'Ticked-Off' Cowboys Sound Off On Loss to WFT

Are defensive coaching staff changes being talked about? Well, in the Dallas Cowboys losing locker room at Washington, it seems like most everything is being talked about ...

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys' 25-3 loss to division foe Washington sent them spiraling from first to third in the NFC East. After the game, the level of discontent was palpable, from coach Mike McCarthy and members of the 2-5 Cowboys team. 

"Let’s quit candy-coating it," McCarthy said. "I can’t stand up here and keep talking about taking care of the football, taking the ball away and just the fundamentals."

DISMANTLED DEFENSE

For starters, the Cowboys surrendered 397 yards, including 208 on the ground, to a Washington Football Team that is dead last in the league in rushing. Washington entered the game averaging only 18 points per game ... In the first half alone, the Cowboys allowed 22 points.  

Following the McCarthy "candy'' answer, the question on many Cowboys fans' minds in regard to defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Are defensive coaching staff changes being talked about? 

[READ: 'The Candymen': How Do Cowboys Grow Some 'Backbone'?]

“That hasn’t crossed my mind," McCarthy said, trying to shut down the speculation. "I’m focused on getting better each and every day. That’s where we are.”

A telling stat? Washington rookie Antonio Gibson set a career-high with 128 yards on the ground and J.D. McKissic ran for seven yards a carry. The Cowboys defense jumped offsides, missed tackles and blew assignments.

“We are ticked off," said defensive end Everson Griffen. "I feel like everyone is tired of it and I feel like in order to do something about it, we have to do it as a team.”

A LACKING REACTION TO CHEAP SHOT ON DALTON

In his first Cowboys start, quarterback Andy Dalton was nailed by Washington linebacker Jon Bostic, targeting Dalton's head and face. The cheap-shot hit on the sliding Dalton resulted in hardly any reaction from his own teammates. 

"We speak all the time about playing for one another, protecting one another. Definitely, it was probably not the response you would expect," McCarthy said of the hit that ended Dalton's game. 

As Sports Illustrated reporter Mike Fisher wrote after the game:

"The Cowboys, from McCarthy on down, can continue to pay lip service to how "bonded'' they all are, how wrong it is of the media to suggest there is a "disconnect'' in this brotherhood. But their inaction following the brutalization of their QB speaks volumes about what drives the 2020 Dallas Cowboys.

"Nothing drives the 2020 Dallas Cowboys.''

OFFENSIVE WOES

Once the league's most potent offense, Dallas put together only one scoring drive and failed to convert the only red-zone trip.

Rookie QB Ben DiNucci entered for Dalton in the third quarter. The James Madison product was able to complete two of his three passes and was sacked three times over the final quarter and a half. Meanwhile, the Cowboys' rushing attack was nonexistent; Ezekiel Elliott finished with 12 carries for 48 yards. 

Will the Cowboys continue their downward spiral or can they find a way to turn it around? Next up, one of their most pivotal matchups at the Philadelphia Eagles in a Sunday night national-TV game that some folks may watch only in the way rubber-neckers watch a train wreck.