What else is there to say? Not enough adjectives can accurately describe the Dallas Cowboys' miserable performance against the Detroit Lions. Sure, they're still a .500 team heading into a bye, but they played like a winless bunch with no solution to their problems in sight. As the Lions dominated the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium and suffered their third home loss of the season, the home crowd cheered the Cowboys on the field. It didn't take long for the Lions crowd to take over the stadium and chants for Jared Goff and Detroit filled the building. As a Cowboys fan, the range of emotions reflected the five stages of grief during the game.

Rejection: “There’s no way this team is that inept on offense.”

Anger: “Another interception?”

Negotiations: “If they get healthy on defense, maybe they can get more stops.”

Depression: “As long as Jerry makes money, nothing will change.”

Acceptance: “We’ll see what happens against the Niners.”

It will be a long two weeks before the team gets another chance to redeem themselves and put this poor performance behind them. But after this game we have to critically question why this team performed below average not only at home but also against good teams. There will be plenty of time as the game progresses to examine what needs to change, but first let's examine how the coaching impacted this embarrassing loss and what went wrong for the Cowboys in their 47-9 loss .

Incidentally, it may be insignificant to some, but it is incomprehensible why a head coach still chooses not to delay after winning the coin toss to start the game. This means that no matter how poorly the game is going, your team can get the ball and start the second half with a glimmer of hope, especially considering that onside kicks are not allowed until the fourth quarter and when a team is behind is. The Cowboys again decided to take the ball early in the game and all they could muster was a field goal after a good drive. Detroit saw Dallas stagnate and took advantage of the points with a touchdown on their first drive. This has become a pattern over the last few weeks. No matter what bravado Mike McCarthy tries to instill in the team, it's a nonsensical decision to begin with, but one made worse by an offense that can't finish drives in the red zone. McCarthy should know his team better, but that's just a minor matter. What else characterizes the coaching from Sunday’s game?

According to Mina Kimes, Dak Prescott had the highest tight window rate in 2022. Moving on to this season, it's been a theme all season that the Cowboys' offense is littered with tight-window throws that force Prescott to place the ball in risky situations. Part of this is due to the need for more talent at wide receiver. Still, the coaches can do more to make things easier for Prescott. Take Detroit as a direct comparison model.

Watching the Lions' offense operate with creativity, pre-snap movement and isolating receivers on mismatches only increases the Cowboys' need for easier situations to move the ball. At one point, Amon-Ra St. Brown had to be covered by linebacker DeMarvion Overshown after Detroit shut down its receivers, giving St. Brown a clear path down the field. Dallas needs to add more misdirection or even pick plays to put players in the lead. Since they don't do this anywhere as often as they should, the Cowboys are forced to play methodically and near-perfectly on every down to avoid a third-and-long.

Meanwhile, Detroit unveiled the playbook that almost seemed like a personal vendetta for the Cowboys' controversial win against them last season. The Lions lined up their offensive linemen on two of their three trick plays despite holding a significant lead over the Cowboys. In short, the Lions had more fun than the Cowboys, and that was because their play-caller/play designer took the pressure off their respective star quarterback and receiver, while Dallas threw everything in the way of Prescott and CeeDee Lamb and expected it they would fly to get the team out of an early slump. The same allegations that brought head coach Mike McCarthy under fire in Green Bay are now surfacing at Dallas. You know the ones: old-fashioned, unimaginative, boring. You can use the exact synonyms to describe the Cowboys broken offense. Now if you want to emphasize that the offense has personnel issues, we agree.

What cannot be understood, however, is that Ezekiel Elliott will be used as heavily as he was after Rico Dowdle's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. Elliott admitted to reporters his frustration with his lack of involvement in the offense. However, it didn't help that he played a prominent role in the game's second attacking series. Elliott carried the ball four times for six yards on this drive (1.5 yards per attempt). His final tackle on that drive went for one yard and put Dallas on second-and-long, where they threw a red-zone interception two plays later. There aren't many playmakers on offense, but it's incumbent upon both the coaches and the player to provide meaningful carries to a player, a shell of his former self. This season, Elliott has 30 carries for just 98 yards. The offense needs to find a way to get the ball into the hands of the best players in more ways and keep their better players on the field in the first place.