4 Cowboys On Thin Ice After Humiliating Loss to Bills

2. Jayron Kearse, Safety

With Malik Hooker out in Week 14, the Cowboys asked Jayron Kearse to drop back and play the centerfield role. From the beginning, it was clear that he wasn't comfortable in this role. Despite the Bills passing just 15 times, there was very little resistance from the secondary when they did throw the ball.

As for Kearse, he also missed on a chance for a big play — and even helped the Bills out in the process. Down 14-3, the Cowboys were again looking for a defensive stop and the refs actually helped them out. Mazi Smith was given credit for a sack when the whistle was blown, but Josh Allen was about to escape his grasp. This led to a chorus of boos from the home crowd and could have given Dallas some momentum.

That pendulum should have kept swinging their way since Allen misfired on his next pass. His throw was too high for Khalil Shakir on second-and-19, which should have been a third-and-19 at worst. At best, it could have been a turnover for Dallas.

Allen's pass was clearly high and after bouncing off Shakir's fingertips, Kearse would have been in the perfect spot to pick off the pass. He never noticed this and instead went for the crushing hit. As fate would have it, he was called for unnecessary roughness for drilling a defenseless player, giving the Bills 15 yards and a fresh set of downs.

Buffalo scored later on that drive and took a 21-point lead. Frustratingly enough, all three of those touchdowns were aided by such penalties with DeMarcus Lawrence getting called for roughing the passer on the first drive.