The Dallas Cowboys dropped their second game in a row, losing to the Arizona Cardinals 27-17. On a night where Jerry Jones shifted the attention to moves his team could make before the trade deadline, his Cowboys fell to a Cardinals team that had lost five straight coming in. The story remained the same as last week, where the offense could not overcome the woes of the defense.
The blame starts with coaching as Matt Eberflus continues to burn on the hot seat. However, several players showed a lack of effort, pleading a case for Jones to be aggressive at the deadline. These players in particular deserve the most blame for this team falling to 3-5-1.
3 Cowboys who deserve the most blame for Week 9 loss
1. Jake Ferguson
After starting the season strong and looking like a tight end worth a big contract extension, Jake Ferguson has looked anything but that for the past few weeks. He had five catches for 50 yards, but made some mistakes early that arguably made the biggest difference in the game.
On the offense's first possession, they took the ball downfield relatively easily, getting to a goal-to-go situation. On 3rd-&-goal, Dak Prescott looked for Ferguson on an out route, but he dropped the ball. He might not have scored had he caught it, but it would've set up a 4th and manageable.
Prescott was sacked on the next play, and it would not be until late in the third quarter that the Cowboys had another chance to score. Once Arizona took the lead after the offense failed, all the momentum started going their way. Ferguson's bad night was only beginning.
On the Cowboys' third drive down 10-0, needing a spark, Ferguson made a great catch over the middle to get past midfield for a first down but got stripped of the ball by Mack Wilson. Even though Dallas blocked a punt for a touchdown a few minutes later, Ferguson's blunder cost them at least three points. For an offense needing to be perfect due to an imperfect defense, turnovers cannot happen.
Ferguson does not deserve all the blame for this loss, but those two costly mistakes in the first half cannot go unnoticed. If he wants to be considered one of the top tight ends in the league, he has to play better than what he showed on Monday night. For another player getting a hefty payday from this team, Ferguson is looking like he is far from being a $52 million tight end. He deserves the most blame of all the players for this loss.
2. DaRon Bland
DaRon Bland has regressed. There is no disputing that the four-year, $92 million contract has not been worth it based on his performance this season. He is coming off being hurt from last year, but by this point, he was expected to get back to performing at a decent level. He looked far from being a No. 1 cornerback on Monday night.
The Cardinals' first touchdown came at the expense of Bland's poor coverage on Marvin Harrison Jr. Harrison made a nice move at the line of scrimmage to get free for the catch, but seeing Bland essentially getting crossed up was embarrassing. Matt Eberflus has been implementing more man coverage, but Bland still looks far from being a difference-maker.
Bland had no answers all night for Harrison, who had one of the best games of his career with 96 receiving yards. Harrison is a talented young receiver with an NFL bloodline, but he is not A.J. Brown or Justin Jefferson yet. On top of allowing big plays in coverage, Bland had an awful night tackling.
While the whole defense continues to be under fire, Bland stands out the most from that unit in terms of poor performance. Sure, he does not have Trevon Diggs to help take away some of the pressure on the other side, but covering Harrison should not as difficult as it looked. He deserves the most blame of any defensive player for this loss.
3. Terence Steele
Terence Steele continues to self-destruct. Even after recovering from the torn ACL a few years ago, he looks like one of the worst right tackles in football week in and week out. On Monday night, he continued to get beaten on the right side, which actually led to Brian Schottenheimer benching him for Nate Thomas in the second half.
Steele got beat on the 4th-&-goal play on the first drive that forced Prescott to move up in the pocket, leading to a sack that ended the drive. Steele got beaten time and time again by Josh Sweat, who had five of Arizona's nine quarterback hits in the game. The hits took their toll on Prescott, as he was seen limping to the locker room at halftime. Prescott was sacked a total of five times.
Steele got beat the worst by Sweat when the Cowboys finally got back in the red zone near the end of the third quarter. Trailing 24-7, the offense needed a touchdown to have any hope of getting back in the game. Instead, Steele got beaten easily again by Sweat, and Prescott was sacked.
The sack killed the potential touchdown drive, forcing Dallas to settle for a field goal. Based on how the game was going, trading field goals for touchdowns was not going to work. When the Cowboys finally reached the end zone for the first time in the game, they did so with Steele on the sideline.
With a losing record and arguably not a good chance of making the postseason, now might be a good time for Schottenheimer to evaluate players who aren't starting. That could mean benching Steele and letting Thomas play the rest of the year at right tackle.
Thomas gave up a sack himself late in the game, but he has looked better than Steele when he's filled in. It is hard to blame Steele a lot when the entire offensive line had a poor game, but Steele's inconsistencies in pass protection have been an issue all season. He should remain on the bench.