ARLINGTON, Texas – When Derrick Henry became a free agent last March, many thought he would be a perfect fit for the Dallas Cowboys, especially since he spends his offseason in the area.

The Cowboys needed a running back after losing Tony Pollard to the Tennessee Titans, but signing the beefy running back was never really considered, so he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens.

On Sunday, Henry rushed for 151 yards on 25 attempts and scored two touchdowns in the Ravens’ 28-25 win over the Cowboys, but Dallas owner and general manager Jerry Jones did not regret his performance.

“Hats off to him. He had a great day today. I have all the respect in the world for him,” Jones said. “And that’s what happens when you don’t sign good players: They can come back and have a great game against you. But the bottom line is we can’t afford Derrick Henry.”

Henry signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Ravens that included $9 million in guaranteed salary. He has a salary cap hit of $5.1 million, but the Cowboys could have structured a deal to lower that amount and still sign Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to the lucrative contract extensions they recently received.

“Why can’t you buy a mansion when you’re living in someone else’s house,” Jones said when asked why Dallas couldn’t sign Henry. “We couldn’t afford him. We can’t juggle all of this. It’s as simple as that.”

The Cowboys have opted to use a running back with Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott and Deuce Vaughn. On Sunday they combined for 43 yards on 13 carries. On the season they have combined for 167 yards, not much more than Henry has against the Cowboys.

“Attempts. We don’t have enough running attempts,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “At halftime, we’re down to 20 passing attempts. We’re definitely at a level I didn’t want to be at. I thought our guys were so good that I wasn’t discouraged by the running game at all.”

The Ravens had no reason to be discouraged, nor did the New Orleans Saints in Week 2.

Baltimore managed 274 yards on 45 attempts. Quarterback Lamar Jackson scored the first rushing touchdown of the game and finished with 87 yards, one fewer than Dowdle has rushed this season.

“Now we have guys trying to be Superman,” Edge player Micah Parsons said. “Guys just have to do their job, bro. We don’t need everybody to be Superman. We don’t know any Supermans at all. We just need 11 guys playing together, and right now, that’s just not in sync.”

According to ESPN Research, the Cowboys have allowed 557 rushing yards, the most in three games since 1963. They have allowed 5.4 yards per carry, the worst three-game average since 1979. They have allowed eight rushing touchdowns, the most in franchise history in three games.

Adding the Ravens’ 274 rushing yards to the 190 yards allowed against New Orleans makes this the Cowboys’ third-worst two-game series since Jones became owner and general manager in 1989. The other two games came in 2020, McCarthy’s first year.

“We don’t have our defense under control when we’re playing 11-man football,” defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said. “It’s all frustrating. We have a game plan, but we don’t stick to it. It’s the little things. So once we get out of Little League and back to playing pro football, everything will be fine.”

How can they solve the problem for Thursday’s game against the New York Giants?

“Play pro football,” Lawrence said. “Do what your coaches teach you. Use your gaps. Use your blocks. Stay in your gap. And I’m all about it. I’m not shying away from it at all. Just the little things we need to get back to, and that’s what we’re going to do this week.”