3 Dallas Cowboys to blame after losing critical NFC East game to Eagles

Mike McCarthy

Like we said, Dak Prescott doesn't carry all the blame by himself. Head coach Mike McCarthy made the most out of the Cowboys' zero-timeout chaotic final five minutes of the game. Unfortunately, McCarthy's drawn-up plays weren't good enough.

The Eagles looked like they were about to suffer a monumental defensive collapse at the end of the game when James Bradberry and Darius Slay both got injured, and then Jalen Carter got called for encroachment to move the Cowboys five yards closer to the end zone on a first-and-goal for a potential game-winning score.

Alas, Dallas would not be out-erred. Within 27 seconds, the Cowboys committed an unforgivable litany of mistakes from a false start to a sack (Dak's fault) to a delay of game and then a head-scratching game-ending throw to Lamb that had no chance of reaching the end zone (semi-Dak's fault).

The Cowboys didn't have any timeouts during that span, and the mounting chaos in those ticking final seconds naturally led to some sloppy errors. Still, given Mike McCarthy's spotty history of poor time management, it felt like the Cowboys were not prepared for this situation at all. Dallas did better this time around and actually got its snaps off in time, yet in other ways, the Cowboys looked like the same panicky and undisciplined team as last postseason. What's the opposite of having ice in one's veins? The Cowboys were that.

At this point, one has to ask: Is this a mentality issue? Are Cowboys players simply not training and preparing well for these clutch scenarios in practice?

Whatever the issue, the Cowboys do not look like a Super Bowl contender based on the final minutes of their loss to the Eagles. It's back to work for Week 10.