The Dallas Cowboys were riding high ahead of their Week 15 action after having beaten the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in Week 14. They quickly came crashing back to earth, though, thanks to a 31-10 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. The Cowboys were thoroughly outplayed from start to finish, and Mike McCarthy obviously wasn't pleased with how the game played out.

Throughout the season, we've gotten used to seeing the Cowboys beat their opponents into submission, but that's precisely what the Bills did to them in this one. Thanks to a massive performance from James Cook, who racked up 221 total yards and two touchdowns, Buffalo cruised to victory, and McCarthy credited them for setting the edge offensively all game long, while noting that was the biggest issue for the Cowboys throughout this crushing loss.

“They got on our edge a bunch. I know (defensive coordinator Dan Quinn) and the guys were very impressed with Cook throughout the week. They performed better than we did. They broke our contain, they broke tackles, they won the bend-back battle. Just all the little things that we’ve been good at. There’s no question, we got to be better. They ran the ball way too effectively. … All three phases didn’t get it done, starting with me. We needed to put points on the board for our defense. Our defense needed help today. And we didn’t give it to them.” – Mike McCarthy, The Athletic

Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys need to figure things out, and fast

Mike McCarthy, Cowboys

McCarthy isn't exactly telling folks what they didn't already know, as Cook absolutely torched Dallas throughout this game. It's not like they got carved up by Josh Allen, as he only had 94 total passing yards in this one. The problem was that on offense, Dak Prescott had just 134 passing yards, and was struggling to move the ball consistently.

The saving grace from this loss is that the Cowboys still managed to clinch a playoff spot, but they have another daunting Week 16 matchup with the Miami Dolphins quickly approaching. Dallas has proven they can hang with the best of the best, but if they don't bring their A-game every week moving forward, they could have more playoff disappointment in store for them this year.