COWBOYS
The common denominator in Dallas Cowboys’ last three home losses
The Dallas Cowboys were on a hot streak at home, until they weren’t. After suffering their third straight home loss, here’s what stands out.
From September 2022 to January 2024, the Dallas Cowboys were on a 16-game winning streak at AT&T Stadium. They were becoming unbeatable at home. Then came last season’s playoffs. After finishing first in the NFC East and second in the NFC, the Cowboys got home-field advantage, and that really meant something at the time. And, well, I think we all know how that ended - an embarrassing and stunning loss, 48-32 at the hands of the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round.
Since then, they have yet to win a game at home. They won their first game on the road against the Cleveland Browns only to fall to two consecutive brutal beatings at home, 44-19 to the New Orleans Saints and 28-25 to the Baltimore Ravens.
Although the loss to the Ravens ended up being a close game, it wasn’t like that from the start. Going into the 4th quarter, the Cowboys were down 28-6. After their loss to the Saints, there were several comments about how similar that loss looked and felt to their postseason loss to the Packers. The loss to the Ravens just exposed even the problems even further.
What the Cowboys’ home losses have in common
In all three of the Cowboys’ last home losses, they gave up major yardage to their opponents. In their loss to the Ravens, they allowed 274 rushing yards, with running back Derrick Henry picking up 151 of those and two of their three rushing touchdowns. In their loss to the Saints, the Cowboys allowed 190 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground to Alvin Kamara. In their playoff loss to the Packers, Dallas allowed 143 yards and three touchdowns. Doing the math, that’s 464 yards given up on the ground in just the last two games and 607 in their last three at home.
The Cowboys defense has had problems stopping the run for a while now, but their inability to control the line of scrimmage is now a persistent issue. Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer took responsibility for the issues in Week 2, but in Week 3, there was no change...at least not any positive one. The Ravens ran the ball on the Cowboys with zero issues, and it’s not a secret that this is a weakness to be taken advantage of for opponents.
Even former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett called them out for it, criticizing their lack of physicality.
This is of course not the only issue Dallas is dealing with. The offense has a ton of work to do as well. It’s pretty clear the Cowboys lack any running game what with Ezekeil Elliott, Rico Dowdle, and Deuce Vaughn leading the backs. They finished the game against the Ravens with just 51 total rushing yards. But the offense as a whole is sloppy. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb saw just three targets in the first half and fumbled one crucial ball at 1st and goal, resulting in a turnover. The majority of their 412 total offensive yards came in the 4th quarter when they made their comeback attempt and gained 19 points. That’s the kind of fight that would be nice to see for full games, not just the last 15 minutes with an inability to get it done.