National Football League

Should Cowboys be concerned after Jaguars loss, Texans close call

Updated Dec. 19, 2022 8:17 p.m. ET

The Dallas Cowboys (10-4) clinched an NFC playoff berth Sunday, but they also put together another discouraging performance.

One week after squeaking out a win against the 1-12-1 Houston Texans, a game in which they trailed late in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys blew a 17-point lead in the second half to the 6-8 Jacksonville Jaguars.

Dallas' collapse was punctuated in overtime by Jags safety Rayshawn Jenkins corralling a deflected pass from Dak Prescott and taking it to the house. It was one of two picks for Prescott, who also threw three touchdowns. Conversely, Trevor Lawrence threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns and Jacksonville amassed 192 yards on the ground, including 103 from Travis Etienne.

Naturally, people are pointing fingers at all parts of Mike McCarthy's team.

"Undisputed" cohost Shannon Sharpe called Prescott "inconsistent" but said "70%" of the blame for Sunday's spiral is on Dallas' defense.

"No matter how bad Dak played with those two interceptions in the third quarter and overtime, he did give this defense, this talked about historically great defense, a 17-point lead," Sharpe said. "But the guy that [they] miss the most is Anthony Brown cause you saw what Zay Jones was doing to the other corner, Bossman Fat [Kelvin Joseph]: [He] ate his lunch. [They're] in trouble."

Dak Prescott throws OT pick-six in Cowboys' 40-34 loss to Jaguars

Skip Bayless shares whom he blames most for the Cowboys' collapse.

Dallas' defense has been sharp in many regards, surrendering just 191.6 passing yards (second in NFL) and 19.2 points (seventh) per game this season. But the unit is allowing 133.1 rushing yards (25th), as well.

Last week, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons questioned whether the NFC-leading Philadelphia Eagles' success this season has more to do with third-year quarterback Jalen Hurts' progression or the team's loaded roster.

Skip Bayless felt like Dallas overlooked the Jags and was already thinking about Saturday's date with the 13-1 Eagles.

"[They've] been looking ahead to the Philadelphia Eagles actually since the game in Philadelphia in which they trailed only 21-17 early in the fourth quarter with Cooper Rush at quarterback," Bayless said.

Despite the defeat, Bayless is still a staunch believer in the Cowboys.

"I said NFC Championship Game or bust and I'm hanging in there," Bayless said. "I've seen far more explosive than I've seen disastrous. Yesterday was a big combination of both, but it was mostly disastrous. It was flat-out disturbing. … I'm hanging in because I keep clinging to glass half full."

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