'Season Over!?' DeMarcus Ware Sends Cowboys Brutal Warning Before Eagles Clash

The Dallas Cowboys are running out of opportunities to save their season.

And if you ask Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware, Monday night's trip to Philadelphia could determine whether there's even a season left to save.

Dallas is sitting at 2-4 after consecutive losses to Tampa Bay and Green Bay. The defense remains a problem, frustration is building and much of Cowboys Nation has already started looking toward next year.

Ware isn't quite ready to go there … although he's getting pretty close.

"If the Dallas Cowboys can win this game, it's going to be that momentum builder," Ware said on 96.7/1310 The Ticket. "If they lose this game, and you go to 2-5, to be honest with you, the season is probably over."

That's a pretty harsh assessment with 10 games still remaining after Monday. But Ware isn't necessarily talking about playoff math — he's talking about what happens when a locker room starts losing confidence in itself.

"The season can be over if you lose this football game. Because you're going to lose your morale and your confidence is gone," Ware continued.

"It's a must-win football game."

And given the circumstances, it's difficult to argue with that assessment.

The "NFC Least" is practically begging somebody to take control. New York leads at 3-2-1, while Dallas and Philadelphia enter Monday at 2-4.

A Cowboys victory would put them at 3-4, with a 2-1 divisional record and a legitimate chance to climb back into the race. Lose, and we're talking about a three-game losing streak, a 2-5 record and another week spent explaining what went wrong.

Sure, Dallas would still have 10 games left. But how many more times can a team point toward the remaining schedule before those opportunities start disappearing?

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Ware has been through something similar.

In 2010, the Cowboys opened 1-7 before winning five of their final eight games under interim coach Jason Garrett. They still finished 6-10, and those late victories did nothing to change the fact that Dallas had squandered another season.

But there was a response … even when there wasn't much left to play for.

Sixteen years later, Ware is asking this roster to find that same mentality before things reach the point of no return.

"When I played and there were problems, the first thing we did was how do we control the trenches?" Ware said. "That comes down to mentality. That's something that's free."

He pointed toward effort, attitude and pride as things the Cowboys can change themselves.

"It's a heart thing, a pride thing, an ego thing these guys have to sort of turn up," Ware added.

Of course, playing harder doesn't magically correct every mistake this defense has made.

Dallas held Green Bay to 57 rushing yards and recorded three sacks last Sunday, only to watch the Packers convert 11 of 18 third-down opportunities.

That's the frustrating part. The Cowboys have shown flashes of being a competent defensive unit, but can't seem to put everything together long enough to win football games.

And at this point, we've heard enough about accountability, effort and how much everybody wants to turn things around.

Now Dallas has to actually show it.

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Monday presents about as good an opportunity as the Cowboys could ask for.

Philadelphia has lost four consecutive games, scoring just 58 points over that stretch.

Starting quarterback Jalen Hurts is out for the season, leaving Tanner McKee in charge of an offense struggling to find its footing.

That doesn't guarantee Dallas anything, especially on the road against a division rival.

Remember: Jalon Daniels happened just over two weeks ago. 

But if there was ever a time for the Cowboys to put together something resembling a complete performance, this would be it.

"Yes, a lot of people are saying their season is over, but in the locker room there has to be a mentality shift to say we still got it," Ware said.

There's a reason that message carries some weight coming from the franchise's all-time sack leader.

Ware spent nine seasons in Dallas without reaching a Super Bowl.

He knows how quickly championship expectations can turn into another disappointing winter, and how difficult it can be to recover once things start going south.

And right now, the Cowboys are getting dangerously close to that territory.

Fans have every reason to be frustrated. Six games into the season, Dallas has offered plenty of reasons to question whether this team has what it takes to turn things around.

But inside that locker room, there are still 11 games left to play, a division title within reach and an opportunity Monday night to change the conversation.

Ware has made it pretty clear what he believes is at stake. The Cowboys can talk about pride, accountability and turning the corner all they want … Philadelphia is where those words need to start meaning something.

Because another loss would leave Dallas staring at 2-5, with its confidence fading and the season slipping further out of reach.

And if Ware's warning becomes reality, the Cowboys will have nobody to blame for letting another opportunity get away.