Cowboys mediocre without their stars

Nov 21, 2017 - 2:34 AM FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys have fallen and they cannot get up.

Playing without suspended star running back Ezekiel Elliott for the second of six consecutive weeks and without other injured starters in left tackle Tyron Smith and linebacker Sean Lee, the Cowboys needed someone to make a play to give them a chance against the Philadelphia Eagles, who are arguably the best team in the NFL with a 9-1 record and a runaway lead in the NFC East.

But the Cowboys have no play-makers.

This is where the Cowboys are following the 37-9 blowout loss.

It was the second consecutive blowout loss after three consecutive victories and has made any ideas of them holding on and staying in playoff contention until Elliott returns Dec. 24 wishful thinking at best.

"Yes. Yes, I am," owner Jerry Jones said while also admitting he was trying to be positive. "I like our team and I like our -- I can see that certainly we'd like to not have some of these injuries, but everybody's dealing with them and working through them. Now the problem is between injuries and potentially not having players for other reasons, you've got to hang in there and get a win when maybe the personnel doesn't look like you can do it, and you've got to stay eligible to get in that playoff. We're not doing that right now."

The Cowboys have had 23 possessions the past two games and scored just one touchdown. Sunday was the first time since 2015 that they failed to score a touchdown in a game.

The Cowboys (5-5) have lost their past two games by a combined score of 64-16, including the previous week's 27-7 setback to the Atlanta Falcons. The past two games have come without Smith and Lee as well as Elliott, which again proves their inability to compete without their best weapon, their best lineman and their best linebacker.

"Obviously we haven't been good enough," head coach Jason Garrett said of the offensive woes. "We haven't been able to be consistent running the football, consistent throwing the football, I don't think our pass protection has been as good as it needs to be. We just haven't been able to attack the defenses different ways like we're capable of doing and like we have been doing at different points this year. It's not good enough. We're going to continue to work to put our players in the best position possible to make first downs, drive the ball and score points.

"Guys get hurt. Guys get out of the lineup for different reasons. You just have to keep moving on and we haven't done a good enough job of that at this point over the last couple of weeks."

With the Thanksgiving Day battle against the Los Angeles Chargers up next in four days, it's likely the Cowboys will be without that trio again and could be staring at a three-game losing streak for the first time since going 4-12 in 2015.

More to the point, Garrett wondered aloud to the team in the postgame locker room about the possibly of winning out or losing out with six games to go in the season.

The former doesn't look possible.

"Coach Garrett couldn't put it in better words in giving our options all the way down from 11-5 to 5-11," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "It's up to us to figure out what we want to do."

--The Cowboys struggled mightily against the Eagles. They converted just three of 14 third-down attempts, and went 0-for-2 in their two red-zone trips.

The struggles were apparent from the start. The Cowboys started the game on the Eagles' 37 after a long kickoff return by Ryan Switzer. But they didn't convert a third-and-3 and settled for a 48-yard field goal.

On the next drive, the Cowboys had a first-and-10 from the Philly 12 and ended up settling for a field goal. The Cowboys' only other scoring drive went for a field goal, too, late in the first half.

"We're not moving the ball. We're not doing the things that we need to do," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "It's as simple as that. Our run game gets going and our pass game is not. We just have to find a way for guys to be more consistent."

Prescott had the worst game of his career. He was 18-of-31 passing for 145 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. He had a career-low 30.4 passer rating.

But it didn't fall solely on Prescott. The entire offense seemed at a loss for words as to why they can't finish drives.

"I don't know because we drove the ball decent," right guard Zack Martin said. "What we're usually pretty good at is third-and-short, and we weren't able to convert in the second half and really put our defense in a bad situation."

Said tight end Jason Witten: "We know we need to score touchdowns to win in this league, especially against a team as good as they are. It just snowballed on us. In the first half we were able to move the ball some, but couldn't get it in there. That affected us later in the second half."

NOTES: LT Tyron Smith was limited in practice on Monday after not practicing the past two weeks. He has a chance to play against the Chargers. ... S Jeff Heath was a full participant in practice Monday after missing the Eagles game with a concussion. He should play against the Chargers. ... LB Sean Lee did not practice Monday and will miss his second straight game with a hamstring injury. ... LB Anthony Hitchens left the Eagles game in the second half with a groin strain. He was limited in practice Monday and optimistic about playing against the Chargers on Thanksgiving Day.



REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES

--PASSING OFFENSE: F -- This was easily the worst performance of Dak Prescott's career. He completed 18 of 31 passes for 145 yards with three interceptions. Two of the picks were on Prescott for forcing the ball. One pick was off Terrance Williams' hands. Prescott was bad, but he didn't get any help. Dez Bryant also had a dropped pass. The Cowboys have no playmakers on the outside.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: B -- Alfred Morris had 17 carries for 91 yards. The Cowboys had 27 carries for 112 yards as a team. But in the end, it wasn't good enough. It wasn't impactful enough. It didn't help the Cowboys convert third downs or get in the end zone.

--PASS DEFENSE: D -- Carson Wentz passed for just 168 yards, but he tossed two touchdown passes and was not sacked. Suddenly, DeMarcus Lawrence and David Irving can't get to the quarterback and get him on the ground. Cornerback Anthony Brown dropped a potential game-changing interception and gave up a touchdown pass to Torrey Smith.

--RUSH DEFENSE: F -- The Cowboys didn't allow a 100-yard rusher. But Jay Ajayi gutted them for 91 yards on seven carries, including a 71-yard scamper. LeGarrette Blount had 57 yards on 13 carries, including a 30-yard run. The Cowboys also gave up another 17-yard run. The run defense without Sean Lee is abysmal at best.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: B -- Mike Nugent kicked three field goals. Chris Jones averaged 46.8 yards on five punts. And Ryan Switzer set up the first score with a 61-yard kickoff return. He still has shown nothing on punt returns.

--COACHING: F -- The Cowboys continued a season-long trend of failing to make halftime adjustments while watching the opposing team take control of the game in the third quarter. It has happened in four of the five losses. It was again a theme on Sunday as the Eagles scored 30 unanswered points in the second half.