It’s become a regular thing for the Dallas Cowboys to come out and underperform. The recipe lately has been to start slow, bring out despair in the fanbase, and then give them a smidge of hope when they start to make a little run.
Ultimately, the ending is the same, and the team falls short as they did losing to the Green Bay Packers 24-13 on Sunday night. It’s frustrating, it’s sad at times, and it’s other things we can’t mention because this is a family environment. Here are 10 thoughts on yet another
disappointing game by the Cowboys.
1. The no-show offense
In a game where the defense put together an admirable effort, the Cowboys’ offense decided to take the night off. They struggled to sustain drives, and when they did put anything together, they blew it by turning the ball over. Dak Prescott was picked off twice, once when he failed to locate a dropping defender, and then another time when CeeDee Lamb fell down. He was picked off later in the game, but a late-hit penalty negated that one.
All the offense could muster was 13 points. It was their lowest-scoring outing of the season, beating the previous low of 16 last week. It was a puzzling disappearing act from a group that started the year doing pretty well.
2. Nothing for Dak
The Packers’ defense gave Prescott fits all night long. It was similar to last week against Tampa Bay when he was under duress a lot and everything he threw went into tight coverage. The Packers did a great job in their zone coverage and Dak just wasn’t able to effectively navigate through the traffic.
The only stuff he could complete was short as he never found any success downfield. He looked frazzled in the pocket and never found any rhythm.
3. Frustrated O-line
The offensive line had major problems dealing with the Packers’ defensive front, and it showed all night. Protection regularly broke down, and the offensive line struggled to create any push for the running game.
They couldn’t block without holding, and even then it wasn’t enough because Prescott was constantly on his back. Frustration showed as Tyler Booker got flagged for a personal foul, and Tyler Guyton should’ve been flagged for another one when he closed-lined a defender along the sideline after he picked off Prescott.
4. Third-down awfulness
The defense made some plays in this game and often put the Packers’ offense in long down-and-distance situations, but it didn’t matter because the Cowboys were dreadful on third down. Early in the game, the defense couldn’t get off the field. The Packers were 9 for 10 on third down in the first half. They did improve in the second half, but far too often in this game it felt like an impossible task.
5. No pass rush
One of the reasons the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down is that they had no presence of a pass rush. Packers quarterback Jordan Love had plenty of time to throw, and when the Cowboys brought extra pressure on a blitz, it wasn’t enough, and Love easily found an open receiver. Once again, this defense failed to disrupt the pocket, and the quarterback casually just picked them apart. It’s become a regular thing.
6. We have a pick!
It only took six games, but the Cowboys’ defense finally got an interception. It came at a great time, too. Linebacker Dee Winters jumped in front of Matthew Golden and held on for the interception as he went to the ground.
Initially, it was believed that Winters had returned the pick for a touchdown, but replay showed that he was ruled down by contact. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers. We’ll gladly take the turnover, even if the replay booth decided to steal our excitement.
7. Almost catches
Leave it to the haunting aura of Lambeau Field to put the Cowboys on the short end of some almost nice catches. DaRon Bland almost made a great, much-needed pick, but despite confusion by the replay booth, it was deemed that he didn’t have control of the ball before going out of bounds.
The same was true later in the game on an almost George Pickens catch, and despite a challenge flag being thrown by head coach Brian Schottenheimer, the Cowboys didn’t get that call either. In a game where things didn’t go right for the Cowboys, of course these critical close plays didn’t either.
8. Encouraging boundary
If there was a bright spot in this game, it’s that the Cowboys appear to have found themselves a quality boundary corner in Joey Porter Jr., as he made a few really nice plays. The team’s new corner went toe to toe with anything the Packers threw at him.
He did get flagged for pass interference when he escorted a receiver out of bounds, but he also had a couple of bang-bang pass breakups. That’s a trade-off we’ll take anytime, especially considering how bland the Cowboys’ coverage has been this year.
9. Clark felt right at home
The Cowboys also got a good showing from defensive tackle Kenny Clark. He was winning his matchups and constantly getting in the backfield and putting pressure on Love, including coming away with sack. The Cowboys had three sacks on the night, and all three came from defensive tackles, Quinnen Williams, Clark, and Elijah Garcia. Interior pressure was the only thing that could get home in this one.
10. NFC Least
As bad as things are for the Cowboys, everyone in the NFC East is also bad. The Giants and Eagles both lost on Sunday, and neither of them has their starting quarterback. In fact, the Giants benched Jameis Winston and played third-stringer J.J. McCarthy.
While it’s great to stay in the race, I’m not so sure what that’s worth. Unless their play drastically improves, playoff aspirations seem rather foolish.
