Dallas Cowboys roster, mental toughness could doom them and Mike McCarthy

If you were to describe the 2024 Dallas Cowboys with a Taylor Swift song, the choice right now would undoubtedly be “Down Bad.” It's a tough time for the fanbase at the moment as the team was embarrassed at home for the third time this year and has to sulk with all that negative energy for a week after the farewell.

It's even harder to look forward to the next game after the bye, since that includes a road trip to the West Coast to face a 49ers team that has its No. 1 seed of late. All signs point to the Cowboys falling to 3-4 in a week. Meanwhile, the Eagles face the Giants this week and will likely improve to 4-2, and the Commanders look set to move to an NFC East-best 5-2 after playing the terrible Panthers this week.

The division race is tough enough, let alone preparing to face the NFC's best in the postseason. The Cowboys are quickly falling behind in both contests and their schedule isn't getting any easier. Can they figure things out this bye week, or are they doomed to be reset again after the year? Our own Tom Ryle and David Howman discuss.

Tom: Just looking at them, the team really seems to be missing something. After falling behind by 22, they staged a furious comeback against the Ravens, but when they came up short, it really seemed to hurt them. They barely beat a couple of pretty bad teams, the Giants and Steelers, then the Lions just put them in their place.

For years there have been questions about how soft the franchise really is. It looks like the answer lies somewhere between marshmallow and fog. I have long suspected that The Star's culture is not good and there is a lack of accountability. That's because the owner is the primary architect of the roster and Jerry Jones appears hesitant to admit he made a mistake. This year, I think things were made even worse with some clear signs that Mike McCarthy was doomed. It's hard to argue that Jerry isn't already thinking about who he wants to hire. (I shudder to think he's already planning on Bill Belichick.) I think that permeated the team and weakened McCarthy. Given the current injury issues and the dire state of the offensive line and running game, I don't see how they can change that.

It really shouldn't surprise anyone.

David: I don't disagree in the slightest that McCarthy is doomed. Several people in league circles have commented that Jerry Jones prefers to let his coaches' contracts expire rather than fire them because it allows him to make savings, and that is the only logical explanation for him keeping McCarthy this year , but it does not provide an extension.

I also think McCarthy believes in himself and is still expecting a good year. That would explain why he hired Don Yee as his agent in the offseason, likely to capitalize on another strong season and go easy on Jerry's wallet. But perhaps McCarthy underestimated how much ownership can affect the morale of this team, positively or negatively.

Last year's team went into the bye week with a similar vibe, although this year definitely feels worse than last year. Still, McCarthy has already shown after the bye that he is capable of turning things around: last year they won six of their first seven after the bye week and won the division. And historically, the Cowboys were better after the McCarthy bye anyway; They are 18-12 before the bye and 25-13 after the bye, a noticeable improvement.

If the players in this building still have an ounce of respect for their head coach, they will put this rest week behind them and play hard for him. If not, then that is a problem in itself.

Tom: Yes, it is, but there could be even more important reasons, namely the way injuries have affected the defense, the dysfunction of the offensive line, the lack of an effective running game or run defense, and what certainly looks like a collapse of the Chemistry between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb looks like. Even if the team does its best on the field, it may simply not be enough against the better teams still on the schedule.

To make matters worse, there is a legitimate argument that both the Eagles and Commanders are now better teams than the Cowboys. They have benefited from the weak competition within the division for years. The closet looks empty.

I also want to mention that the rest of the coaching staff isn't exactly stellar, and when I say that, I'm looking straight at Mike Zimmer. The defense hardly slows down the opponent. I know the loss of Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and DaRon Bland has a very negative impact, but it's the DC's job to find a way to not fall apart simply because of injuries. That doesn't happen.

I always had a bad feeling that eight wins might be the ceiling for the team, and now I'm not sure how close they can get to it. And I have no idea how they can make it better before house cleaning begins in January.

David: I can't really shade Zimmer, mostly because of the aforementioned injuries – which, by the way, these three are likely to resurface very soon – but also because he's been the exact opposite of soft for a long time.

Talent-wise, I think the Cowboys have more than enough to win the division and even compete for a chance to lose to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. We saw last year how great this offense can be when Dak and CeeDee are in rhythm, and I would argue that this year's version of Jalen Tolbert is better than Brandin Cook's last year.

If the two stars of this offense can get things going again, I think it opens up a lot more for this offense and this team. Only five teams currently score fewer touchdowns per drive than the Cowboys (two of them, the Browns and Giants, account for the majority of Dallas' wins), which has impacted the defense even when they've been healthy. Start scoring touchdowns again and I think everything else will fall into place.

That's easier said than done, but they have a full week to get it sorted. Last year's offense ranked third in touchdowns per drive, and the key players are all still here. If they can turn the clock back to last year's post-bye team, the Cowboys can make another run and save their season. At least until the playoffs start.