Frustrating. Disappointing. Embarrassing. Humiliating. Pathetic.

Whatever adjective you used to describe the Cowboys' Week 4 no-show against the Buccaneers, you might want to bust out the thesaurus, because you'll need a stronger word to talk about their Week 8 implosion versus the Arizona Cardinals.

They could have moved to .500 and shown themselves to be a team that could not only win the lackluster NFC East but perhaps be an opponent no one would want to face in the postseason. Instead, the Cowboys' 33-30 overtime loss on Sunday will find even fervent fans ready to pack it in and look ahead to 2027, the only real drama yet to play out being who gets dispatched from the team after a stunning defeat that Jerry Jones has already called "glaring in a negative way" and "an indictment of the whole show."

Defense... dominates?!? At least in first half

The much-maligned Dallas defense played its best half of football of the season over the first 30 minutes of the game. Their goal-line stop to thwart Arizona's second possession was a massive momentum shifter, and Shemar James's lucky interception led to an even luckier fumble recovery touchdown for tight end James Mitchell a few plays later.

Through two quarters, they repeatedly stifled the Arizona offense, allowing just one of six drives to gain over 30 yards and holding the Cards to a lone field goal, the first points they had surrendered in over 52 straight minutes of game play dating back to Week 7's win over Philadelphia. This, despite Arizona playing 12 more snaps and possessing the ball for four minutes longer.

Penalties continued to be an issue, with all four of the Cowboys' charged penalties going against the defense. But with a sack, two takeaways, a goal-line stuff, and no touchdowns allowed on 24 plays run in Dallas territory, the Cowboys defense seemed like maybe they were moving past their seven previous weeks of growing pains.

Dak & Co. overcome questionable coaching early

The Cowboys offense came out aggressive, with Brian Schottenheimer going for it on their first 4th-down try. But was it smart? Well, it came after another lost challenge, this one on the spot of the ball. And it happened on Dallas's own 32-yard-line, a questionable run call that failed turning the ball over with the Cards already in scoring position.

Dak Prescott was excellent, going 9-for-11 through the air and posting a passer rating of 129.2 headed into halftime. The unit converted three of their six 3rd-down attempts and went a perfect 2-for-2 in the red zone. The Cowboys held a 14-3 lead at the break...

...but it could have been even more. In a late-half situation that called for taking an aggressive shot, Schottenheimer played it inexplicably conservative. After taking possession at the Arizona 47, with 11 seconds to play a timeout in their pocket and the ball coming right back to them after the half, Schottenheimer elected to run Javonte Williams- who had been limited to three yards per carry to that point- up the middle rather than pick up a bigger chunk of yardage. Williams gained four. The decision left Brandon Aubrey lining up for a 61-yard field goal try, which he sailed wide right.

Cards deal from deep in the deck after halftime

Dallas's 15-play, 80-yard drive to start the second half chewed up 8:23 of clock, but it resulted in just three points, giving the Cowboys a 17-3 lead. Running out of both time and options, the Cardinals were forced to make some personnel changes. With running backs Jeremiyah Love and Bam Knight forced out due to injury, Arizona turned to Tyler Allgeier. By the end of the quarter, they replaced quarterback Jacoby Brissett with Gardner Minshew.

And the Cowboys suddenly looked lost.

Allgeier ripped off a 63-yard touchdown run on his second carry as the last Arizona RB standing. He would add a 52-yard burst on his very next rushing attempt. The Dallas defense gave up four straight touchdown drives, including 20 points in the final quarter. Again, poorly-timed penalties were a factor: a personal foul call on Rashan Gary was particularly costly, wiping out a 3rd-down stop and giving Minshew a fresh set of downs inside the red zone. he would throw a touchdown on the next play to narrow the margin to three points.

The inevitable collapse late

With that three-point lead, Dallas had the ball with just over two minutes to play. They also had spectacular field position. (Arizona's onside kick had not only failed, a penalty gave Dallas the ball on the Cardinals 20.) And Arizona had only one timeout left to use. One decently time-chewing play on a short field- even if they didn't score- and the Cowboys could at the very least run out the clock and escape with a win.

But the Cardinals curse returned, and Dallas turned in: a Williams run for no gain, a Prescott sack, and a three-yard plunge into the middle. Aubrey added a field goal, but Arizona would get the ball back with 65 seconds to play and 80 yards to travel.

Minshew's march down the field felt absolutely inevitable. He went 5-for-5 with little to no resistance from the Cowboys secondary and found Michael Wilson for the game-tying touchdown with 10 seconds to play. But a missed PAT would give Dallas one last try for a walkoff win.

Of all the weapons in the Cowboys' offensive arsenal, Prescott's final throw in regulation wasn't a legitimate shot to CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens to put Aubrey in high-percentage range, it was a short throw to Brevyn Spann-Ford. And with the final snap, Prescott simply took a knee, the Cowboys apparently content to continue on in overtime after holding a 14-point lead just 11 minutes earlier.

The end was one Cowboys fans could have seen coming a mile away. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Cowboys' vaunted offense answered with... a three-and-out, their fourth of the afternoon. Minshew and Allgeier took Arizona 44 yards in eight plays to set up the game-winning kick, and the Cowboys' most thoroughly gutting loss in recent memory (and yes, there's a fairly long list to choose from) was complete.

Aftermath

Talk quickly turned to who would get the axe after such an epic implosion. Even before the players were out of their pads, Jones claimed he is not considering a coaching change. Prescott's press conference saw him call the loss one of the toughest in his career. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said simply, "That can't happen."

But it did. And talk around The Star all week will be who is most to blame.

"It starts with me," Schottenheimer explained.

After dropping to 3-5 on the season with no real hope in sight for a turnaround that matters, most of Cowboys Nation would agree.

There have been rumors about the Cowboys front office pulling the trigger on a big trade before the deadline, to bring a missing-piece type of playmaker aboard for a back-half-of-the-season run. The more logical strategy at this point would be to start selling off whoever can bring more draft capital for a spring re-load.

Personnel-wise, the Cowboys saw Joey Porter Jr., Caleb Downs, Jake Ferguson, and P.J. Locke all limp off the field early. This team is not one player away; it's actually losing viable players left and right.

Nothing is working for the Cowboys. Not the offense, not the defense, not the special teams, not the players, not the coaches.

And there is no fix in sight.

"I only know how to do it one way. And that's to work," Schottenheimer said. "I'm a worker, I'm a problem solver."

Now 10-14-1 as head coach, he's got a lot of work ahead of him. And a ton of problems to solve.

But maybe not much time.