The Dallas Cowboys losing on Thursday night at home to the previously winless Buccaneers was somehow not the most embarrassing thing to happen throughout the NFC East in week five. The Philadelphia Eagles had their own international meltdown involving a late field goal to lose, in London to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Commanders ran the clock out on themselves with a chance to beat the first place New York Giants in overtime.
The 2-3 Cowboys are still in the playoff race as a result, but they need
to avoid further coaching mistakes like the rest of their rivals. The organization hired Mike Pettine to help first year defensive coordinator Christian Parker on Monday to help with this.
Cowboys add Mike Pettine to defensive coaching staff – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys had visions of Christian Parker working with veteran coach Mike Pettine for some time, and hired the former Packers coach ahead of a primetime game in Green Bay.
Mike Pettine has been added as senior defensive assistant — a former defensive coordinator of the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay Packers, and he most recently worked with the Minnesota Vikings to help Brian Flores form one of the more formidable defenses in the league.
“Had a chance to work with Pettine for a number of years, along with the Jets, and he’s gonna be here in a role to support everything that [Christian Parker] is leading and guiding, and we are really, really excited,” Schottenheimer said on Monday. “They worked together in Green Bay, and this is actually something the C.P. and I talked about when we first hired him.”
What a horrific NFL week 5 for the NFC East – Shane Tayl0r, Inside The Star
Kickoff strategy in late-game situations will be a real discussion point between the Cowboys and Eagles, who play each other in Week 7.
A 48-yard field goal for Philly gave them a 19-17 lead with eight seconds remaining.
However, Jags returner Ameer Abdullah returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to set up Cam Little with a 57-yard field goal. So, instead of kicking the ball into the end zone, forcing the Jags to have to run a play on offense with no timeouts, head coach of the Eagles, Nick Sirianni, kept it in play and allowed legit the only thing that could have beat you happen.
NFL Week 5 Sunday aftermath: Commanders melt down in tie; Eagles rue costly last-second gaffe – Kevin Patra, NFL.com
Nick Sirianni took the blame for the Eagles late loss the same way Brian Schottenheimer did after Thursday night.
Sirianni likely had the Week 3 Ravens-Cowboys ending in his brain at the time, wherein Dallas kicked to the end zone, which allowed Baltimore to run a play and get into field goal range in six seconds for a stunning game-winner. The difference here was that Jacksonville didn’t have a timeout. That detail is massive.
Without a timeout, even starting at the 35-yard line, Jacksonville would have had to throw at a presumably well-guarded boundary to stop the clock. Not impossible, but harder than the helter-skelter kick returns can create. That Philly allowed a big return that was called back to start the game — and was missing a key special teams player in Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who earlier was ejected for fighting — should also have played a role in Sirianni’s thinking.
Download the SB Nation app today!
- Fewer ads
- Seamlessly jump between communities and conversations
- Faster commenting and posting experience!
Download the SB Nation app on iOS or Android.
After slow growth, Cowboys defense struggles vs lowly Bucs – Dyllan Rivers, Blogging The Boys
The way the Cowboys allowed explosive plays against the Bucs in the second half was highly concerning.
On the first play of the second half, Bucky Irving broke free on a run that seemed to take an eternity to cross the line of scrimmage, finally taken down by Caleb Downs after a 72-yard scamper. The very next play resulted in a Tampa Bay touchdown. Two plays, 86 yards, seven points.
The next drive, coming after a Ryan Flournoy tipped ball interception, blew open on a Tez Johnson 64-yard catch and run. DaRon Bland tripped over his own feet, allowing Johnson to run free deep into Cowboys territory. After three back-to-back run plays, the Buccaneers would go on to score another touchdown.
Enough time has passed for us to point out the 3 silver linings from the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Bucs in Week 5 – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports
CeeDee Lamb was quiet in the Thursday night home game, but it meant George Pickens finally got going. Is Dallas closer to having both receivers go off in the same game?
No one should have been overly concerned. This is the way the Cowboys offense will operate as long as it has two elite wide receivers. Still, a strong performance from Pickens is good for everyone in Dallas, and mostly for his confidence.
He finished with nine catches for 130 yards and a touchdown on 13 targets. The Cowboys went to him on the slant a lot once again. He probably wants a few of those targets back, but beyond the numbers, Pickens kept showing up when the Cowboys needed him the most.
