ARLINGTON, Texas — The disastrous season for the Dallas Cowboys continued in Week 11 as they lost to the Houston Texans 34-10 in prime time on Monday Night Football. In defeat, the same mistakes that had torpedoed their season cropped up as the Cowboys couldn’t stop the run, shot themselves in the foot with unforced errors, and failed to make second-half adjustments on their way to an 0-5 start at home.
Even before the game, signs were ominous for Jerry Jones’ team, as a piece of metal fell from the roof onto the field. It was appropriate foreshadowing as the team collapsed once again at AT&T Stadium and are now 3-7 on the year while sporting a five-game losing skid. There’s losing, and then there’s what Dallas continues to do at home, which defies logic.
How did a team that had won 16 straight regular season home games become a team that not only can’t win in their own building but one that can’t even make it close? Many of the answers unveiled themselves in Week 11, with the previous 10 games serving as an ominous precursor.
For starters, the strategy deployed by the offense left much to be desired. The Cowboys have an offensive line that still hasn’t gelled, but they have been a better run-blocking group than successful in pass protection. So naturally, head coach Mike McCarthy’s game plan was to throw the ball more against a secondary that was fourth in the league against the pass.
Backup quarterback Cooper Rush threw 54 times, which was a career-high in attempts, but he was inefficient, completing just over 58% of his passes. The Texans sacked Rush five times and harassed him for much of the night.
In contrast, running back Rico Dowdle got just 10 carries, nine of which came when the game was close. There wasn’t much success on the ground, but the game plan didn’t allow for much rhythm. Too often when Dallas did attempt to run the ball, they did so in situations that were doomed to fail.
With a backup QB who doesn’t have the ability to beat defenses with his arm, forcing the issue through the air was a poor plan of attack. The strategy that has worked with Rush has always been to run the ball to stay in manageable down and distances.
That wasn’t the case with McCarthy and Rush in this game, and it played right into the Texans’ hands. If the members of Houston’s secondary hadn’t had a case of the drops, Rush likely would have thrown more than just the one interception.
In addition to another game where the Dallas running attack was dead on arrival, the Dallas defense couldn’t stop the run. Joe Mixon became the third running back to rush for 100+ yards on Mike Zimmer’s defense – all of which have come at home – and the former Cincinnati Bengal scored three touchdowns in the blowout.
With the usual failure points of the team on full display, there was also a fake punt early in the game that highlighted another glaring issue with Dallas. After the Texans went down and scored on their first possession of the game, the Cowboys were eager to keep the game close with a desire to not let it get out of hand as the rest of their home contests have gone.
The trick play failed, and while the Texans didn’t capitalize on the first-quarter gamble, the fake showed the desperation from the Cowboys, who have now allowed four touchdowns to opponents on their first drive of the game at home. The only team that failed to score seven points on their first series was the Eagles last week in a game that Dallas would lose 34-6 anyway.
Like a few games this season, this one was a close game at halftime with Houston up just 17-10, but just as they have all year, things went south for McCarthy’s group in the second half. Dallas was shut out in the second half for the second consecutive game, and for the third time in their last four games, they failed to score a third-quarter point.
On back-to-back possessions in the second half, the season for the Cowboys was summed up. Near the end of the third quarter, kicker Brandon Aubrey made a 64-yard field goal look like a routine kick to cut the Texans’ lead to seven at 20-13. However, a penalty on the Texans gave the Cowboys another chance to move the ball and score a touchdown instead of taking the three points.
Four plays later, the Cowboys were in the red zone and facing a 4th-and-2, with McCarthy electing to go for it. The decision seemed like a sound one for a team that struggles to put up second-half points and needs touchdowns rather than settling for field goals.
However, the sprint right play call that cuts off half the field with a QB who isn’t mobile was less than ideal. Rush’s pass to a bunched-up group of receivers fell incomplete and the Cowboys walked away with no points instead of three while failing to close the gap to a one-possession game.
For all of Dallas’ struggles in the third quarter this season, they still entered the fourth quarter of Monday’s game with a chance when the comedy of errors reared its ugly head in classic Dallas Cowboys fashion.
Tyler Guyton was beaten for a sack and a fumble, which the rookie left tackle was able to recover. Instead of just falling on the ball and giving the offense another chance on third down, Guyton had the notion of taking off with the ball like he was a running back. The offensive lineman fumbled, which was recovered by the Texans who ran it back for the touchdown. That made the score 27-10, which sealed the Cowboys’ fate. Ball. Game. Parking.
Only the 2024 Dallas Cowboys could fumble twice in the same play from two different players. It has been that type of year. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong for McCarthy’s team this season.
A failed fake punt, five sacks, taking points off the board and never getting them back, failing to compete in the second half, and the double fumble for six points are all microcosms for the Cowboys this season. It would be hard to write this kind of script, even with the best imagination, but it’s become routine in Dallas.
There are losing games, and then there are losing games like how the Cowboys are losing them. Getting embarrassed at home for a fifth time in five tries is very difficult to accomplish in the NFL, and yet here the Cowboys are, making themselves the laughingstock of the league.
And Jerry Jones has no one to blame but himself, and, of course, Stephen Jones. Halloween is long gone, but the horror show continues for the now 3-7 Cowboys.
Do you think the Cowboys will have a new head coach in 2025? Share your thoughts with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi
