ARLINGTON, Texas — Entering Monday night, there hadn’t been a Dallas Cowboys home game this year that was close entering the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys were down 41-16 at the end of the third quarter to the Green Bay Packers in January’s wild-card loss at AT&T Stadium. They trailed 41-19 at that same time against the New Orleans Saints in the 2024 home opener. The following week against the Baltimore Ravens, Dallas was down 28-6 entering the fourth. Against the Detroit Lions in Week 6, the Cowboys trailed 37-9. It was 28-6 last week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
But with 4:21 left in the third quarter Monday night, Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey drilled a 64-yard field goal that would’ve been good from 70, pulling Dallas to within 20-13 of the Houston Texans. However, there was a flag on the field. An unnecessary roughness head slap penalty was called on Texans defensive end Derek Barnett.
The Cowboys took the points off the board and brought Cooper Rush and the offense back on the field. Dallas never scored again, falling 34-10 to Houston.
There was another opportunity for a field goal five plays later. But on fourth-and-2 from Houston’s 8-yard line, the offense stayed on the field. Rush rolled to his right. Recently added wide receiver Jonathan Mingo was streaking across the front of the end zone, moving left to right. Rush’s pass sailed too high.
“Fourth-and-2, had a good play,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “Had a rub play there, got the coverage we needed. It just wasn’t clean on the outside. We got flushed and had a chance on the over route there. It was a clean play. And I think it’s just like anything, you can’t have it both ways.
“We’re trying to play it, exactly right, managing the game, 14-play drives. Obviously, had the big penalty on the field goal. But we needed seven there. Fourth-and-2 and everything that we’re talking (about) leading into that series that that’s a go-for-it situation. I felt good about the call.”
Would a touchdown there have given the Cowboys a better chance of winning the game? Of course. A field goal probably just makes things appear closer than they really were. But taking points off the board seemed like a questionable call at the time.
“I wish we had kept (the points) up there,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “It’s a shame to take a field goal that impactful or that good, length and all included with it (away), but we did. We were trying to score seven or eight, so we took them off.”
How did Jones feel about the fourth-down play?
“We all know what that touchdown meant to us,” he said. “I don’t sit here and second guess that.”
At 3-7, the Cowboys continue to slide closer to a top-five draft pick than a playoff spot. A five-game losing streak is the longest since McCarthy was hired before the 2020 season. There are seven games remaining and the Cowboys plan on continuing to go with the game plan and roster that gives them the best chance to win.
Jones has no plans to make a coaching change. He didn’t seem all that interested in the idea of switching to backup QB Trey Lance. He believes Rush should continue in the starting role because he gives Dallas the best chance to win.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: “I worry a lot about execution. I worry a lot about communication in the (offensive) line. I worry a lot about having two people in the same spot on routes. I worry a lot about all that stuff. But guys giving the effort out? (No.) You don’t need to… pic.twitter.com/JWNGsAj1ii
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 19, 2024
“I thought they fought,” McCarthy said “Absolutely. Our problem isn’t effort. It’s not ever during the week. I haven’t seen that. We’re not making critical plays. … We just got to stay after it. We got some young guys playing. We got a six-day week. But, yeah, I’m disappointed. I’m frustrated for our guys because I know how much they put into this. We just got to keep banging away here.”
How does he keep the team from getting frustrated?
“Well, I mean, hell, they better be frustrated,” McCarthy said. “I mean, we’re all frustrated. I think there would be something wrong if they weren’t frustrated. So just very honest with everything, and stay in tune with what’s right in front of us. That’s the only way I’ve ever done it.”
One of the few bright spots came early in the second quarter. Facing third-and-10 from the Dallas 36, Rush found KaVontae Turpin on a short slant that he quickly turned into a 64-yard touchdown. It was the Cowboys’ first touchdown at home since Turpin caught a 16-yard TD pass from Dak Prescott in Week 3.
TURPIN SPEEDS FOR 64. TD, COWBOYS!
📺: #HOUvsDAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/58pkIaiCvb— NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2024
While it was a great play, it also left you wondering why Turpin, a standout returner, hasn’t received more opportunities in the offense. He has 20 catches on 31 targets for 267 yards and two touchdowns in 10 games. Three of those catches, 86 of those yards and half of those touchdowns happened Monday night.
But when a season is going as poorly as this one is for Dallas, everything can be questioned.
“Obviously everybody is looking to embarrass us right now,” Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb said. “When they have that opportunity, they try to put us out. We had so much success over the last three years, as far as the regular season, it’s starting to bite us right now. We got to find ways to gel together, play together and finish this thing out. We got to go out there and play hard. We got to play for the guy lining up next to us and put them before yourself.
“We can’t be selfish in a time like this. Everybody is hurting. Everybody is feeling bad about it.”
(Photo: Kevin Jairaj / Getty Images)
