3 Cowboys to blame for letting Texans lay claim to Jerry World

The Dallas Cowboys are still winless at home this season. Yes, the team that didn’t lose a regular season game in Jerry World last year has yet to win one this year. What a difference a year makes. 

It seems nothing is going right for these Cowboys and just about everyone affiliated with the organization deserves at least one finger pointed at them. It will be hard to erase this season from history. 

It’s the season Jerry Jones deemed his beloved Cowboys were going all in. And three wins, winless for a month straight and cluelessness about where to go from here doesn’t quite fit the bill. 

Nonetheless, somebody has to take responsibility for another failed appearance at home and another notch on a failed season. Here’s who deserves blame for Monday Night’s embarrassment in Arlington. 

3 Cowboys to blame for letting Texans lay claim to Jerry World

1) Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy deserves ultimate blame for Thursday night. It’s his job to know his team and know how to get things back on track. The fact that his contract is up at the end of the season is the only thing keeping him from being fired before he can even gameplan for next week. 

He named Rico Dowdle the lead back 11 weeks into the season, just for the running game to be just as bad as it was the previous nine games. He’s loyal to Cooper Rush despite having a young, former No. 3 overall pick as an option at quarterback in Trey Lance. 

Monday night was proof McCarthy’s more checked out than some Cowboys fans at this point. He probably knows he won’t survive Black Monday and is simply going through the motions. The offense looks miserable, the defense still can’t stop the run and now they have five straight losses. 

2) Mike Zimmer

Another week, another terrible display of how to defend the run. Joe Mixon did quite literally whatever he wanted to. This Cowboys run defense is terrible. And Zimmer hasn’t done anything to address it. While the Cowboys do have some injuries, that doesn’t take away from their inability to even think about stopping the run. 

Mixon ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns in the win. He probably came into the game with choreographed touchdown celebrations because he knew he’d be there quite often against this defense. 

The Cowboys entered the game one spot above the worst run defense in the NFL. Monday was their seventh game of 100-plus rushing yards allowed this season and sixth with 140 or more in a game. They are averaging 151 rushing yards against this season now. 

They have to play better. C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards and had an interception. The Cowboys have four games this season giving up 400 or more total yards and they gave up 391 against the Texans. Zimmer earned himself a head coaching job because of how good he was in Cincinnati. 

It could be what costs him his job in Dallas after just one year. 

3) The entire offensive unit

The Cowboys were outgained by Houston in Monday’s game and it was the seventh time this season the team was outgained by their opponents. This is an offense that with or without Dak Prescott hasn’t looked anything close to what they hoped. 

They’ve scored more than 25 points just once this season and scored exactly 25 points against the Ravens. Monday night, they got into field goal range twice and made just one and scored just one touchdown. 

Sure they were able to get a lot of offensive yards. But when you’re not finishing drives in the end zone, all those yards don’t mean much. From failed fourth down, fake punt attempts, to fumbling the ball twice on one play before turning it over and giving up a scoop and score. 

This is the third time this season the Cowboys scored a touchdown or less in a game. This is not a good offense right now. And the problem is no one seems to know how to fix it.