Worst loss of Mike McCarthy era exposes Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys as ‘Super’ frauds

Given their Texas roots, the Dallas Cowboys were “all hat and no cattle” Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers.

They were “all bark and no bite” as their “mouths wrote a check that their butts couldn’t cash.”

There is no other way to explain Sunday’s 42-10 blowout loss in a game that the Cowboys had been looking forward to since last January’s 19-12 playoff loss to a 49ers team that knocked them out of the postseason the last two years.

The Cowboys talked about wanting revenge. They said this matchup was a measuring-stick game and an opportunity to validate the changers they made in the offseason that hopefully would get them past the 49ers and to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995, ending a 28-year drought.

The Cowboys talked themselves into an old-fashioned butt whipping that has exposed them again as Super Bowl frauds.

It was the worst loss of the Mike McCarthy era. The coach, who was hired in 2020 to bring the franchise back to Super Bowl glory, admitted to being thoroughly humbled.

“It’s a punch in the gut, it’s a kick in the ass, whatever phrase you want to put on it,” McCarthy said. “They beat us in all three phases. They played extremely well and we did not. And it was one of the years where I thought we had taken a step as a team. I didn’t see this coming. We did not hit the mark at all.”

No one saw this coming if you believed the hype surrounding the Cowboys, especially the way their defense played in beating the New York Giants, New York Jets and New England Patriots by a combined score of 110-13.

But as was learned in the shocking 28-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Cowboys are not the same team when things aren’t going their way and they are not playing with a lead.

They have proven to be the clear definition of fraudulent front runners in their five games this season.

Against the 49ers, the Cowboys fell behind 21-7 at halftime before melting down in the second half with three interceptions from quarterback Dak Prescott.

The quarterback who led the league with 15 interceptions last season and had two in the crushing 19-12 playoff loss last January admitted that Sunday’s loss was the most humbling and demoralizing he’s ever been a part of since taking over as Cowboys quarterback in 2016 because of everything they put into this game.

“I guess [demoralizing] is a good word,” Prescott said. “Didn’t see it coming. As you said, put everything into it and got punched in the mouth. Called it a couple of weeks ago a humbling against Arizona. But this may be the most humbling I’ve ever been a part of. Felt good about the preparation and felt good about everything honestly coming into hit game, matchups and they beat us in every aspect.”

Prescott will get a lot of attention and criticism regarding his play against the 49ers and deservedly so. He has a $40 million annually salary and is looking for an extension at the end of the season that could pay him $52 million or more annually.

Yet, he has just two playoff wins in eight years as Cowboys quarterback, has gained a nasty penchant for interceptions over the last two years and has a history of not showing up in big games.

But the loss was not just referendum on Prescott but also McCarthy’s new offense and playcalling abilities, but also the team’s allegedly dominant defense that started to come up small in big games.

McCarthy fired eight coaches and took over playcalling duties from fired offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after last season playoff loss.

His offense mustered just 197 total yards against the 49ers, couldn’t run the ball and failed to convert on third downs — despite having his starting offensive line on the field together for the first time all season.

The Cowboys receivers had trouble getting open, the line failed to protect Prescott and he missed receivers when they did get open.

The Cowboys defense was equally to blame as it offered little resistance to 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 252 yards with four touchdowns and a sizzling quarterback rating of 144.4.

The 49ers added 170 yards on the ground. Micah Parsons and the Cowboys defense were frustrated and confused.

And the league’s best pass rush didn’t sack Purdy once and did not come to close to picking him off.

Parsons was in obvious denial after the game.

“I don’t think the 49ers are at a higher level than us,” Parsons said. “I think we are the same caliber playoff team. Same talent. Same standards. I just like we need to reconsider some things, get together and fix some things. I feel like it was a few plays away. The score doesn’t really show what happened out there.”

Who are you going to believe?

Parsons or your lying eyes?

It was clear an obvious that the 49ers are a level above.

The Cowboys were outclassed like Bud Crawford did Dallas boxing Errol Spence.

Now a team that was hoping a win against the 49ers would give them a confidence boost and spur it to Super Bowl glory must avoid spiraling down hill.

The Cowboys will travel back to the west coast next Monday for a matchup at the Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) and the fired-Moore, who is their offensive coordinator and looking for his own measure of revenge.

“Obviously we’re not playing this team next week, Prescott said. “If we want to get to where we want to have to play them again. But its a new opponent next week. It’s the NFL, it’s tough. You got to move on fast or it will do exactly that and landslide and go the opposite way.

“We damn sure didn’t come in here and get the confidence that we’re trying to grab leaving this game. But you’ve got to turn the page or we’ll be humbled again and on the back end of something like this come Monday.”

Until further notice, consider the Cowboys humbled and exposed as frauds just like every year since 1995.