5 Players Dallas Cowboys Must Bench To Send Message After Week 5 Embarrassment

All losses stink, but the one the Dallas Cowboys had on Thursday night was especially terrible.

The Cowboys allowed an 0-4 team with an undrafted quarterback to come into their building and beat them. It was easily one of the most embarrassing performances we've seen from a Cowboys team in recent memory and that's saying a lot.

With the kind of loss the Cowboys suffered on Thursday, it's time for head coach Brian Schottenheimer to send a message to his players and that should come in the form of benching or temporarily reducing the playing time of some players.

Here's five to consider.

DaRon Bland

When it comes to Cowboys players who need to be benched, it's DaRon Bland out in front by a country mile and then everyone else because he is so far and away a bigger problem than any player is at their respective position on the entire team.

Bland was putrid once again in Week 5, with the Cowboys corner giving up a completion rate of 85.7% and a passer rating of 116.1 when targeted and allowed six receptions for 83 yards.

It was a continuation of his awful play that has stretched over two-plus seasons now.

Bland slipped twice in coverage and allowed huge completions. The first went to Tez Johnson for 64 yards, and the other went to Emeka Egbuka, who picked up a first down on a third-and-21. The two receptions ultimately assisted in scores for Tampa Bay.

As if all of that wasn't bad enough, Bland committed a penalty to help the Bucs extend another scoring drive, and he should have had a pick-six in the fourth quarter but just dropped it.

As much as Bland needs to be benched, especially after Cobie Durant comes back, don't hold your breath. Somehow, Jerry Jones still thinks Bland can recover.

"He's got to continue to work to play at the level we expect of him. He's paid because of how he played in the past. One of the things you can always bet on -- one of the surest things -- is when you've seen him do it in the past they can do it again, if they haven't had physical diminishment of their physical skills. And he hasn't," he said to 105.3 The Fan.

From the sounds of it, the Cowboys are still starting Bland because he's getting paid a lot of money, not because of performance. That is a losing strategy.

Jake Ferguson

Ferguson had a crucial drop in the fourth quarter that sealed the loss for Dallas. Dak Prescott threw a pass that went through his hands, bounced off his face mask and landed in the arms of a Bucs defender. Just an inexcusable drop.

We would be more inclined to ignore it but Ferguson has had more struggles beyond that. On top of his shoddy blocking, Ferguson also lost a fumble in Week 3 in Baltimore Ravens territory that proved to be crucial in a three-point loss.

Maybe it's time to give Brevyn Spann-Ford and even Luke Schoonmaker a longer look, at least for one game.

Ryan Flournoy

Like Ferguson, Flournoy had a critical dropped that turned into an interception. It happened in the third quarter in Cowboys territory. Prescott's pass hit Flournoy right in his hands and then bounced up into the air a few times before a Bucs defender caught it.

Making matters worse, Tampa Bay flipped that into a touchdown drive five plays later. Flournoy did end up having his best game of the season on Thursday night from a production standpoint, but he had been very quiet the four weeks prior.

Maybe it's time to give offseason standout Camden Brown his first opportunity. At the very least, he should be active over Jonathan Mingo.

KaVontae Turpin

Turpin was responsible for one of the three turnovers the Cowboys had in Week 5.

The veteran kick returner was reckless with the ball on a kickoff return and did not protect it well enough. And, sure enough, the ball was knocked loose and recovered by Tampa. The Bucs converted that turnover into a field goal.

Turpin is a great returner, no doubt, but no amount of skill can make that excusable. The Cowboys should send him a message.

Von Miller

Miller said after signing with the Cowboys that the team isn't paying him for what he can do on the football field.

Well, that's good news because Miller hasn't done anything of value. He has zero sacks and just six pressures in five games and he was constantly getting burnt in the run game on Thursday because he just couldn't set the edge.

Miller is only averaging 14.4 snaps per game and he has seen his playing time decline in each of the last three contests. It should decline down to zero in Week 6.

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