At the hands of the visiting Detroit Lions, the Dallas Cowboys suffered their worst home defeat in the history of AT&T Stadium, 47-9, on Sunday afternoon.

From start to finish, it was a complete domination by the visiting Lions, as they outgained Dallas 492-251 in total yardage, generated five turnovers and played more than 65-percent of their offensive snaps in Dallas territory.

There was never a doubt on Sunday afternoon, but doubts are now swirling around where exactly the Dallas Cowboys are headed in 2024. Here are five thoughts from the big defeat.

False confidence

The success that Dallas found in the last two weeks against the Giants and Steelers was, in fact, not the turning point of the season. The same issues that the Cowboys faced against the Saints and Ravens came around once again on home turf against the Lions.

Detroit rushed for 184 yards. Dallas rushed for 53. Dallas went 0-for-3 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. The key foundational issues have not been corrected, even if the defense is dealing with a mountain of injuries. The trends only further cemented the team’s identity as non-physical off the line and undisciplined in the second level and secondary.

Which team is Dallas? The bye week will give the Cowboys 14 days to change that identity before it’s too late in the season to correct.

The offense has no excuses

The defense had every excuse to play as poorly as it did. Down four starters (Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, DaRon Bland, Eric Kendricks) and two backups (Caelen Carson, Marshawn Kneeland), the defense was set up for failure.

Offensively, not having Brandin Cooks – who had yet to show this season that he could be a game-changing weapon – is not enough to place the blame for the poor performance the offense had on Sunday. Multiple missed red zone opportunities. The lack of a sustained running game. And unlike other previous games this season, a downright bad performance from Dak Prescott.

In a game coming in that the Cowboys knew they were going to have to score to keep up with the combination of a Lions high-flying offense and a depleted Dallas defense, the offense showed zero fight.

Offensive line woes

In a game where the Cowboys elected to go with the more experienced group by benching rookie first-round tackle Tyler Guyton in favor of moving Tyler Smith out to left tackle and putting T.J. Bass at left guard, Dallas was completely overwhelmed by the Detroit pass-rush unit.

In 38 dropbacks for Dak Prescott, the Lions sacked him four times and pressured him 18 times. In the run game, the Cowboys quarterback completed just 17 of 33 passes for 178 yards.

Before Aidan Hutchinson left with a devastating lower left leg injury, he lined up over Terence Steele and bullied him all afternoon in generating multiple pressures and one sack.

If that is the offensive line group that Dallas feels most comfortable with, it will be a long season for Dak Prescott if o-line play like Sunday is the best protection he will get.

Could a trade make a difference?

The NFL is benefited by a later-than-usual trade deadline in 2024, as teams will have until Nov. 5 to make deals toward roster construction. Cases could be made for Dallas to look at making making a trade for a running back, defensive end, safety or an offensive playmaker in general, but would any one acquisition really make that big of an impact?

After a loss as demoralizing as that against a team that is expected to compete for the NFC crown, there’s not one player in the NFL that could make an impact large enough to overcome that type of skill-gap – especially any trade-available player.

At this point, Dallas would benefit more from continuing to play young talent and focusing on getting reps for the youth on both sides of the ball.

Wait…that was the plan all along? You fooled me.

The bye comes at a perfect time

The bright side – yes, it’s there somewhere – is that Dallas will have a bye week to get back to the drawing board after this huge defeat. Last season, it took a bye in week seven to correct a stale offense and to get CeeDee Lamb back involved in the offensive gameplan that led to him having a career season.

Truly, it didn’t feel like Dallas found its identity until after the bye in 2023. Could that be the same in 2024? Fans would hope that the identity hasn’t already been cemented.

It won’t get any easier after the break, as the Cowboys will head to San Francisco to take on the defending NFC champs. It’s an opportunity to right the ship…or to further plow it into the depths of the ocean.