FRISCO, Texas — As the final few seconds ticked off in the Cowboys 17-9 loss to the Eagles in what figures to be the de facto NFC East title game, the pained expressions and confounded looks on the faces of Cowboys players said it all. It was yet another ridiculously inconsistent performance in a season pock-marked by far too many.
And in the aftermath, while conducting a postgame interview Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott who had something lodged in his eye, perhaps unwittingly, summed up the entire situation.
“Trust me, I’m not crying yet,” said Prescott. And then for effect punctuated it by again saying, "Yet!”
Emphasizing the word, “yet,” like he did, whether intentional or not, underscored the inevitability of all.
The Cowboys aren’t officially dead yet in the race for the NFC East title. They need a win Sunday against Washington and an Eagles loss to the Giants to gain a playoff berth.
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But their awful performance against the Eagles Sunday sure seemed like it was an ending. The end of their hopes to create the kind of fairy tale ending Jerry Jones spoke about a few weeks ago, not to mention the beginning of the end of the Jason Garrett era as head coach of the Cowboys.
"The best teams are consistent,” Garrett said the day after the painful loss. The Cowboys are anything but, though, and it didn’t take long for the embattled head coach to admit just that.
Look, you could cherry-pick any of a number of gaffes from the Cowboys latest loss. Like top receiver Amari Cooper’s absence on the Cowboys most important offensive snap of the year on 4th and 8. Like most offensive call on this day, it didn't work.
"Ultimately Kellen was calling the play,” said Garrett, "the personnel group for the play and the call that he has, and that’s what we went with."
Questionable decision-making aside though, the truth is the ailing quarterback didn’t throw it well enough. His receivers didn’t catch it well enough. And the defense failed to generate enough pressure or any turnovers.
"Knowing that you laid all your chips out there, all your energy, everything that you have and you still come up short,” said defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, “it’s very disappointing."
In the end, it was more damning evidence that the inconsistent Cowboys of 2019 are essentially nothing more than a tease. Their week 15 rout of the Rams was just one last fleeting glimpse of who we thought they could be. But on a sorry afternoon in Philly, they gave us a crystal clear view of just who they are.
A team nowhere near good enough.
And eventual sweeping changes will be the result.
They may not be crying yet, but after a Philly fiasco, it’s inevitable.