Here's whom to blame as Cowboys hit rock bottom Rick Gosselin The Dallas Morning Newse, published 16 November 2015 The Cowboys made a game-saving play on defense. Finally. As Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston was diving into the end zone on a 4-yard scramble in the final minute, the football came loose as he leaped over cornerback Tyler Patmon and was nudged by linebacker Anthony Hitchens. The ball floated to the ground, where Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence cradled it in the end zone to preserve a 6-3 victory. Presumably. "I thought it was over," Hitchens said. "Then I saw the flag." The flag. A game-saving flag for the Buccaneers. Safety Jeff Heath was penalized for hooking wide receiver Russell Shephard as he was trying to run his route. That 5-yard defensive holding penalty gave the Bucs an automatic first down at the 1-yard line. On the next play, Winston raced around right end on a bootleg for the winning touchdown Sunday in a 10-6 victory. So the losing streak continued. Seven games and counting now, leaving the Cowboys buried at the bottom of the NFC East with a 2-7 record -- with all seven of the losses coming during Tony Romo's injury absence. He returns this Sunday against Miami. A defensive drought also continued for the Cowboys. It was the third consecutive week that the defense had a chance to save a game with a drive-stopping play in the closing minutes that would have ended the losing streak. It also was the third consecutive Sunday this defense has failed. All told, those three drives covered 36 plays and 215 yards. That's 36 chances to end the losing streak. Thirty-six chances to succeed, 36 chances to fail. Thus far it's been all failures -- no sacks, no fumbles, no interceptions, no nothing. Just losses. Seattle drove 79 yards in 17 plays for a winning field goal Nov. 1. The Seahawks wound 5:31 off the clock for Steve Hauschka's 24-yard field goal with 1:10 remaining for a 13-12 victory. Then Philadelphia marched 80 yards in nine plays for the winning touchdown in overtime Nov. 8. Sam Bradford hit Jordan Matthews with a 41-yard touchdown pass four minutes into the overtime period for a 27-20 victory. Then Tampa Bay drove 56 yards in 10 plays over four minutes for the Winston touchdown with 59 seconds left. "Every week it seems to come down to who makes the last play," Heath said. "In this [losing] streak we're on, we just haven't made the play when we needed to make it and the other team has. It doesn't matter how well you play for 59 minutes. If you don't finish -- if you're not making the plays you needed to make in the last minute to win -- it's all for nothing." Heath took full ownership of his penalty. "I saw the flag and figured it was on me," Heath said. "They were running criss-crosses, and we were zoning it off. It happened so fast and I saw white jersey flash in front of me. ... It was a reaction thing. I felt he was running open in the end zone. I just have to be more disciplined than that, especially in that situation. I have to move my feet better and play it different. But when it mattered the most, I didn't make the play I needed to make. Ultimately, we lost." But Heath can't shoulder the blame for this loss. It was his play earlier in the game that kept the Cowboys in a position to win against the Bucs. Rather, his plays. Twice he intercepted tipped Winston passes -- once in the second quarter after the Bucs had driven to the Dallas 26 and again in the fourth quarter after the Bucs had moved to the Dallas 23. Both thefts preserved a 6-3 lead. The Cowboys entered the game with three interceptions in the first eight games. So Heath jumped into the team lead in one afternoon. No, there was plenty to blame to go around in this one. The Cowboys had the chance to preserve the lead on a third-and-1 pass to Dez Bryant. But he dropped it -- his second drop of the game. That forced the Cowboys to punt and set the Bucs up for their winning drive. In what was likely his final start, Matt Cassel couldn't generate any offense. The Cowboys managed just a dozen first downs, 216 yards and two field goals against a pedestrian Tampa Bay defense that had been pummeled for 32 points by the Giants and 31 by the Redskins in the last month. The Dallas offense didn't deserve to win this game, and the defense didn't deserve to lose it. When you hold a team to 10 points on a given Sunday, you're supposed to win in the NFL. But a lack of offense for the first 59 minutes and a lack of defense in the final minute has become an all-too-familiar formula for failure by these Cowboys. Romo's back this Sunday. But the Cowboys are going to need more than Romo to salvage anything from this season. Sunday they officially hit rock bottom.