'MNF' takeaways: Cowboys are officially broken after blowout loss to Texans

The Cowboys' misery extended on Monday night with a 34-10 home loss to the Texans.

Here are five takeaways from the Week 11 finale:

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is quiet quitting

With seven games left on his five-year contract, McCarthy can see the writing on the wall.

Some of his decisions on Monday were signs of a coach with one foot out the door.

The Cowboys ran a failed fake punt on fourth-and-nine from their 33-yard line in the first quarter. 

McCarthy took three points off the board after kicker Brandon Aubrey made a 64-yard field goal. Texans defensive end Derek Barnett committed a personal foul penalty and McCarthy elected to extend the drive. Later, on 4th-and-2 during the same series, he kept the offense on the field, and it failed to convert.

Those are the moves only a coach makes if they have nothing left to lose. 

Texans struggle to shake off their malaise

After surprising nearly everyone with an unexpected playoff appearance last season, Houston was expected to take another leap in 2024. Instead, it's been stuck in the mud.

The Texans were too sloppy to be considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender. They were flagged nine times for 69 yards and scored no points on a first-quarter drive that began at the Cowboys' 37-yard line after quarterback C.J. Stroud threw an interception on fourth down.

The defense allowed a 54-yard touchdown to Cowboys wide receiver Kavonte Turpin on the first play of the second quarter, keeping the game closer than it should have been in the first half.

Cowboys should give quarterback Trey Lance the starting job

With its season essentially over, what's the risk in starting Lance? The former No. 3 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft hasn't had much of an opportunity to play since the 49ers selected him.

The Cowboys know what they have in Cooper Rush, who started against the Texans and was 32-of-55 for 354 yards, one touchdown and one interception while being sacked five times.

Asking Rush to drop back nearly 60 times is a losing formula. While McCarthy would need to alter his pass-heavy scheme for Lance, he'd at least give Dallas a mobile threat at quarterback.

Maybe Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was serious about tearing down AT&T Stadium

During last weekend's bizarre rant about the sun, Jones argued against installing curtains in the stadium to block the sun during Sunday afternoon home games, 

"Well, let's tear the damn stadium down and build another one," said Jones.

We should have taken that as a threat.