ARLINGTON, Texas — When Derrick Henry became a free agent last March, many thought he would be a perfect fit for the Dallas Cowboys, especially since he’s spending his offseason in the area.

The Cowboys were in need of a running back after losing Tony Pollard to the Tennessee Titans. However, adding the towering running back was never really considered, so he went to the Baltimore Ravens.

On Sunday, Henry ran for 151 yards on 25 attempts and scored two touchdowns in the Ravens’ 28-25 win over the Cowboys, but Dallas owner and general manager Jerry Jones had no regrets.

“Hats off to him. He had a great day today. I have all the respect in the world for him,” Jones said. “And that’s what happens when you don’t sign good contracts: They can come back and have a great game against you. But at the end of the day, we couldn’t afford Derrick Henry.”

Henry signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Ravens that includes $9 million in guaranteed money. He carries a $5.1 million salary cap hit, but the Cowboys could have structured the contract in a way that would have lowered that number and still signed Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to the lucrative extensions they recently received.

“Why can’t you buy a mansion when you live in a different kind of house,” Jones said when asked why Dallas couldn’t sign Henry. “We couldn’t afford him. We can’t handle all that. It’s as simple as that.”

The Cowboys have opted to go with a running back by committee of Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott and Deuce Vaughn. On Sunday, they accounted for 43 yards on 13 carries. For the season, they accounted for 167 yards, not much more than what Henry had against the Cowboys.

“Attempts. We’re not having enough attempts to run,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “It’s 20 pass attempts at halftime. We’re definitely at a point where I don’t want to be. I thought our guys, with the looks they had, weren’t discouraged at all about the run game.”

The Ravens also had no reason to be discouraged, just like the New Orleans Saints in Week 2.

Baltimore finished with 274 yards rushing on 45 attempts. Quarterback Lamar Jackson had the game’s first rushing touchdown and finished with 87 yards, one shy of what Dowdle has this season.

“Now we got people trying to be Superman,” Edge player Micah Parsons said. “People just gotta do their job, bro. We don’t have to have everybody be Superman. We don’t know any Supermans. We just need 11 guys playing together, and right now it’s just not in harmony.”

According to ESPN Research, the Cowboys have allowed 557 rushing yards, the most through a three-game period since 1963. They have allowed 5.4 yards per carry, the worst three-game average since 1979. They have allowed eight rushing touchdowns, the most in franchise history through a three-game period.

When you combine the Ravens’ 274 rushing yards with the 190 they gave up against New Orleans, it’s the Cowboys’ third-worst two-game stretch since Jones became owner and general manager in 1989. The other two games came in 2020, McCarthy’s first year.

“We don’t have our act together on defense, where we’re playing 11-man football,” defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said. “It’s all frustrating. Having a game plan and not following the game plan. It’s the little things. So once we get out of little league and back to playing pro football, we’ll be fine.”

How will they fix that for Thursday’s game against the New York Giants?

“Play professional football,” Lawrence said. “Do what your coaches teach you. Play your gaps. Play your blocks. Stay in your gaps. And I’m involved in this. I’m not avoiding this at all. Just the little things that we’ve got to get back to and we’re doing that this week.”