Dak Prescott suffers a hamstring injury in the Cowboys' loss to the Falcons

The Dallas Cowboys have lost their game and, at least for now, their quarterback.

The Week 9 setbacks were the last two of a dysfunctional season in the final year of head coach Mike McCarthy's contract.

Regular pre-snap penalties, injuries and missed tackles by the Cowboys marked a day in which the Atlanta Falcons controlled the game.

Prescott exited with 11:40 to play and the Cowboys trailed by 14 points.

He officially retired due to a thigh injury. Prescott's throwing hand also became swollen and had a sore at the base of his pinky finger after a day in which he scrambled more than he had all season.

As the Falcons completed their 27-21 victory, it was also questionable whether wide receiver CeeDee Lamb would return due to a shoulder injury.

Lamb had injured his right shoulder in the first half, and his grimaces got worse in the fourth quarter after he fell on his shoulder while diving for a pass in the end zone that he couldn't quite deflect.

The Cowboys fell to 3-5 while the Falcons improved to 6-3 and maintained their position atop the NFC South.

Before injury struck Dallas, the Cowboys played a frustrating game, save for one improbable play.

The Cowboys struggled after taking a 3-0 lead. The Falcons burned them down twice on fourth down, including a 36-yard touchdown on fourth-and-3 when Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​faced off against his former head coach Mike Zimmer, the Cowboys' defensive coordinator.

Even when the Cowboys defense held, the complementary football lagged.

Veteran rusher Carl Lawson strip-sacked Cousins ​​for his first of two sacks in the first half, and Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson recovered the fumble. But Dallas' offense couldn't capitalize. Prescott faced fourth-and-one from the Atlanta 44-yard line and threw the ball to Lamb, who the Falcons stopped three yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Tensions were rising for a Cowboys team that has now gone more than a month between wins. Television panning footage from the sidelines showed McCarthy cursing, rolling his eyes and slamming his tablet on the ground after the play he called backfired.

Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs' feelings were similarly pronounced after Darnell Mooney scored the wide-open 36-yard touchdown while Diggs appeared to be caught between other defenders.

But Dallas found an unlikely spark before halftime. Despite a delay of game penalty that allowed second-and-15, Prescott fumbled for only the 10th time this season.

The 22 yards Prescott collected was the longest rush of the season for a Cowboys team that ranks last in the league in rushing. Dallas also traveled to Atlanta without veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott, whom the team left behind in Dallas after Elliott reportedly missed several meetings. According to Next Gen Stats, Prescott added 7.08 seconds to the play before hitting running back Rico Dowdle on a play that Dowdle wobbled and then caught on his back.

Tempers calmed down somewhat, but Dallas' problems were far from solved.

The Cowboys opened the second half with a pre-snap penalty and were in trouble again on fourth down when punter Bryan Anger tried to pass a punt fake to CJ Goodwin, who fell.

Five plays later, Cousins ​​took advantage of the Cowboys' difficulty managing pre-snap motion and found Ray-Ray McCloud for an 11-yard touchdown.

The Falcons didn't want to give up the lead they had had since midway through the first quarter.

A touchdown from Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush to Jalen Tolbert cut the deficit to six points with less than two minutes to play, but the Falcons fended off an onside kick attempt to secure their victory.

Cousins ​​continued his strong first season in Atlanta, completing 19 of 24 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Bijan Robinson led Atlanta's talented players with 145 yards from scrimmage, although four other Falcons scored: Mooney, McCloud, running back Tyler Allgeier and receiver Drake London, who also left the game with a hip injury.

The Falcons also sacked Prescott twice in the first quarter after managing just six sacks in their first eight games.

Prescott completed 18 of 24 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown and also rushed three times for 30 yards. Prescott's tackles helped open up Dallas' offense, but were potentially costly as his exit came after a series in which he carried for five yards twice (one was called back for a holding).

Rush completed 13 of 25 attempts for 115 yards and a score.

Dowdle led the Cowboys' skill players with 107 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.

But a Cowboys team quickly heading toward playoff elimination could now find itself in the middle of its divisional game with injuries to its two most important offensive players and its two most effective defensive players.

The injuries to Prescott and Lamb hit a Cowboys team that has played its last four games without edge rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence.

They lost three of those four.

The Eagles visit Dallas next week while the Falcons travel to the New Orleans Saints.