Halfway through the season, the Cowboys have already built a painful little collection of losses, and every one of them has come with its own brand of frustration. Dallas sits at 3-5, and the margin for error has been tiny: all five defeats have been by 10 points or fewer, with two decided by one score and two ending on last-second field goals.
That’s what makes this start so maddening. The Cowboys haven’t just been losing - they’ve been losing in ways that leave the door open, then slam it shut anyway.
They’ve dropped games to divisional opponents, to teams they could have handled, and in one case they even let a big lead slip away. At this point, the season is already littered with what-ifs.
- Week 1 at Giants
The opener against the Giants was a rough way to begin the year, and it certainly took some of the air out of the fanbase. Dallas entered 2026 with plenty of buzz around its rebuilt defense, but that optimism faded fast when Jaxson Dart and New York moved the ball without much resistance in a game at MetLife Stadium.
In hindsight, though, this one doesn’t sit at the top of the pain scale. It was a road divisional game, Dart was healthy, and it came in Week 1, when there was still plenty of season left for Dallas to sort things out.
- Week 6 at Packers
This one hurt for a different reason: the offense was the problem. Dak Prescott’s group never got going in the first half, and two second-quarter interceptions from Prescott helped bury the Cowboys in a 17-0 halftime hole.
Dallas did make an effort to claw back, but the offense only managed two touchdowns all game. Even so, Green Bay was the strongest team to beat the Cowboys so far, which keeps this loss from landing as hard as the ones ahead of it.
- Week 3 vs. Ravens
On paper, this should have been one of the most damaging defeats of the year. In Brazil, Dallas and Baltimore turned it into a shootout, but the Cowboys leaned too heavily on field goals in a 34-31 loss.
The ending was especially brutal. With seven seconds left in regulation, Dallas looked like it had forced overtime, only for Lamar Jackson to find Zay Flowers and set up Tyler Loop’s game-winning field goal. That defensive breakdown cost the Cowboys a chance to keep playing and sent them back to the United States with a gut punch.
- Week 8 vs. Cardinals
Sunday’s loss to Arizona may end up being the one that lingers the longest. Dallas led by 14 points multiple times, but the defense unraveled in the fourth quarter and allowed three Cardinals touchdowns.
Then came overtime, where the Cowboys actually got the stop they needed. The problem was the offense went three-and-out right away, and Arizona finished the job with a game-winning field goal. It was Dallas’ fifth loss of the season and the one that kept the team from reaching .500.
- Week 5 vs. Buccaneers
The worst loss so far came against a winless Tampa Bay team led by Jalon Daniels, an undrafted free agent making his second start for an injured Baker Mayfield. Dallas had no business letting that one get away, but the Buccaneers walked into Dallas and left with a 24-16 win.
Daniels didn’t exactly light up the Cowboys’ defense, but Tampa Bay did all of its scoring in the second and third quarters. Prescott also turned it over twice against a tough Buccaneers defense, and once Dallas fell behind 24-10 in the third quarter, the comeback never really materialized.
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For a Giants roster trying to steady itself through a long season, that kind of presence matters. Schoen pointed to Winstons leadership and the way he has helped the team in the locker room and around games, a reminder that backup quarterbacks can shape a season in ways that never show up neatly in the box score. [Read more 🡒]