The cowboys were in win-now mode with the Amari Cooper trade. They do not win now.

The Dallas Cowboys, even with a record under .500, clinched the NFC East title by swapping a first-round pick against the Oakland Raiders against wide receiver Amari Cooper. It seemed to make sense. The Cowboys desperately needed a # 1 wide-outs, and the division race was wide open. The Washington Redskins, who held first place, looked less impressive and the Philadelphia Eagles solved their problems.

But no matter how big the division race if you do not win.

Cooper made his Cowboy debut Monday night at home against the Tennessee Titans. He had some good times, giving the Cowboys a quick lead with a touchdown in the first quarter. But it was not enough. Not even close. The Dallas attack continued to maltreat. And the Cowboys reached the middle of their season in a desperate state after losing to the Titans, 28-14.

"Really disappointing," cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters after the match. "We certainly have not seen that coming."

[Aaron Rodgers did all he could but Tom Brady won. Did anyone expect anything different?]

The Cowboys (3-5) are two games behind the Redskins and a game in the back of the Eagles. It's not so intimidating.

But the Cowboys are not playing well, as their record shows. They lost two games in a row and three of four. They fell to the Redskins at FedEx Field just before their week off and just before completing the Cooper transaction. With at least a week to rest and get ready, with the time needed for Cooper to tackle the offensive, they delivered a clunker on Monday.

"This is really not enough," said coach Jason Garrett during his post-game press conference. "We had some early opportunities that we did not cash in …. In the end, they did more to win the match than us. "

The biggest problems are in attack. Quarterback Dak Prescott racked up 243 yards and two touchdowns, Cooper's four-yard forward in the first quarter and wide 23-yard wide catcher Allen Hurns in the final minute of the first half tied with the match. costly turnarounds, launching a first-quarter interception in the end zone as the Cowboys could have strengthened their lead and lost a third-quarter fumble that led to the Tennessee ball touchdown.

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Prescott became a turn-key quarterback, which was not the case in his rookie season in 2016 when he and his rearguard Ezekiel Elliott led the Cowboys to the top of the NFC playoffs. But Prescott, Elliott and the Cowboys did not find that magic of their rookie year, as their playoffs ended in a home defeat against the Green Bay Packers, but the future looked so promising.

Last season was canceled when Elliott missed six games while he was serving his suspension under the NFL's personal driving policy. He was delayed by half of the season while he and the NFL Players Association opposed the penalty in court. This year, the Cowboys have assumed that having Elliott in training for a full season would lead to success. This is not the case. Jason Witten retired on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcast booth. The Cowboys cut the ties with wide catcher Dez Bryant. Prescott has not managed to change the pass.

The Cowboys failed to generate a lot of games in play on Monday, as Elliot was restricted to 61 yards on 17 runs. The offensive coordinator, Scott Linehan, fell into his habit. The Cowboys would run the ball the first time and not win a lot of yards. From there, Prescott would be facing pressure from the Titans. The results were not good.

The Cowboys were excluded in the second half. Cooper finished with five catches for 58 yards. It was not a bad start. But the Cowboys will need more to give up a first-round pick to appear justified.

The Dallas defense has been good this season and took advantage Monday of two early revolutions of the Titans. But Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota started from there and played very well, running for a touchdown and throwing for two more. Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee was hamstring injured. The Titans became the first team to score more than 24 points against the Cowboys this season.

Coach Jason Garrett does not have the answers because the Cowboys' record has dropped to 3-5. (Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

The speculation will certainly increase the fact that the Cowboys are about to fire Garrett or Linehan, or both. But this type of conversation is common and it has not happened yet. Jones told reporters Monday night that he would not consider a coaching change in season. Jones has been extremely patient with Garrett, some in the league speculating that it's because Garrett allows Jones to have a lot to say about how the team works in the field.

The Cowboys play in Philadelphia on Sunday night. It begins with a series of five games in which they face the Atlanta Falcons on the road and then play three consecutive home games against the Redskins (on Thanksgiving), the New Orleans Saints and the Eagles. At the end of this period, the Cowboys could be back in the NFC East.

Or the competitive part of their season could be over, and all that would be left would be to contemplate the future of Dallas Garrett and Prescott and wonder why the Cowboys had traded their first-round pick against what they would have had to think of being a cause loss.

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