5 Cowboys who deserve blame for ugly Christmas Eve loss vs Dolphins

3. HC Mike McCarthy

Don't get it twisted: McCarthy's job isn't in danger. With that said, Dan Quinn's defense showed up to play after last week's loss in Buffalo. McCarthy's offense, however, was a brutal watch after an admittedly gorgeous opening drive.

It's painfully obvious when McCarthy gets nervous and he coiled into a shell on Sunday when the offense got stagnant. We saw more early runs up the middle, which enraged Cowboys fans eary in the season. This caused more third and longs, which played right into Vic Fangio's hands.

Worst of all is that CeeDee Lamb was a ghost after his long catch-and-run touchdown. Lamb went almost two full quarters without a target. How do you explain that?! Especially when shutdown corner Jalen Ramsey wasn't allowed to travel with Lamb?

This is two straight poorly-called games from McCarthy. The head coach has afforded himself enough leash to keep the haters at bay -- Dallas boasted the NFL's best offense for most of the season -- but he's picked a bad time to have his offense enter a rut.

Don't let the go-ahead touchdown fool you, either. Dak Prescott carried the offense. There were minimal high-percentage plays called.

And to think we haven't mentioned Dallas' penalty problem...