If you thought things couldn’t have gotten worse for Dallas, all you have to do is keep watching. The Cowboys were a 7.5-point favorite against the Cardinals in Week 8, and Arizona lost several key players throughout the game due to injuries.
And yet, it did not matter as the Cowboys blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and have now fallen to 3-5 on the season. Dallas has had some really disappointing starts in recent memory, but this might be the worst.
It’s the third consecutive season that the Cowboys have started the year off with a 3-5 record, and it doesn’t appear they are any closer to getting things turned around. So, without further ado, here are the biggest winners and losers from this disgusting loss to the Cardinals.
Winners and losers from Cowboys' Week 8 loss to Cardinals
Winner: Quinnen Williams, DT
Williams was fantastic in this game, recording two sacks, including a big one in overtime on the very first play. He created pressure all game long and was constantly in the quarterback’s face. Williams has now recorded a sack in three consecutive games and is up to five on the season.
This is the player the Cowboys had imagined they were getting when they traded their 2027 first-round pick for him at this time last season.
Winner: Ryan Flournoy, WR
It wasn’t a perfect game for Flournoy, as he did drop a pass on a key third down in the red zone, but he was fantastic for most of the contest. He finished Week 8 with three receptions for 38 yards and a spectacular touchdown grab on a poor throw from Dak Prescott.
Flournoy also picked up the onside kick and nearly scored a touchdown on it. That return set up a field goal to put the Cowboys up by 6 with just over a minute left on the clock. We will just ignore what happened after that for a minute, but Flournoy has played well over the last four games.
Loser: Brian Schottenheimer, HC
The biggest reason why it’s hard to buy into the Cowboys long-term is due to the coaching staff, and that starts with Brian Schottenheimer. Despite having his starting QB in every single game, Schottenheimer now has a career record of 10-14-1.
Dallas has had one winning streak during that time, and they have consistently lost games to inferior opponents, especially at home, such as the one they lost on Sunday at AT&T Stadium to Arizona.
The Cowboys have already lost to Jalon Daniels and Gardner Minshew this season, and both of those games were played at home. Schottenheimer’s offense stalled out multiple times in the red zone, and with a chance to win the game in overtime with a field goal, the offense went three-and-out.
Dallas can score points, but they can’t win games, and that’s an indictment of the head coach. The Cowboys won’t move on from him midseason, but it’s pretty obvious he isn’t the answer and is among the worst coaches in the league.
Loser: Christian Parker, DC
For one half, it looked like Dallas solved some of their issues on defense. They were flying around, creating pressure, and caused two turnovers. And then the second half happened. Dallas gave up 30 points in the second half and overtime.
Parker’s defense couldn’t get off the field and allowed the Cardinals to rip off huge plays without taking up any of the clock. They also allowed Minshew to drive right down the field with a minute left and no timeouts to score what should have been the game-winning touchdown if it weren’t for a missed extra point.
Parker has now been the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys for eight games, and they’ve allowed 28 points or more in four of them. Dallas is relatively healthy on defense, and they still can’t stop the worst offenses in the NFL.
It’s insulting to the fans of this team that they have to watch at least nine more games of this unit this season.
Loser: Cowboys' Run Game
Dallas had a lot of success running against Vic Fangio’s 2-high shell last week, and that success fooled them into thinking they had an elite rushing attack. The Cowboys ran the ball 39 times on Sunday for just 93 yards, and the running backs (Javonte Williams, Tyler Goodson) combined for just 70 yards on 31 carries.
The Cowboys wasted so many downs trying to run the ball, and they were consistently putting themselves into long-down-and-distance situations. Dak Prescott threw the ball just 29 times, and the offense completely stalled out when it mattered most.
Dallas has spent far too many assets on their offensive line to be this bad at running the ball, but most of that is due to the coaching staff not putting them into favorable situations.
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