Seasons like this often trigger the same reactions in people.

“The Dallas Cowboys embody Murphy’s Law.”

“Don’t worry, the Cowboys will find a way to make it worse.”

“If there’s one thing I trust the Cowboys to do, it’s let me down.”

You know the kind of reactions I’m talking about. Chances are, someone you know or interact with, perhaps even yourself, has offered these to someone at some point this calendar year. It’s been a very long time since we felt really good about this team, although the last two weeks offered some respite from the gloom as they won two straight games against division rivals and even took one home Thanksgiving.

Monday evening was like the 6 a.m. alarm clock for the first day after a long and fun weekend. It brought us back to reality like Cinderella as the clock struck midnight. Now all we have is a pumpkin and our shared thoughts.

This weekly discussion is a space for these thoughts, three of them to be exact.

Welcome to our Day After Thought following Monday night’s loss to Cincinnati.

---

It’s really difficult to wrap your head around how bad this season is

I’ve asked this before, but I’ll do it again: As a Dallas Cowboys fan, what has been your favorite moment since the team’s playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers in January?

The question is really difficult to answer. Options include KaVontae Turpin’s punt return against Cleveland or his kick return against Washington or perhaps Jalen Tolbert’s game-winner in Pittsburgh. That’s it.

The turn of every major moment in the NFL calendar was met with overwhelming frustration by this team, something masked by the two-game winning streak that was once again exposed and brought to light by the loss. Given that the loss also effectively ended their playoff hopes (faint as they were), it has now put them in the worst spot imaginable for a full month of action: meaningless football.

Murphy’s Law suggestion certainly seems to have come true for this team as they lost due to Amani Oruwariye’s blunder. This team has found new and innovative ways to twist the knife of pain that it has been desperate to bury over the slow progression of an entire offseason.

What else could go wrong?!

---

Rico Dowdle should have been used this way from Week 1

Rico Dowdle has recorded 329 rushing yards in his last three games for the Dallas Cowboys. Given that he has had at least 18 runs in each of the last three games (no player has had such a streak for the Cowboys since Ezekiel Elliott in 2020), that makes a lot of sense.

Why is this so, you ask? The point here is not that Dowdle is a game-changing running back that the Cowboys have been suppressing for over half a season, but it is certainly obvious and has been the case for a long time that he is the best option on the team. All transmissions in any other direction were by definition inefficient.

Whether you believe it or not, the Cowboys wanted to make Zeke a thing again out of some level of loyalty to one of their favorite players (that would never happen, there was no way they were going to let a player out of a completely different player). eliminated). Profession like, I don’t know, broadcasting, only to return and command a lion’s share of the snaps at her position) her at best completely misjudged the talent of their own squad by not committing to this path many, many months ago.

A large part of the operation needs to be questioned and remedied.

---

Micah Parsons extension talk is just around the corner

As it stands, it may be another month before the Dallas Cowboys have a new coach. Once the regular season is over, things can move quickly.

Of course, there’s still an “if” attached to this proposal, as we don’t know if the team will even decide to keep Mike McCarthy. They speak positively about him at the moment, but what else can they say when the announced month has already passed?

What is certain is that the moment the dust settles on this disastrous season, the hourglass will be turned upside down for Micah Parsons and talks of a contract extension for him will begin. The Cowboys have already wasted some time in this hourglass by failing to get it done last offseason, and by not pursuing CeeDee Lamb or Dak Prescott until the eleventh hour, they attracted a lot of national attention (which may have been the case at the time). didn’t quite exist). level as it is now) for the way they are delaying these massive deals.

If the Cowboys quickly push through an extension with Parsons, which seems inevitable and is a target they want to pursue, then they will prove that, in some ways, they have learned from the chaos of last offseason; However, if they delay and falter again, we can lower expectations for the head coach search (assuming there is one) as no one will be able to save the franchise from itself.