Cowboys' crushing loss, Beto's presidential thoughts, Neiman's and Penney's futures: Your Monday morning roundup

December 17,  2018 By Wayne Carter and Carla Solórzano Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. ☁️ Weather: Mostly cloudy and a touch cooler, with a high of 59. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Indianapolis Colts cornerback Chris Milton (28) crushes Dallas Cowboys placekicker Brett Maher during the scramble for the ball after a blocked field goal on the Cowboys' first possession that set the tone for an embarassing 23-0 loss Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer) cowboys [Sunday's loss delayed the inevitable, but the Colts exposed doubts that already existed about the CowboysÂ]( A swagger that has been evident in the Cowboys step in recent weeks? Gone. The momentum the team built as it rolls toward the postseason? Slow that roll. Dallas will win an underwhelming NFC East. Sunday's 23-0 loss to Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium simply delayed the inevitable. Many will look at the Cowboys first loss in six weeks and see a team that had become too full of itself. As owner Jerry Jones joked afterwards, "I thought if your name was Jones or the Cowboys they handed it to you." [What the Colts handed the Cowboys was something else entirely](. 5 thoughts: Sunday' stunning loss was [the first time the Cowboys have been shut out in 15 years](. Strong finish: Ezekiel Elliott [made a young fan's day]( while leaving the field after Sunday's loss. politics [O'Rourke marvels at Beto-mania, conceding it's 'a great question' whether he's ready for White House]( TMZ trails him around the capital. Fans still check his Facebook page to see if he's going live again anytime soon. Democratic activists keep trying to lure him to Iowa and New Hampshire, and campaign operatives are sending him resumes, uninvited. U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke is getting more buzz as a potential White House contender than people who've served as governor, senator or even vice president and secretary of state, even though he's still stinging from falling short last month to Sen. Ted Cruz. "The fact that we came close doesn't diminish the bitterness of the loss," he said, [acknowledging the very real doubts about whether someone who couldn't win election in his home state deserves promotion to commander in chief.]( "Oh yeah. I think that's a great question," he said. "I ask that question myself." And: [Michelle Obama's book tour stops in Dallas today](. Business Department store survivors Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney again must stare down challenges Deep in the hearts of Texans hail two of America's oldest, continuously operating department stores. Browse through a Neiman Marcus or a J.C. Penney this holiday season, and neither gives off any scent of financial trouble. After all, Dallas-based Neiman Marcus and Plano-based Penney are survivors of 30-plus years of department store consolidations and declines. Christmas is when retailers prove their worth. Their relevance is on display in a crowded, competitive landscape. It's an accomplishment that these centenarians have gotten this far as dozens of department store names are no more. Longevity isn't enough, as 125-year-old Sears is proving. [Serious decisions await the venerable companies in the months after Christmas.]( Both have new CEOs guiding their futures. Both frequently end up on scary, debt-laden lists about the next wave of the retail apocalypse. EDITORS' PICKS - Fatal shooting: A 15-year-old boy [was killed in a southeast Oak Cliff neighborhood](, police say. - Insult to injury: A burglar who stole Christmas presents from a northwest Dallas home [also made off with the family dog, mom says.]( - Commentary: A fantastically wealthy creep [got off with 13 months in jail after recruiting dozens of girls for sex](, writes David Von Drehle. - Accident investigation: A Stephenville woman texted before a fatal crash [and hid the messages from investigators](, police say. - Tourism trivia: Are you a travel wiz? [Stretch beyond our borders with quiz.]( The grave of Lewis B. Alloway Jr., a World War II veteran who died in 2003, was among 23,000 where wreaths were laid in ceremonies Saturday at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. (Jason Janik/Special Contributor) Finally... Thousands attend wreath-laying ceremony to honor veterans at D-FW National Cemetery Volunteers laid wreaths on 23,000 gravesites at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on Saturday in a ceremony honoring veterans. Organizers estimated that 6,000 to 8,000 people attended Wreaths Across America's annual observance at the cemetery in the Mountain Creek area. Crowds were so large that many volunteers had to park along Mountain Creek Parkway and at Dallas Baptist University. At the cemetery, [family members and volunteers laid the wreaths, mentioning the service members by name and saying something about them.]( 👋 That's all for this morning! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. Share the love! If you like this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend and [check out our other newsletters here](. Do you have feedback? 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