Mike McCarthy delivers blunt assessment of Cowboys as continued spiral spoils 61st anniversary

The head coach led an offense that gave the Cowboys absolutely no chance of beating Philadelphia and offered little hope that the country could quickly pull itself out of this dysfunctional spiral.

The Cowboys’ season (and perhaps much more) came to a screeching halt against the Eagles

Lament the season-ending loss of Dak Prescott — an assumption that should become reality Monday once the quarterback receives the final opinion on the partial avulsion of his right hamstring — all you want. The plight of this once-prolific offense forced McCarthy to do something he rarely does in post-game press conferences.

“You can’t win games by turning the ball over five times, I don’t care who’s in line,” McCarthy said in the aftermath of the Eagles 34-6 win. “That’s the part we have to get right.”

Dallas has now lost more games (3-6) than in the previous three seasons. The Cowboys are riding a four-game losing streak entering next week’s game against Houston, the longest the team has endured since McCarthy’s first season as head coach.

If you haven’t heard, McCarthy is in the final year of his contract. So are his staff. Owner Jerry Jones stated again on Sunday that he does not plan to make a coaching change during the season.

The more cynical among you can determine whether that is a kindness or a punishment.

Here’s the problem. Cooper Rush was the starter before Sunday’s 5-1 loss. The Cowboys have eight games left in the regular season. Before this game, it was reasonable to expect that McCarthy would have resisted the clamor to start Trey Lance until some time after Thanksgiving, especially since next Monday night’s game against the Texans kicks off a three-game-in-eleven-day stretch for Dallas.

But everything is on the table after Rush threw for just 45 yards in his 13 completions. CeeDee Lamb led the team in receiving with six catches for 21 yards.

Lamb was asked why Rush wasn’t nearly as effective as he was in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to Atlanta, when he came on for Prescott.

“I don’t think he got the right opportunities in certain situations and certain plays,” Lamb said. “I feel like we could have been better in that area.”

“We just didn’t execute because of the foul on the plays that were called,” Lamb said.

“We didn’t do a good enough job,” he said. ‘We clearly didn’t get through security well enough. We didn’t throw well enough. I didn’t call plays good enough. But I’m not going to sugarcoat this.

“You can’t win if you don’t take care of the damn ball. It is unacceptable.”

Rush lost two fumbles, the first of which came in the shadow of the goalposts, leaving the Eagles with just 17 yards to navigate for a touchdown to take a 7–0 lead.

Ezekiel Elliott, inactive a week ago due to missed meets, fumbled 3 yards out of the Eagles end zone in the second quarter.

Tight end Jake Ferguson lost a fumble. Lamb lost what should have been a touchdown pass in the sun. Lance threw an interception.

“It’s hard not to withdraw when you’re in this place,” McCarthy said. “I mean, anyone who’s ever called plays, believe me, we’re not in a place right now, and damn, we haven’t been in that place that much this year, where we’re playing wide open with our hair on fire. That’s just not where we are right now as an offense.

“I don’t want to take the air out of the ball. We can’t turn it around. I mean, these last two home games, our fans should be angry. That’s not what we’re about.”

The Cowboys’ top three defensemen showed up against the Eagles, but they can’t do it alone

The Cowboys have turned the ball over 10 times in their last two games at AT&T Stadium. The team hasn’t scored a touchdown at home since losing to Baltimore on September 22.

It wasn’t a good day for Tom Landry either. The first coach in Cowboys history and a World War II veteran was recognized for his service as part of a video montage honoring veterans in Sunday’s game.

“Our last two home games we’ve had 10 giveaways,” McCarthy said, shaking his head. “You can’t win games at such a level.

Watch David Moore and Robert Wilonsky co-host Intentional Grounding on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) via the Super Bowl every Wednesday from 7-8 PM.