Dak Prescott turned over the ball eight times last season. In his last three games alone, the Cowboys' sophomore quarterback has eight turnovers.
Those numbers lead a bevy of eye-popping stats that tell the story of just how broken the Cowboys' offense, which scored just six more points in a 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday, really is.
Dallas has just two touchdowns in its last 12 quarters. Prescott hasn't thrown for more than 200 yards in any of those three games. No running back has broken the 100-yard plateau, and an offensive line bothered by an injury to left tackle Tyron Smith (groin/back), who returned Thursday, and then right guard Zack Martin, who left Thursday's loss with a concussion, has given up 14 sacks in the past three games after allowing 10 in the first eight tilts.
Prescott isn't sure how to fix it. He just knows it's a problem the team needs to address.
"We're in a funk, or whatever you want to call it, and it's not fun to be in," Prescott said. "We've got to figure out ways to get out of it. Me individually and just this offense collectively, we got to get back to work and continue to do that and just, like I said, figure out what's going on and get out of this."
With Smith returning Thursday after missing the Cowboys' previous two blowout losses, the problem is fairly easy to identify: Without Ezekiel Elliott, nothing about the Cowboys' offense is right.
Alfred Morris and Rod Smith have combined to fill in respectably, but they're no Elliott. Without the threat of the All-Pro tailback's home runs, playaction hasn't been effective. Defenses haven't committed as many to the box, and a slow receiving corps has been exposed.
Prescott, though, wouldn't lay all the blame on Elliott's six-game suspension.
"If you're turning and trying to point the finger at the reason we're not having success is another guy or this or that, then you're not going to get it in this league," Prescott said. "So I mean the last thing I'm doing is pointing the finger and saying we need this guy, we need that to happen. We just got to figure out what's going on and get out of this funk."
If the Cowboys don't snap out of it soon, their playoff hopes, which are already on life support, will evaporate. At 5-6, they likely need to win out to have a shot at a wild card spot. Though beating the Washington Redskins next week seems unlikely if Prescott and the offense continue on the path they've gone down the last three weeks.
