Cowboys open as 6-point home underdog, will likely lose to bye week

If you’re supremely frustrated by the 2024 Dallas Cowboys, raise your hand. Wait, it would probably be easier to count whomever isn’t frustrated to raise theirs. Okay, thanks for self-identifying… all three of you. Security please escort these patrons out of the stadium. Oh, even they sold their tickets to Lions’ fans?

There’s no way a fan of the Cowboys isn’t upset or embarrassed by the product Jerry Jones has put on the field this season. Anyone looking, okay, anyone shielding the sun out of their eyes while looking at the performance of the team in AT&T Stadium cringes with shame at what has become of the best home team in the NFL over the last two seasons. The Dallas Cowboys are not fit for primetime, late-afternoon windows, and their worthiness to be put on live television at noon is under scrutiny. Is tape-delay sports viewing still a thing?

And it’s wild to say that about a team not currently in position for a top-10 draft pick, but that’s where things are for the 3-3 Cowboys.

So what can come about during the team’s bye week that will stem the misery?

The first thing that can be pointed to is there’s a chance reinforcements will be on the way. Not “We’re getting to 12-5 reinforcements” mind you, but more “We could sniff .500” reinforcements.

Micah Parsons has missed two weeks with a high-ankle sprain and may be able to return for the next game against the San Francisco 49ers. DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson appeared close to playing against the Lions, so hopefully the boundary corners are going to be available. Eric Kendricks’ back injury came up this week and hopefully it’s not a long-term concern.

And although they likely won’t play against the 49ers, DeMarcus Lawrence and Marshawn Kneeland should be back by mid-November if things progress as hoped.

But injuries aren’t the only problem in Dallas. There are coaching issues up and down and those may not be quick fixes.

While it’s unlikely Jerry Jones fires Mike McCarthy this week, perhaps there are some staff shakeups on the way, or at least reassignment of duties. Mike Solari’s tenure, which we predicted wouldn’t be fruitful, has been an abject failure. The team benched their first-round pick, left tackle Tyler Guyton this week. Every veteran has regressed this season, including future Hall of Famer Zack Martin, and the youngsters haven’t progressed.

Perhaps there’s some handing off of duties between McCarthy and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer this week. Yes, McCarthy swore he’d never give up playcalling again after his last few years in Green Bay, but something has to change about the way Dallas deploys their offense.

On the defensive side of things, the Mike Zimmer experiment has been an abject failure. Perhaps it’s time to give assistant head coach Al Harris an opportunity at the big chair and build his profile. Even if it’s a lost season, giving Harris a chance to prove his worth could lead to him getting in the head coach search next season and perhaps lead to a compensatory pick coming back to Dallas.

Yes, that’s the line of thinking that now needs to be adopted as Dallas isn’t going to be challenging for a championship this year.

Along those lines, the bye week is the perfect opportunity for the front office to start sending out feelers for trades. No, not to bring people in, but to ship players out. More on that in a future article.