FRISCO, TX – 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 series of pivotal games for these inconsistent Cowboys. Some might call Sunday afternoon’s game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium a “must-win game,” though mathematically not so much, other than the Cowboys need to 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 in Cleveland, knowing that an 0-1 start with New Orleans and Baltimore on deck could hurt their chances of becoming the first NFC East team to repeat as division champions since the Eagles did so in 2001 until 2004.

But then they started 1-2 and lost consecutive games to the Saints and Ravens. Then the Cowboys had to play a game against the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Thursday night, knowing they fell to 1-3 in the next two games before the bye in Pittsburgh and at home against Detroit could dig a hole too deep.

Then on to Pittsburgh, not necessarily a must win, but it would be nice to win that six-game gauntlet versus Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston and Washington with a winning record.

And they won again. Beat Pittsburgh with a sigh of relief to 3-2.

But now this: the second straight losing streak, first wiped out by Detroit and crushed last weekend after the bye by San Francisco, thus the now 3-4 record.

That brings us to Sunday, and not since the 2020 COVID season has the Cowboys lost three straight games, even losing four that year from weeks 6 through 9 when they only scored consecutively by 10, 3, 9 and 19 points while they lost to Arizona, Washington, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Now on to Atlanta, winners of four of the last five games, including red-hot quarterback Kirk Cousins, this week’s NFC Offensive Player of the Week and the No. 3 QB in passing yards, along with running back Bijan 2023 first-round pick Robinson, whose 546 yards rushing ranks ninth in the NFL but fourth with 790 yards from scrimmage.

So to win this one, to get back to .500, the Cowboys have to, well, this is starting to sound like a broken record.

To steal the title of a 1978 Bob Seger song, it’s “Still The Same” when it comes to the keys to winning, week after week after week now.

Run the ball more efficiently.

Apply pressure to the quarterback, this time Cousins, one of the more stationary quarterbacks in the NFL, only leaves the pocket when absolutely necessary. And that’s only fourteen times so far this season, an unimaginable total of eight meters, despite a length of thirteen.

Score touchdowns in the red zone.

And leave it to Lamb to hit the nail on the head, because it was all of these reasons for the four losses: three of those two teams were in first place in their division, tied for first place, or were one half a game behind first place. .

“A sense of urgency to win, absolutely, yes,” Lamb says rhetorically. “But as far as the sense of urgency for anything else, ultimately, we have to get better overall.”

Then there’s this, the elephant in the room that few want to give credence to, as if it’s a lame excuse for the slow start to the first half of the season.

It seems like we talk about these injuries all week, every week. Who practices? Who doesn’t exercise? Who exercises in a limited way? Who has been placed in the wounded reserve? Who can return from injured reserve?

And guess what Sunday in Atlanta?

In fact, this laundry list of injuries will only get worse, if that’s even possible, supplemented by the necessary reinforcements not yet ready to come rushing over the hill to the rescue.

Here’s what we know. The top four defensive teams entering training camp don’t even appear to be done yet. Sam Williams, out for the season. DeMarcus Ware and Marshawn Kneeland are still on injured reserve and still working the ropes. Micah Parsons more of the same, some running starts to happen, those high ankle sprains, tricky boogers. Not ready to practice, let alone even play.

Well then, corner. Pro Bowler DaRon Bland, the NFL interception leader last year with nine, has yet to play. He had surgery before the season started to repair his broken fifth metatarsal, a plate with screws inserted to aid recovery. If you remember, in 2014 the same injury kept Lawrence out of the first eight games of his rookie season.

Bland did not practice this week. He’s gone. Rookie Caelen Carson, who started in Bland’s absence until missing the past four games due to a shoulder injury, appears at least set to return against the Falcons, removed from the injury report.

And that’s a good thing, because the man who started and played half a quarter of the last three games, 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, just seven games into his return from last year’s season-ending ACL injury, Trevon Diggs now has a so-called “tight” calf injury stemming from the San Francisco game.

Not practiced yet this week. Rehabilitate. His status will likely only be known after Saturday’s training as he is listed as ‘doubtful’ in the official injury report. I hate to even say this, but with Diggs out, Sunday’s starters at corner will be up against the NFL’s sixth-ranked passing attack, averaging 250.9 yards per game and nearly eight yards per completion , Carson and Josh Butler when elevated. on practice squad game day, or second-year cornerback Andrew Booth, who only started this season for an hour and a half before Oruwariye took over for 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 side, when the Cowboys are in their veteran nickel defense Jourdan Lewis in the other corner. slot. And unlike last Sunday, when Lewis started opposite Diggs for the Niners in a two-receiver set, Atlanta’s starting offense usually consists of three receivers.

Now let that all sink in.

Oh, and let’s not forget Brandin Cooks, still on IR (knee infection after receiving that shot to speed recovery from the knee pain he suffered at the end of training camp). The veteran wideout will miss the fourth game of his mandatory four-game stay on IR on Sunday, which began after the Week 4 win over the Giants, but has a chance to return next week.

Man, by the grace of our justice systems, kicker Brandon Aubrey returned to practice Thursday after missing all jury duty in Fort Worth this past week, even the second-year kicker was shocked that he was chosen to participate in a felony trial since he was orphaned To the judge, he has a sister-in-law in the Dallas district attorney’s office and a brother who is a lawyer.

I can’t make this up.

Look, get it. Every team has injuries. Happens every season, the Cowboys are certainly not immune. But so many at the same time in these two positions? Get out of here.

Now, at some point in this season, everyone but Williams should return, and that includes veteran swing tackle Chuma Edoga, who’s still on IR since the start of the season with a foot injury, and he’s at least near.

So if you’re asking why the Cowboys can’t put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, just remember that their two defensive ends in the Pro Bowl are out, and those two positions are now manned by Chauncy Golston, Tyrus Wheat and two late additions, Carl Lawson and KJ Henry.

At linebacker, two of the three starters are now rookies. Two of the starting five on the offensive line are rookies, with veteran Pro Bowler Zack Martin trying to play due to a shoulder injury.

Without Cooks, third-year receiver Jalen Tolbert has already played 388 snaps at No. 2, 88 percent of the snaps while playing a career-high 40 percent last season. Then, at third receiver, it was a combination of KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks and rookie Ryan Flournoy. Entering this season, those three receivers had a combined 19 NFL catches.

Look, these aren’t excuses for 3-4. Just facts to think about. And I don’t want to hear that tired old cliché about a $60 million-a-year quarterback, Dak Prescott, having to put the team on his back. He doesn’t play singles, okay. Not even doubled. What other sport has 11 guys on each side of the ball, 22 total, not including special teams? As in the last game, the Cowboys played 46 of the 48 active players, the only two sitting were backup quarterback Cooper Rush and third running back Deuce Vaughn.

Nobody wants to say anything about this. Not Dak. Not CeeDee. Not Zak. Not Mike McCarthy. They know what that sounds like.

As for Jerry, he even goes so far as to say the team is “green.” He will say that the team is growing but will have more experience once the experienced players return.

“When I look at the reasons why we’re here, I have a hard time getting past pure youth and pure inexperience on the offensive line. And I have a hard time getting past that turnover ratio,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says the team is minus-8. “I’m telling you, if you look at that and know what turnovers will do for you, we’ve gone seven games and we, the Cowboys, have turned the ball over 13 times. Last year we didn’t do that all year. ” Don’t turn it over, just 16 times.”

Furthermore, everything said seems to come from the cliché book. Need more concentration. Must execute. Needs to communicate better. Need to pay more attention to details. Fine.

The real need is to put better players on the field, not on injured reserve. Not in the training room. Certainly better players than those who played on the other team that day.

“It is what it is,” Dak says about these first seven games. “We are now 3-4 and we have a chance to get back on level terms this week.”

So on to Atlanta, in an attempt to change that “same” broken record.