The Dallas Cowboys score in Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons

The Dallas Cowboys are now on a three-game losing streak after losing 27-21 to the Falcons. They outscored the Falcons 378-310, won time of possession and won the turnover battle. Still, they fell short in a game that Dak Prescott couldn't finish, and CeeDee Lamb suffered significant pain. Afterwards, let's hand out some grades.

Quarterbacks

In a cruel twist of fate, the football gods finally let fans get a glimpse of Dak Prescott looking like himself before taking him away with a hamstring injury. The Cowboys came out firing through the air, and Prescott was in the rhythm early. He completed 75% of his passes for 133 yards, including a touchdown pass to Rico Dowdle. Prescott also used his legs more after discussing it earlier in the week, scrambling three times and gaining 30 yards.

When Cooper Rush came in, things took a step back. However, Rush wasn't all bad. He had several really well-placed balls that ended up being dropped, and the offense found its rhythm after the first series with Rush. Overall, he completed 52% of his passes but gained 115 yards and a touchdown. Rush wasn't a revolutionary or anything, but he played the way he usually does: good enough to keep things going, but not good enough to give the team their money's worth.

Grade: B+

Running backs

After all the Ezekiel Elliott drama died down, the game began and the Cowboys once again provided a stark reminder that Rico Dowdle is and always has been the best running back on the roster in 2024.

Dowdle managed 75 yards on just 12 carries and added another 32 yards on five receptions, including the juggling touchdown catch. He also had five carries of more than 10 yards, matching the rest of the offense's all-season total. Dalvin Cook once again saw action, but only had two carries for eight yards. This is clearly the Dowdle show.

Grade: A

Pass catcher

CeeDee Lamb deserves all the praise in the world for fighting through this game despite clearly being in a lot of pain. The star receiver received a lot of criticism this year for his perceived lack of toughness, but he fought through repeated hits on his injured shoulder and still managed to rush for 47 yards on eight catches.

Aside from his gutsy performance, there wasn't much special about these pass catchers. Dowdle was positive and Jalen Brooks had a really impressive sideline grab, but there were several drops throughout – especially when Rush came in – that could have really turned the game around.

Grade: C+

Offensive line

The Falcons entered this game tied for last in pressure percentage and sacks with just six sacks in eight games. They sacked Prescott three times in this game and constantly pressured both him and Rush. In total, they had eight quarterback hits in the game. The offensive line was getting beat left, right and center.

The offensive line was also responsible for five of the team's nine penalties in the game, all of which were pre-snap penalties. They were able to open up some holes in the run game, but the line was a net liability in this game.

Grade: D

Run the defense

It's really difficult to judge this defense too harshly right now, so this grade comes on a curve. With that in mind, Mike Zimmer's unit had a pretty good day, all things considered. Bijan Robinson had a lot of good runs but was held to just 86 yards on 19 carries.

All told, Dallas gave up just 3.3 yards per carry to the Falcons, a run-heavy team that was one of the more efficient rushing offenses in the NFL. It wasn't the kind of performance you can point to and say, “That's how you stop the run,” but it was more than enough for a defensive line that broken down.

Grade: C

Pass rush

If you stick with the same curve for this class, the pass rush showed up here too. The Falcons don't let up pressure that often and Kirk Cousins ​​has a fairly quick trigger, but Zimmer was very methodical in his blitz deployment to create optimal pressure situations.

Carl Lawson in particular had a game with two sacks and a forced fumble. The Cowboys had a handful of pressures that didn't result in a sack, which still forced Cousins ​​to lose his balance and end some plays early. Cousins ​​hasn't been under much pressure this year, but that beleaguered pass rush made life a little more difficult for him on Sunday.

Grade: B-

cover

As much good as the pass rush did in this game, the secondary ruined it all. Cousins ​​routinely found open receivers even under pressure and completed 79.2% of his passes.

Trevon Diggs had two particularly difficult scenes when Drake London Moss sent him in for the Falcons' first touchdown and later when he ran right into a targeted pick play that set up Darnell Mooney for an easy touchdown. Elsewhere, Caelen Carson finally returned from injury but was targeted early and often with resounding success for Atlanta.

Grade: D

Special teams

There aren't many comments here as the special forces unit remains very strong. Brandon Aubrey was perfect once again, easily hitting two field goals. KaVontae Turpin also had some solid scores despite being just a few feet away from a big touchdown.

The reason for the “poor” grade compared to the standards of this unit is due to the incorrect punting. The call itself was certainly questionable, but the execution wasn't much better. Bryan Anger didn't make a great shot and CJ Goodwin didn't exactly struggle to get back to playing football. Given that the turnover on downs led to quick points for the Falcons, that was enough of a miss to lower the grade.

Grade: B+

Coaching

While this will be an unpopular opinion, I was pretty happy with the coaching in this game. Was it perfect? Certainly not. But the Cowboys were at an emotional low point after last week, and they could have easily come here and been blown away by a really hot Falcons team.

Instead, they played relatively well and could have won this game very easily if there hadn't been a few mistakes here and there. The offensive game plan mostly worked, and McCarthy adjusted when Prescott went out. Zimmer's game plan was similarly effective and provided the team with ample opportunity to win. There were just enough mental mistakes to fail in the end, which again is down to the coaching, but there were things here that I liked.

Grade: B