👋 Good morning! - It’s Christmas week, so soak up the family time and don’t stress the small stuff. Unless you’re a Cowboys fan… then yeah, go ahead and stress. You’ve earned it- Ali Jawad

The Cowboys came into Sunday already dead in the playoff water, talked all week like they still had pride to play for, then went out and delivered the most familiar Dallas script imaginable in a 34-17 loss to the Chargers at AT&T Stadium: loud early flashes, then a full second-half fade.

Dak Prescott and the offense actually did their part in spurts, Ryan Flournoy capped the opening drive with a touchdown before leaving early with a knee injury, and George Pickens finally snapped out of his two-game quiet streak with his fifth 100-yard day of the season, highlighted by a 38-yard scoring strike in the second quarter.

CeeDee Lamb (5 catches, 44 yards) also hit a milestone, joining Michael Irvin as the only Cowboys receivers with five straight 1,000-yard seasons, and Prescott finished with 244 yards and two touchdowns.

None of it mattered, because the defense once again turned a normal opponent into a problem they couldn’t solve. Matt Eberflus’ move to call plays from the booth was supposed to help “faster adjustments” — instead it just gave a different view of the same mess: 34 points allowed, more than 450 yards, 24 first downs, and 7-of-11 third-down conversions as Justin Herbert and the Chargers finally cracked 400+ yards for the first time in eight weeks.

Los Angeles scored touchdowns on its first three possessions, put points on five of its first eight, and faced little resistance all afternoon, even with Trevon Diggs back, there was no spark, no disruption, and no answer when the game flipped.

So Dallas leaves Week 16 with the weirdest “look at our stats!” resume possible, a 4,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard receivers, and a 1,000-yard rusher, and it still feels like empty calories because the defense has been the constant undoing all season.

The Cowboys fell to 6-8-1, dropped their third straight, and now limp into a Christmas Day matchup at Washington with the bigger reality staring them down: if Jerry Jones truly meant it when he put the defense on notice, serious changes can’t wait until 2026.

And for anyone wondering how rough this season’s been, Diggs even admitted his at-home concussion came from a mounted TV pole falling on his head, apparently the Cowboys can’t avoid getting hit, even in their own living room.

The Stars looked like they were trying to gift-wrap the Leafs a comeback with a sloppy second period, then Jake Oettinger slammed the door with a viral glove save on Auston Matthews after another Thomas Harley “what are we doing” turnover, and Dallas flipped the script in a 5-1 win at the AAC.

Mavrik Bourque finally got one on the scoreboard (after an offside wipeout) with an empty-netter, while the Dad’s Trip turned the locker room into a full-blown party, complete with tequila-shot rumors and Jamie Benn cracking jokes about being closer to the dads than his teammates.

Two late goals made it look easy, but the real headline is Dallas surviving its own mistakes… and taking the vibes on the plane to Detroit next.

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Ali Jawad
Dallas Cowboys ​Content Creator/Newsletter Writer
[email protected]