The Dallas Cowboys suffered their fifth straight loss of the season on Monday night.
And that might be as good as the news gets.
Several offensive linemen failed to finish the 34-10 loss to the Texans. Including their two starting guards, Zach Martin and Tyler Smith.
Already limited in practice last week, Martin suffered an ankle injury in the second half and had to be helped off the field.
Smith was also limited in practice with a knee injury but suited up against the Texans. Shortly after Martin’s departure, Smith went down with his own ankle injury.
Left tackle Tyler Guyton went down with a shoulder injury after recovering a fumble and promptly losing the ball to Houston on the same play.
None of their replacements fared well while in action.
There will be some nervous hours this morning until the injured players’ long-term status is resolved.
Tight End Jake Ferguson was knocked out of the game by a concussion. Given the overall state of health of the team after Monday night it seems likely that 2024 is a lost season in Dallas.
When You’ve Lost The Almighty
In its heyday, Texas Stadium’s hole in the roof was jokingly explained as: “So God could watch His team play.”
AT&T Stadium has a retractable roof, one that is rarely open when the Cowboys play. They attempted to open it prior to Monday night’s game.
Maybe Jerry Jones wanted to blind his players with moonlight since the game started after sundown.
No sooner had the roof opened than a large piece of metal came tumbling down. It nearly clocked some poor soul on the sideline.
Another piece of metal came loose and was secured before it could also fall.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. But the roof was quickly closed.
Even the Almighty, it seems, has seen enough of the Dallas Cowboys in 2024.
Scoragami, Predictions, And Records
The final score of 34-10 was the fourth time a Cowboys’ game has ended with that score. Dallas is 2-2 in those games.
The loss dropped the Cowboys to 4-3 all-time against the Texans and was the first time Houston has beaten Dallas on the road in four tries.
The loss dropped Dallas’ all-time record on Monday Night Football to 51-36. The Cowboys are now 22-18 at home on Monday night.
I predicted a 27-16 loss for Dallas this week, and predicted the Cowboys would lose this game before the season began to fall to 3-7.
Dallas lost on Monday night and is now 3-7 on the season.
The Cowboys have to win out for the rest of the way to have any hope for the playoffs. They still face two games against the Commanders and one each against the Eagles and the Buccaneers.
Hope is fading, if it hasn’t already left The Star after Monday night’s performance.
I Knew You When…
If you hang out over on Twitter/X and you haven’t encountered Cameron Magruder’s account — @ScooterMagruger – you’re missing out.
Magruder is a Cowboys fan, suffering in the trenches right along with us. He also produces some great Dallas Cowboys content.
Among my favorites are his weekly NFC East meeting videos where he portrays each of the four teams.
His last video, following the Cowboys’ loss to the Eagles, is probably his best yet.
It also caught the attention of someone in the Amazon production crew because a portion of it appeared as part of their pregame show.
Check it out here:
Congrats on getting to the big time, Cameron. Don’t forget us little people!
Pop The Champagne In Miami
Thanks to a long-time rival, the 1972 Miami Dolphins get to claim the title of “Only Team To Never Lose A Game In An NFL Season” for one more year.
The Buffalo Bills’ 30-21 win over Kansas City on Sunday was the Chiefs’ first loss of the year. Kansas City was the last remaining unbeaten team in the NFL in 2024.
Yes, I know the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season a few years back.
But they didn’t finish the deal, losing to the Giants in that year’s Super Bowl.
Only the 1972 Dolphins ran the table, from season-opener to Super Bowl victory, without a blemish. There aren’t many members of the 1972 team still around.
But those that are popped the champagne around 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening wherever they were.
The Chiefs needed a blocked field goal last week to get to 9-0. Their luck ran out this week in Buffalo.
Then There Were Three
Like the Chiefs, the BYU Cougars needed a lot of help to remain unbeaten in college football.
Like Kansas City, they ran out of luck this week. The Kansas Jayhawks upended the Cougars 17-13 on Saturday in Utah.
The Cougars’ loss left just three unbeaten teams in the FCS and that number was very nearly trimmed to two on Saturday night.
The Oregon Ducks were trailing Wisconsin by seven points going into the final quarter. The Ducks moved to 11-0 by scoring 10 unanswered points for a slim 16-13 victory. Oregon remains a half-game ahead of Indiana (10-0) for first place in the Big Ten.
The 9-0 Army Black Knights are the only other unbeaten team in the top division in the American Athletic Conference.