4 takeaways from Cowboys face-melting Week 9 loss to Falcons

Week 9 is in the books for the Dallas Cowboys and they dropped a third straight game, falling to the Atlanta Falcons, 27-21. The score isn’t indicative of how close this game really was. Atlanta took charge pretty much from the jump and held Dallas at bay and chasing all day.

Kirk Cousins outplayed his counterpart, Dak Prescott, completing 79 percent of his passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Prescott left the game with a hamstring and hand injury after completing 75 percent for 133 yards and one TD. Dallas’ offense was sluggish again this week struggling greatly on third and fourth down. At 3-5, the only saving grace in Big D is that they’ve only played one division game thus far with five remaining. But that won’t be a walk in the park either.

Third down conversion failures

If you can’t convert at least 1/3 of your third down attempts it’s hard to win many games in the NFL. Through three quarters the Cowboys had completed just 1 out of 8 third down opportunities. They ended 3 of 13 on third down and 1 of 5 on fourth down. That’s 4 of 18 (22 percent) on the two most crucial downs in football.

Once again, the offense never got into a rhythm and watching Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb (shoulder) suffer injuries certainly didn’t help team morale. Another week of settling for field goals until it’s too late to mount a believable comeback. At two games below .500, this season is now on the brink of slipping away from Jerry Jones’ crew.

The Kicker cannot be more consistent than the offense

In the Cowboys’ situation having an invaluable kicker is priceless however, this position can’t be the most reliable one to score points regularly. Brandon Aubrey made both of his field goals Sunday including a 57-yarder that would’ve been good from 60.

Coming off an All-Pro and Pro Bowl campaign last season where he missed just two field goals, Aubrey is viewed by many as the most consistent player on the Cowboys roster. Although Abrey has already matched his missed FG total from last year halfway through this season, he rarely has a bad game. When Dallas can’t count on the offense to score points, Abrey is there to pick up the slack and that’s part of the problem. He’s a good kicker but settling for FGs too often is a recipe for losing.

Longest rush of season 22-yards in Week 9

The fact that it took nine weeks for the Cowboys to post their first 20-yard run is a problem and says all you need to know. Coming into this game against the Falcons Dallas’ longest rush of the year was 15 yards. On Sunday they had carries of 22 and 18 by Prescott and CeeDee Lamb before they were both injured.

Rico Dowdle had a good game rushing for 75 yards on 12 carries but the Cowboys fell behind early on yet again and played catch-up all afternoon. Ezekiel Elliott didn’t’ suit up for “disciplinary” in what feels like the start of the demise of his Cowboys comeback story. The team finally called up Dalvin Cook from the practice squad last week and now this. Dallas' running game has been ineffective this season and Zeke has been a big part of that.

“We f---ing suck”

Tell us something we don’t know. Prescott was caught on camera apparently saying aloud what the entire football world has been thinking (and saying) for some time. After a third straight loss, it feels like this team has just about thrown in the towel on head coach Mike McCarthy. He’s no longer getting through to this group and hopefully, Jones is taking notes.

With no contract past the end of the season, it should be an easy transition for McCarthy and the Cowboys to go separate ways. Whether you deem it a dismissal or just letting his contract expire, it’s clear Dallas has gone as far as McCarthy can take them. Prescott still has enough of his prime left to where getting the right coach and staff in town could turn his career and this franchise's fortunes around. But it’s up to Jones and whether he’s willing to set even a small piece of his ego aside.