Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter against Cowboys defenseman DeMarcus Lawrence at the AT & T stadium.(Photo: Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports)

ARLINGTON, Texas – Cowboys safety Byron Jones leaves the sidelines to fend off defenders of Navy Titans Jurrell Casey and Wesley Woodyard and the painted white star in the middle of AT & T Stadium.

But let's go back.

Twelve minutes and a half had pbaded in the first quarter of Monday Night Football when Kevin Byard (Tennessee) plunged into the Cowboys area, intercepting Dak Prescott's pbad to Amari Cooper.

Byard ran the stolen ball up to the 50-meter line, his teammates joining him to dance under the Cowboys' star logo in the middle of the field. Terrell Owens, the Cowboys Hall of Fame team mate, was making fun of offensive midfielder Emmitt Smith with the same fate 18 years ago.

Jones, standing on the sideline of Dallas, did not have it.

He ran.

More: Jerry Jones says it's not expected to dismiss Jason Garrett after the Dallas Cowboys' fifth defeat

More: Byard of the Titans, Kevin Byard, provokes the Cowboys by channeling Terrell Owens

"Just defend the star," said Jones after the Dallas 28-14 loss to the Titans. "They have no reason to disrespect the star in this way.

"You can have fun, I understand the party, but you go over the limits when you go to the star."

For Monday night's performance, which was undoubtedly a watershed in the Cowboys' first home defeat this year, Byard was honored by Owens three months after he was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

"I feel like I've seen that before," Owens tweeted after Byard's imitation. "I gave them the drip, they sucked it, I got it on it. "

Owens later added "#NoBiggerFanThanMe".

It's not bad to hire Byard, who planned the celebration at the Titan Hotel and expected "someone to cut off my head." (They did not do it.)

"What can I do if I play and I really show the team that we are not scared?" Byard said. "We are here to play ball. We are here to win the match. "

The Cowboys were not.

Prescott sold a second turnover in the third quarter, this time to Jayon Brown and Woodyard.

The Dallas defense was splashed by the Titans' conversion in 11 of the 14 tries and 4 out of 5 trips in the red zone.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team, after 15 days of rest, looked tired. Defenders recognized the slip.

"The frustration is at its height," said Cowboys defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford, who scored one of Dallas' four sacks. "I mean, it's shocking. It was shocking to see … the amount of points.

The Cowboys have to ask themselves what are the 28 extra points sold and a fifth loss.

"We just have to see what team we want to be," Byron Jones said. "Do we want to appear as a team in the first quarter or first semester, or do we want to be the imposters who showed up in the second half?

"As the coach says: we have the right kind of guy in this locker room, the guys of high character. The less experienced men would step back or back, point fingers and break the team. But we do not have that kind of guy here.

Smaller men can also allow opponents to dance equally, as did the Titan defenders after Byard's interception, until Jones took a stand.

"It's not necessary," he said. "When you enter the Cowboys arena, people do not do it. It's all about respecting the brand, respecting the star. "

Jones said that when he left the sideline and pushed Byard's team of dancers.

But in the remaining eight games this season, can the Cowboys make that statement on the court?

Follow Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.

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