Technically, the 34-17 beating at AT&T Stadium in Arlington didn’t knock Dallas out of the playoff race – that happened the day before, when the Eagles clinched the NFC East in Washington. By kickoff, the Cowboys were already eliminated for the second straight year, and Sunday was just the part where everyone had to stand around and watch the body hit the floor.

For about two drives, it looked like Dallas might at least show some pride. Dak Prescott opened hot, tossing a 5-yard touchdown to Ryan Flournoy and then dropping a beautiful 38-yard strike to George Pickens in stride. Pickens, who’d been ripped for his effort the last couple of weeks, finally flashed the talent again with 130 yards on seven catches.

And then… nothing.

Once Flournoy exited with a knee injury and another touchdown of his was wiped out by a holding call, the offense dried up. Prescott never found the end zone again. The Cowboys, now 6-8-1, have followed their lone three-game winning streak of the season with a three-game losing streak that feels a lot more honest.

Meanwhile, Justin Herbert carved up what’s left of Dallas’ defense with one good hand and a smile. In just his third full game with his non-throwing hand heavily wrapped, he led the Chargers to touchdowns on all three first-half drives. He finished 23-of-29 for 300 yards and two touchdowns – a season-best 79 percent completion rate – and added a 1-yard plunge on a modified tush push. The Chargers racked up 452 total yards, another season high for an offense that hadn’t even reached 300 the previous two weeks.

Quentin Johnston, back near his old TCU stomping grounds, torched Dallas for 104 yards and a 23-yard score on just four catches. Ladd McConkey added a 25-yard touchdown. When the Cowboys finally forced a punt in the second half, Herbert responded by slipping out of Kenneth Murray’s grasp on third-and-7 and sprinting 33 yards, setting up a Cameron Dicker field goal to make it 27-17 with nine minutes left. Ballgame.

Matt Eberflus’ move upstairs to the booth didn’t fix anything.

The defense still missed tackles, blew coverages, and looked a step slow. DeMarvion Overshown left with a concussion, Cooper Beebe briefly exited after an eye poke, and the whole thing took on the familiar feel of a team limping into an irrelevant Thursday nighter in Washington with nothing left to play for but pride and draft position.

Another year, another Cowboys season that talked big and faded bigger.