4 Cowboys on Thin Ice After Unconvincing Win Over Chargers

On the team level, a win is a win. Blowouts and close wins count all the same in the standings. But coaches aren't ignoring poor individual performances just because their team came out with a victory — especially when it wasn't an overly convincing victory.

The Cowboys beating the Chargers came down to a few key moments that you don't want to have to rely on, like the Tony Pollard 60-yard reception on a broken play.

Heading into a bye week is the perfect time for roles to be adjusted within the organization, and that leaves these four Cowboys on thin ice.

Michael Gallup

Dak Prescott threw nine incompletions on the night. Seven of those nine came when targeting Michael Gallup.

Throwing to non-Gallup players, Dak was 18-of-20 for 248 yards. Throwing to Gallup he was 3-of-10 for 24 yards.

It’s also not like Gallup had been especially good before Monday’s dud either. After averaging a career-low 5.7 yards per target in 2022, he had fallen below that average in three of the first five games of the season. That included having three games with 15 or fewer receiving yards.

The silver lining was that he had produced when he got more opportunities, with 60 yards on 6 targets in Week 4 and 92 yards on 7 targets in Week 3. But that silver lining was erased in Week 6.

Gallup had all the opportunities in the world, leading the team with his 10 targets. But throwing him the ball was one of the least effective things the Cowboys could do last night.

Jourdan Lewis

Jourdan Lewis didn't have an awful game overall, but sometimes one play is enough to ruin the whole night.

NFL coaches are never going to be happy when you get beat, but it's going to make them a lot less mad if you get beat while making an effort. Deep down they know sometimes an opponent just makes a great play, and there's not much you can do about it.

That was absolutely not the case when Jourdan Lewis got burned for the Chargers' first touchdown of the game.

Check this out:

Lewis is trailing Keenan Allen in motion across the formation, and he's jogging like he thinks this is a practice rep.

The play is designed to have Chargers receiver Quentin Johnston drive his man back, causing an obstacle that Lewis can't get through to keep up with Allen. This didn't happen, but Lewis was so far behind the play that it didn't matter. By the time the ball left Justin Herbert's hand, Allen had what looks like roughly 4-5 yards of separation.

The extra salt in the wound? It was a pretty bad throw by Herbert, so far behind Allen that Lewis actually almost had time to catch up. If Lewis was even hustling a little bit he probably could've made a play and broken that up, and if he was really keeping up that's a throw that could have been intercepted.

Instead, that's 6 on the board for the Chargers that can be entirely attributed to Lewis.

Tyrus Wheat

Tyrus Wheat was never going to have a long leash, making his NFL debut after being elevated from the practice squad, and he may well have cost himself a chance at some increased playing time.

Wheat got in on a couple tackles, but what really stood out were the negatives.

First, a total mental error. It didn't end up costing the Cowboys, but coaches don't have a lot of patience for penalties that come from something simple like now knowing where you're supposed to line up.

Then he had some tackling issues, which is another rough look. Being a playmaker is great, but most coaches want to start with someone reliable and go from there. Missing tackles is a quick way to get yourself back on the bench, even if you've got the ability to make big plays as well.

Wheat has plenty of potential,

Mike McCarthy

The Cowboys had all sorts of team-level issues, and while you wouldn't necessarily immediately point at Mike McCarthy for any one of them individually, the gestalt does fall on McCarthy.

The Cowboys had a ton of penalty issues right from the jump, and they didn't slow down as the game progressed. It also wasn't just one player getting too reckless or one type of penalty showing a lapse in preparation for the game.

There were all kinds of penalties popping up all night, including pre-snap penalties, which really highlight discipline issues the most.

Then we had the debacle at the end of the first half. There was plenty of time on the clock for the Cowboys to take a shot or two at the end zone, and McCarthy decided to run the clock out.

McCarthy was out there acting like he could roll an extra timeout over into the second half.

And then there was the ill-fated attempt at copying the Eagles' QB sneak.

If you haven't mastered the play, don't run it. Run a typical QB sneak or other short-yardage play that your team knows well.

McCarthy isn't quite on the hot seat yet, but if this season takes a turn in the near future he very well could be.

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