ATLANTA – So often in life we ​​use the expression “at the end of the day…”

It seems like an all-encompassing sentence that puts a bow on what just happened. Well, how about we talk about “at the beginning of the day” because that’s what makes this team lose games.

Certainly, hitting back doesn’t seem to be an issue for the Cowboys this year. However, landing the first punch, or three, was the problem and once again it was the difference here against the Falcons.

As in any fight, whoever strikes first – especially in a haymaker – is in control. Not only did the Falcons do that, they built a 14-3 lead that turned into a 21-10 lead, and the Cowboys never recovered.

They didn’t recover at all from the Saints in Week 2. The following week they tried to rally against the Ravens, but it was too late. We saw it last week against the 49ers and again against the Falcons.

Sure, the Cowboys will fight, scratch, claw, and whatever other “fight” synonyms you want to throw out there. But the problem is that they don’t get the first punch, which means they don’t take the fight to their opponent.

Please, please, don’t confuse this column as a “Hey, at least they fought hard to the end” type article. That’s not what I’m saying at all. The Cowboys are paid professionals and have to fight for the full 60 minutes.

My point is that they never get out of the blocks first. And I’m not talking about hitting an early field goal and taking a 3-0 lead. I’m talking about this team getting the ball, whether it’s on the opening kickoff or their first possession or to start the third quarter, and going down and making a statement.

It just hasn’t happened — at all this entire season — and the Cowboys are paying for it.

They’re just not good enough to catch up, especially with a defense that can’t stop the run. When you’re down, the opponent is naturally going to run the ball, and this Cowboys team isn’t equipped to keep playing from behind.

And if that’s never resolved this year, the Cowboys will continue to play games like this. Certainly, it’s admirable that they keep fighting – injuries and all. I’m certainly not going to dismiss what I saw from CeeDee Lamb today.

Yeah, it’s so easy to assume that guys like CeeDee get paid and then don’t put in the same effort. If you believe that, watch these four quarters of football and wonder where he stands on the subject. His shoulder drooped the entire second half and he came out once or twice. But he still got back in to grab a two-point conversion.

I even tweeted in the fourth quarter that he should come out for good. Obviously I’m not a doctor or a trainer, but given the injury, he seemed to be in too much pain for a fourteen-point game late in the fourth quarter.

Jake Ferguson was in much the same situation as it seemed, limping in and out of the game in the second half. So yeah, they kept fighting. Even Dak Prescott had to battle the hamstring injury for a few plays before being pulled from the game.

Again, I don’t question their commitment, heart, grit, intensity or anything like that. They turned this match into a six-point finish when it felt more like a blowout. They did the same last week against the 49ers and also against the Ravens.

But I’ve said this statement time and time again during my time with the Cowboys: Teams can win and lose games in the middle of the week.

And it seems to happen over and over again where the Cowboys lose due to a lack of preparation. They don’t seem ready for a full four-quarter execution period.

Even in this game, they certainly got off to a good start – by this year’s standards – getting a stop on the first drive and moving the ball on offense on the first possession. But it’s the little things. A false start here, illegal move there, missed block here and twelve men in the group there. (Honestly, I think I covered one ride in the third quarter). But that’s the epitome of what’s hurting this team.

I don’t think the Falcons are head and shoulders better than the Cowboys from a talent perspective, but they don’t have to be. Atlanta had four penalties for 26 yards and the Cowboys had nine penalties for 55 yards.

The Falcons themselves didn’t exactly play clean football with a turnover and a missed extra point. But they seemed to take advantage of the Cowboys’ missteps when they needed to.

Putting it all together, the Cowboys had plenty of chances to win this game. But they fell short too often on offense, they just didn’t play enough on defense and even on special teams they lost the battle with a few costly penalties and a botched fake punt.

It’s like two golfers playing a round of 18 holes. One always gets a par and the other gets bogeys. On each hole it is only a 5 and a 4 on the scorecard. But if you add that up at the end of the day, it’s a difference of 18 strokes.

This final score wasn’t that big of a margin, but you get what I mean. The Cowboys were there in almost every category, but ultimately not good enough.

And again, it’s because they definitely weren’t good enough to begin with.