The Cowboys are very one-dimensional.
The Dallas Cowboys have spent the last week getting punched in the gut by anyone in the NFL with a platform, and they deserve every bit of it after the Detroit Lions beat the stuffing out of them at home. A 47-9 home loss to Detroit marks perhaps the worst game of the entire Jerry Jones era.
While the Cowboys do have Dak Prescott at quarterback and the excellent CeeDee Lamb as their top wide receiver, even the biggest Cowboys Kool-Aid drinker will have to admit those two stars have to be surrounded by a lackluster supporting cast. Detroit knew as much going into the game.
In an appearance on Detroit teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown's podcast, Lions defensive back Kerby Joseph said that Dan Campbell's team went into the game with the sole focus of taking Lamb out of the game. The Lions knew the Cowboys couldn't counterpunch.
"Once we take him out [of] the game, we wasn't really worried about anyone else," Joseph said. The worst part about this for Cowboys fans is that Joseph and the Lions were completely correct in their assessment of Dallas. Even after losing Aidan Hutchinson with an injury, Detroit knew they had no answer.
Lions DB Kerby Joseph rips Cowboys offense after 47-9 beatdown
Joseph, who picked off Prescott in this win, and the rest of his Lions teammates held Lamb to seven catches for 89 yards despite 14 targets and multiple big chunk plays in garbage time when the result was in hand. Outside of that, no one wearing a star on their helmet did much of anything.
Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott combined for just 42 rushing yards in this game. With Brandin Cooks on IR, Prescott's next three most-targeted players were developing youngster Jalen Tolbert (four catches, 43 yards), diminutive return man KaVontae Turpin (four catches, 24 yards, and average tight end Jake Ferguson (three catches, 11 yards).
While the Cowboys have been able to draft and dveelop a few studs in the last couple of seasons, their inability to find playmakers on offense outside of Lamb has led to the Cowboys being increasingly one-dimensional. After Lamb's new contract, Dallas will need to be extra vigilent when it comes to scouting and drafting possible running mates.
The Cowboys could still blunt-force their way into the playoffs this season, but they will need to do so with a very flawed roster that even an average defense like the Lions is capable of twisting into a pretzel.
