The Dallas Cowboys were bad in every way possible against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. A few late heroics made the mess more bearable from a box score standpoint, but Dallas was down 28-6 when the Ravens decided to take their foot off the gas pedal. The move nearly cost Baltimore the win, but it didn’t, and that’s what matters in the end.

It was a terrible game for the Cowboys, yet another unfortunate masterpiece painted with their questionable brushes.

Thanks to our friends at Stathead and Pro Football Reference, we can help put some of the game into context within the long history of the Dallas Cowboys.

It was a historically bad day for run defense

In case you didn’t know, the Cowboys allowed the Ravens to rush for 274 yards. An opponent putting up that much of a score is not common in franchise history.

It was only the ninth time in franchise history that this had happened, the most recent occasion also coincidentally coming against the Ravens on that strange Tuesday night in 2020.

Speaking of history, the rushing performance has historically been bad

You don’t have to dig through history to know that the Cowboys are really bad at running the ball right now. But how bad are they?

Through the first three games of the season, the Cowboys have 221 rushing yards, the third-fewest rushing yards they’ve ever had through the first three games of a season.

Those were some dark days.

It will come as no surprise that the rush margin was terrible

While the Ravens were overwhelming the Cowboys, the Cowboys themselves were doing little of the same. Dallas produced just 51 yards on the ground to Baltimore’s 274. This was the third worst rushing margin in a single game in franchise history.

That this happened right after Jerry Jones proudly proclaimed how great the Cowboys offense was, and against Derrick Henry, is the ultimate theater.

Derrick Henry had a great day against the Cowboys

Forgive me if the screenshot here is long and long. The problem is that Derrick Henry did something against the Dallas Cowboys that no one has ever done. Not one.

To be more specific, Henry reached three specific thresholds against the Cowboys. He had over 150 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and over 20 receiving yards. No one, you read that right, has ever done that in a game against the Cowboys. Until now.