Say goodbye to the postseason: 3 takeaways from the Cowboys blowout loss to the Eagles

Week 10 is in the books for the Dallas Cowboys and the losing streak continues. Dallas lost their fourth consecutive game, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, 34-6 on Sunday. The Cowboys managed to hang around until halftime only trailing, 14-6 at intermission. We even saw Trey Lance finally, which should be a continued theme for the Cowboys in the coming weeks.

Despite that, everything fell apart in the third quarter where the Cowboys got outscored 14-0 en route to being shut out the entire second half. It’s hard to take anything positive away from a blowout but there were a couple of bright spots that shined through the cloudy skies in Dallas on Sunday. But overall, a fourth straight loss at this point of the season probably means it’s time to look toward next season.

This season is over

With eight games remaining on the Cowboys schedule, they aren’t technically out of it even at 3-6. But in all honesty, they haven’t shown anything that points to them potentially turning this ship around and making a late-season run at the postseason. Dak Prescott’s hamstring is seemingly hanging on by a thread and will likely need season-ending surgery so it’s time to officially shut him down.

Dallas has played like they’ve been shut down all year, essentially rarely showing any sense of urgency from the coaching staff on down. It’s time to put Prescott on injured reserve and hope for the best down the stretch. We finally saw Trey Lance against the Eagles as he entered once the game was out of reach.

Whether it’s Lance or Cooper Rush the rest of the way, Dallas will be lucky if they end the season with five wins. On one hand, winning five games (or less) just about guarantees a top-five pick in the NFL Draft. Although the Cowboys are financially tied to Prescott for the foreseeable future, they’ve got so many holes that they’ll need the most favorable draft position possible in 2025.

Still can’t figure out Dallas’ backfield

After not playing due to disciplinary action last week, Ezekiel Elliott was active in Week 10 against Philly where he rushed for 22 yards on six carries. Dalvin Cook was ruled inactive on Saturday and Elliott returned, contributing next to nothing. He even fumbled at the goal line on what should have been a touchdown allowing the Eagles to recover and swing the momentum while the game was still close.

It’s clear that Elliott is pretty much done and for some reason the coaching staff isn’t fully on board, giving Cook more opportunities. At this point, Rico Dowdle is Dallas’ best option in the backfield and while he rushed for 4.4 yards per carry, he ended the game with just 53 yards.

Between bad offensive line play and no game-changers carrying the rock, the Cowboys are completely lost in the running game with no hope of rebounding. Producing even a decent running game would help the Cowboys greatly especially with a backup quarterback because it helps set up play action. No worthwhile defense is afraid of the play action when they walk in knowing you’ve got no shot at running it effectively. This needs to be a huge focal point in the offseason.

Micah Parsons looked good in defeat

The best thing to happen to Dallas on Sunday was the return of Micah Parsons. He hadn’t played since Week 4 and came back with a vengeance. Parsons had recorded just one sack all season and had two in his return. The former All-Pro edge rusher was a menace early in this game.

Parsons always brings passion and the Cowboys have missed that on the field. Despite the loss, it was good to see Parsons back out there making an impact on the game even if it wasn’t quite enough to get the win. However, with Demarcus Lawrence still out with a foot injury, it’s tough to expect too much out of Dallas’ pass rush no matter how hyped Parsons may be.

Early in the season, Parsons did not look like himself, as he was not nearly as effective rushing the QB, that’s why it was good news for the Cowboys that he came back and seemed to have regained some of his mojo against the Eagles. While it will take more than just Parsons to turn things around in Big D, having him back on the field producing at a high level can only help matters.