Thanks to familiar mistakes, the Dallas Cowboys are off to their worst start in years
The Dallas Cowboys don’t run the ball well. The much-hoped-for defensive turnaround did not materialize.
Unable to rely on either, the Cowboys have pinned their playoff hopes for a third straight season on the right arm of quarterback Dak Prescott. The result? Their worst record in six games since 2020.
“The effort is good, the fight is good,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “Mistakes kill us.”
They continued in a 23-13 loss to Green Bay on “Sunday Night Football” that left the Cowboys 2-4.
As they seek their first playoff berth since 2023, the only bright spot has been the dire state of the NFC East, where the Cowboys aren’t out of contention thanks to the up-and-down struggles of division-leading New York (3-2-1), a rash of injuries to Philadelphia (2-4) and the regression of Washington (1-3-1).
All four teams in the division have a negative score differential, the only division this season to do so.
What makes Dallas tough to count on was seen on the drive that cut it to 23-13 with 44 seconds left in Sunday’s fourth quarter, after Prescott led a 13-play, 78-yard drive capped by his scramble away from two tacklers before throwing a running touchdown pass.
Prescott’s ability, coupled with receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens — their 862 combined receiving yards entering Sunday were second-most by any duo in the league — left Dallas seventh in the league in points scored heading into Week 6.
But what makes Dallas hard to count on » was also visible four minutes earlier in the fourth quarter. Needing 11 yards on fourth down to continue his drive and take a 23-7 Packers lead, Prescott narrowly avoided a sack before throwing a pass that left the back of the end zone, not near a particular Cowboys receiver.
The reliance on Prescott paid off handsomely early this season, as he threw eight touchdowns against just one interception through his first four games. However, in the last two games, Prescott has two touchdowns and four interceptions. The latter total does not include an interception Sunday that was negated by a Green Bay penalty for roughing the passer.
Dallas’ defense “played a good enough game that we could go out there and win,” Prescott said. “We just didn’t hold it together on offense.”
The struggles against Green Bay are nothing new for the Cowboys, who are 1-11-1 in their last 13 meetings against the Packers. Prior to Sunday’s game, the Cowboys had allowed at least 30 points in their last six games against Green Bay, the longest streak by a team against Dallas in franchise history.
Still, much of what afflicted Dallas against Green Bay also applies to the rest of its opponents, and has rarely left them capable of making consistent progress toward becoming a legitimate playoff contender.
Since Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn left to coach Washington in 2023 after producing the fifth-best defense in the league, the Cowboys have been a defensive sieve, with three different coordinators in as many years. The Cowboys ranked second-to-last in defense in 2024 and died last season before hiring Christian Parker, a first-time coordinator at any level, to engineer a turnaround this fall. The Cowboys memorably stopped Baltimore wrecking ball back Derrick Henry twice on fourth-and-short in a Week 3 win; they also ranked second-to-last in yards allowed and resorted to hiring retired defensive coach Mike Pettine last week to help Parker.
When Dallas linebacker Dee Winters picked off Green Bay’s Jordan Love early in the first half anticipating a Matthew Golden route, it was the Cowboys’ first interception this season. They were the last team to record one.
Other than that, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love rarely looked bothered. When Dallas pressured Love on more than half of his 44 dropbacks, he still completed 11 of his 19 passes. Although Green Bay’s 23 points were the second-most points allowed by Dallas this season, the total easily could have been higher, after Packers receiver Matthew Golden dropped what appeared to be two likely touchdown receptions; after a fall, the Packers drive stopped and settled for a field goal. The Packers also beat Dallas on third down.
But they weren’t the only ones to do it. Dallas entered Week 6 allowing its opponents to convert over 52% of their third-down opportunities, the highest percentage in the league.
Before his promotion last year to head coach, Schottenheimer helped design the Cowboys’ offense that relied heavily on Prescott; On Sunday, he attempted 54 passes, completing 34. But even the passing game that has typically been one of the most productive in the league has generated just 29 total points over its last two games.
“We put ourselves in a hole,” Schottenheimer said. “There is a way out of this.”
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