slot. And unlike this past Sunday when Lewis started opposite Diggs with the Niners in a two-receiver set, Atlanta's base offense usually is three receivers.
Now let all that sink in.
Oh, and let's not forget Brandin Cooks, still on IR (knee infection after receiving that injection to speed the recovery of the knee soreness he sustained the end of training camp). The veteran wideout will miss the fourth game Sunday of his mandatory four-game stay on IR that began after the Week 4 win over the Giants but has a chance of returning next week.
Man, by the grace of our court systems, at least kicker Brandon Aubrey returned to practice Thursday after missing all last week serving jury duty in Fort Worth, even the second-year kicker shocked he was picked to sit on a felony trial since he pointed out to the judge he has a sister-in-law in the Dallas DA's office and an attorney brother.
Can't make this stuff up.
Look, get it. Every team has injuries. Happens every season, the Cowboys certainly not immune. But this many at these two positions at the same time? Get outta here.
Now, at some point in this season, all but Williams should return, and that includes veteran swing tackle Chuma Edoga, still on IR since the start of the season with a foot injury, and at least he's close.
So when asking why the Cowboys can't manufacture pressure on opposing quarterbacks, consider their two Pro Bowl defensive ends are out, and manning those two positions now are Chauncy Golston, Tyrus Wheat and two late roster additions, Carl Lawson and KJ Henry.
At linebacker now, two of the three starters are rookies. Two of the starting five on the offensive line are rookies, with veteran Pro Bowler Zack Martin trying to play through a shoulder injury.
With no Cooks, third-year receiver Jalen Tolbert has already played 388 snaps as the No. 2 guy, 88 percent of the snaps when having played a career-high 40 percent last season. After that, in the third receiver spot, it's been a combination of KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks and rookie Ryan Flournoy. Going into this season, those three receivers had a total of 19 NFL catches.
Look, these are not excuses for 3-4. Just facts to consider. And don't want to hear that tired old cliché that a $60 million a year quarterback, Dak Prescott, has to put the team on his back. He's not out there playing singles, OK. Not even doubles. What other sport starts 11 guys on each side of the ball, totaling 22, not counting special teams? Like in the last game, the Cowboys played 46 of 48 active players, the only two sitting were backup quarterback Cooper Rush and third running back Deuce Vaughn.
No one wants to say any of this. Not Dak. Not CeeDee. Not Zack. Not Mike McCarthy. They know what that sounds like.
As for Jerry, he'll go as far as saying the team is "green." He'll say the team is growing but will have more experience once the experienced players return.
"When I look at the whys that we're here, I really have a tough time getting past just sheer youth, sheer inexperience in the offensive line. And I have a tough time getting past that turnover (ratio)," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says of the team being a minus-8. "I'm telling you, when you look at that, and knowing what turnovers will do for you, we've had through seven games, we, the Cowboys, have turned the ball over 13 times. The entire year last year we didn't turn it over but 16 times."
Other than that, all being said seems to come from the book of clichés. Need more concentration. Need to execute. Need to communicate better. Need to pay better attention to detail. Fine.
The real need is putting better players on the field, not on injured reserve. Not in the training room. At least better players than the ones playing on the other team that day.
"It is what it is," Dak says of these first seven games. "We are 3-4 right now, and we have an opportunity to get back to even this week."
That the Cowboys do.
So on to Atlanta, trying to change that "same" broken record.
