It was a disappointing finish to the two-game road trip for the Dallas Cowboys. After winning decisively last week, the game against the Carolina Panthers was expected to be a steppingstone to right the ship for the rest of the season.

That didn’t happen as the Cowboys were bullied by the Panthers and are now below .500 once again with a tough schedule ahead. Brian Schottenheimer’s team can’t find any consistency, and their defensive issues remain their biggest liability. Here are the five parting Schott’s from the loss in Week 6.

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It’s been quite the run for Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, who has excelled with fellow WR CeeDee Lamb out. Against the Panthers, Pickens set a new career high in receiving yards with 168 to pair with his sixth score on the year.

Pickens was also a big part of the offense on third and fourth downs, which has become a staple to keeping the chains moving.

The first-year Cowboy has been clutch for the offense, but when the game was seemingly on the line, there wasn’t a ball thrown Pickens’ way. The Cowboys got the ball near midfield with the game tied and just over eight minutes remaining, it was a perfect time to keep throwing to your best weapon. Instead, there were two screens, and a give up dump off to end the series.

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Not targeting Pickens also ended their chance of winning. It was a horrible way for the offense to finish the day after Pickens carried them most of the game.

The Cowboys’ pass defense leads the league in passing touchdowns allowed with 15, which included three more from Panthers’ quarterback Bryce Young in the Week 6 loss. That’s not good considering Young had only tossed seven scores through the first five games combined.

Getting beat is one thing, but it’s another to have receivers scoring when they’re wide open, which all three touchdowns were for the Panthers. Sadly, it’s nothing new for the Cowboys’ defense, who haven’t been in the same area for many of the passing scores they’ve allowed.

Of the 15 scores they’ve given up through the air, roughly half of them have come with no defensive player near the receiver. Against the Panthers, Matt Eberflus’ defense was lost in coverage, again.

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The Cowboys had their most productive pass rushing day in Week 5 when they had five sacks. That momentum wasn’t sustained as the defense only sacked Young once, despite playing two backups offensive linemen.

Perhaps part of that failure to put pressure on the QB came from not playing their best pass rushers. A week after he had 1.5 sacks, the Cowboys’ leader in sacks, James Houston, only saw the field for 14 snaps. This came off the heels of a season-high 27 plays the week prior.

It’s fair to wonder why Houston didn’t play more in this game. The Panthers did provide a heavy dose of Rico Dowdle running the ball, but the Cowboys weren’t stopping it without Houston, perhaps they should have given him more opportunities to be on the field to help the defense.

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One step forward, two steps back for Houston, who wasn’t given a chance to make plays.

When the Cowboys added Clowney, the hope was that he could help the pass rush and be a physical force against the run. Clowney is a veteran who was supposed help second-year defensive end Marshawn Kneeland get a breather, while also allowing pass rushers Sam Williams and Donovan Ezeiruaku to focus more on getting to the QB.

Through three games with Clowney, the Cowboys are worse against the run than they were in the first three game without him. In the last three games, the run defense has allowed almost 175 yards a game on the ground. In the first three weeks, they were giving up just over 80 rushing ypg.

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That’s a stark difference, and it’s clear that Clowney isn’t helping slow down the run. Against the Panthers, the Cowboys allowed a season worst 216 yards on the ground, while giving Dowdle some gaping holes to run through.

If Clowney is here is help against the run, he’s going to need to be better. And if he’s going to be better, he needs to play more than the 16 snaps he did against the Panthers. Clowney is a veteran guy, he’s been with the Cowboys for close to a month, he needs to boost his playing time, and effectiveness, against the run.

We’ve seen it for most of the season, but in the loss to the Panthers it became even more evident, there is little margin for error with the Cowboys. They need their offense and QB Dak Prescott to carry the load, and if they don’t, the team is unlikely to win.

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Prescott led the team to 27 points, threw with a completion percentage of 73.5%, and for three scores, but it wasn’t enough. The running game couldn’t get going and the offense’s big failure on the most important series of the game cost them a shot at winning. The offense needs to be near perfect for the Cowboys, or they won’t win.

As good as the offense has been, and as good as the connection was between Prescott and Pickens in Week 6, they weren’t flawless, and it cost them the game.

No team can survive that type of pressure.

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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: 5 Parting Schotts: Houston watch, Pickens forgotten, Clowney no help