Cowboys continue ‘homefield disadvantage’ in loss to Texans

Regardless of where one falls on the spectrum of opinion, the NFL has always been better when the Cowboys are in the playoffs, even though the franchise hasn’t won a postseason game since Jan. 28, 1996. After Dallas lost another disappointing home game on Monday night, former All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant thinks the NFL might also be better with the Cowboys at the top of the draft.

Put a pin in the Coach Prime-return suggestion – Bryant obviously wasn’t thinking about supporting actors Shedeur Sanders, Jerry Jones or Tom Brady in burying his lead on the tweet. Bryant was correct, though, in noting the hungry talent in the 2025 draft. But there’s also talent on the current roster. And one of those players, CeeDee Lamb, tried to explain the 34-10 loss to Houston on Monday night.

“Obviously, everybody is looking to embarrass us,” said Lamb, who had eight catches for 93 yards and a 13-yard run against the Texans.

With all due respect to Lamb, the numbers show the Cowboys are embarrassing themselves. They’ve lost their first five home games for the first time since 1989, the year Jones purchased the team, drafted Troy Aikman and finished 1-15 before six consecutive playoff berths (1991-96) and Super Bowl victories in 1992, 1993 and 1995. This season, opponents at AT&T Stadium have outscored Dallas by 118 points. That’s the third-largest margin over a team’s first five home games in the Super Bowl era (1966-present). Only the 2013 Jaguars and the 1966 Falcons were worse, according to NFL insider Ed Werder.

Even their own stadium is conspiring against them, last week with blinding end-zone sun rays and this week with pieces of the roof falling onto the field. Werder, who’s covered the Cowboys, and head coach Mike McCarthy are as dumbfounded as anyone.

“Mike McCarthy spoke to it this week,” Werder said on the Doomsday Podcast following the game. “He said it’s the most remarkable thing he’s ever seen in his 18 years as an NFL head coach and the many years before that as an assistant. A team that begins the season as the best home team in football, a team that’s won 16 straight regular-season home games entering a season, is now the most inept home team in football.

“It’s to the point where the Cowboys have a homefield disadvantage, in a year where everything is the opposite. This is now a season of opposites for the Cowboys. Wins are losses and losses are wins, because it’s now all about finishing up games and getting a high draft pick.”

If the season ended today, according to Tankathon.com, the Cowboys would have the ninth-overall selection on the Lambeau Field stage at the 2025 NFL Draft. They have a road trip to Washington (7-4) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

For more information on the Cowboys and Texans, visit the Dallas and Houston team pages at ProFootballPost.com.