All Charged Up

Not even the return of Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith — nor the Thanksgiving home game hype — could snap the Dallas Cowboys out of their slump.

With a 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers Thursday at AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys’ season is spiraling away. Dallas has now dropped three consecutive games, including two home games in five days, to fall even further behind in the NFC playoff race.

At 5-6, the Cowboys trail NFC East-leading Philadelphia by 4 1/2 games and will need a serious rally over the final month of the season to catch wild-card contenders, including the Panthers, Falcons and Seahawks.

But worse for the Cowboys is that there were few moments in Thursday’s loss in which they even looked competitive.

“We’re not a good team right now,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “We can be a good team.”

The game was close at halftime, with the Chargers leading just 3-0, but only because of Los Angeles’ self-inflicted kicking blunders. The Chargers quickly control in the third quarter, with quarterback Philip Rivers throwing touchdowns to tight end Hunter Henry and receiver Tyrell Williams to take a 16-0 lead.

The Cowboys have been outscored 72-6 in the second halves of games during this three-game losing streak, and that stat might be the one that irks Jones and Cowboys players most.

While Dallas clearly misses suspended running back’s Ezekiel Elliott’s dynamic play, the Cowboys have been exposed in recent weeks of having far more issues that just one missing player.

“There’s really not a lot to second guess there. We’re obviously getting beat pretty good in the second half three games in a row that looks like a pattern,” Jones said. “That’s all I have. We’re very disappointed.”

While Dallas has clearly missed suspended running back Ezekiel Elliott during the sstreak, the Cowboys have been exposed in recent weeks of having far more issues that just one missing player.

Indeed, Jones said there were a “handful” of reasons for his team’s recent failures, and none of the answers were easy.

But it clearly starts with quarterback Dak Prescott, who has struggled in the Cowboys’ three games without Elliott, and an offense that didn’t get the lift it was expecting from the return of Smith, the standout left tackle who missed the previous two games with a groin injury.

Prescott appears to be pressing too much to make plays, an understandable reaction to frequently playing from behind and without Elliott.

He threw a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions – including one that was returned 90 yards for a touchdown, and he was sacked twice. That’s 14 sacks during this losing streak, after Prescott was sacked just 12 times in the Cowboys’ first eight games.

“I take responsibility in a loss like this, when the offense is in a funk,” Prescott said. “I’ve got to figure out what to do to get that whole unit rolling consistently.”

Rivers threw for a season-high 434 yards and three touchdowns as the Chargers amassed 515 total yards. Suddenly looking like a legitimate playoff contender, Los Angeles is currently a half-game ahead of the Raiders for second-place in the AFC West.