We all woke up this morning, December 12th, with a frown on our faces. Our Dallas Cowboys lost for the second time this season, and it was particularly difficult to swallow as it came against the division rival New York Giants.
As is usually the case, loyal members of Cowboys Nation took to various social media platforms to air out their grievances against a team that is 11-2 with a playoff berth already clinched. The Dallas Cowboys played a terrible football game on Sunday night in New York, but they are still a great team… if not the best in the NFL.
Is there much to learn from the embarrassing performance in New York? Absolutely.
Should the Cowboys glean a lot about a team they might see in the playoffs? Definitely.
Is this team done? Not at all.
Should they make a change at the most important position on the team? That seems to be the question we’ll be debating all week long.
“Tony Romo Would Have Won This Game”
I love Tony Romo. I’ve written about it many times here at Inside The Star. That being said, it is absurd to proclaim he would have beaten the New York Giants last night.
We haven’t seen Romo take serious snaps since Thanksgiving 2015, but his legend has folks convinced he could walk on water if he really wanted to. It really is amazing how Romo has gone from a “he can’t get it done” narrative to this mystique that he can solve any type of football issue.
There is absolutely no data or line of indisputable evidence proving Tony Romo would have won this game. We want to believe he would have, which is the problem. We’re so tied to the wonderful memories Tony Romo created for us that all we know how to do is believe there’s more left to that story.
It’s not fair to anyone, Tony included.
We Need To Give The Giants Credit…
During my post-game episode of OchoLive, someone on the Facebook Live side of things suggested the New York Giants got lucky both times they beat us. This simply isn’t true.
The cold hard truth is that the New York Giants flat-out beat the Dallas Cowboys – twice.
They put together the perfect defensive game plan on Sunday night to slow Dak Prescott and limit Ezekiel Elliott (although we did enough of that on our own, we’ll get there). The Giants invested an enormous amount of money into their defense during the offseason, and it worked.
The Cowboys Defense Was Very Impressive
Benson Mayowa, ladies and gentlemen!
The Cowboys got some serious pressure from Rod Marinelli’s rushmen, and they even forced a hat trick of turnovers. If we’re being totally honest, the defense carried this team in the contest… it just wasn’t enough.
Sean Lee had what might have been his finest game of the season, and Anthony Brown scored his first career interception. In every conceivable way, the Dallas Cowboys defense did more than enough to win… they just lost (Tony Romo is probably rolling his eyes at this).
There Is No Logical Explanation for Lance Dunbar’s Usage
More than once during this game the Cowboys were in critical offensive situations and had Lance Dunbar out there next to Dak Prescott. Seriously.
The Cowboys invested the fourth overall draft pick in Ezekiel Elliott many months ago… what possible situation can anyone even imagine that would prioritize Lance Dunbar over Zeke? Is there a single one?
The Dallas Cowboys seemingly got in their own way all throughout the contest on the offensive side of the ball in this game. Beyond their almost stubborn approach to Lance Dunbar, Scott Linehan called what was probably his worst game of the season. It was just a mess.
The Season Is Far From Over
At the end of the day here, the Dallas Cowboys are 11-2… and Cowboys Nation is ridiculously spoiled.
After our team lost for the second time – this loss occurring in December – we started calling for heads: coaching, quarterback, and everywhere else. The Cowboys have lost two games in 2016, and both of them were to a team that is in serious contention in the NFC playoffs.
Is that not highly impressive?
It didn’t fill our hearts with joy that, after 10 days of rest, the Cowboys were so flat in New York; however, this is a team that is 11-2. They’ve certainly earned our trust at this point, so let’s take a step back and fully give it to them.
What perspective did you take away from the Cowboys loss in New York? Let us know! Comment below, Email me at RJ.Ochoa@SlantSports.com, or Tweet to me at @RJOchoa!
We know this was not the same Cowboys that faced the Giants in week 1 and too think that was what was so hard to swallow about this game. We EXPECTED to see a better showing because they are a better team. But what we got was a worse team. So I tried to explain it away as weather…it was the weather. Dak just can’t play in cold weather. At least that’s what I’m telling myself for now. Lance Dunbar? Really? Remember last year when he was flying out of the backfield picking up chunks of yardage on those little swing passes (before injury). That was so last year! If he comes in the field do you think anyone doesn’t know it’s a swing pass to him?? The Giants certainly do! Had you told me we get out of this game holding the Giants to 7 points I would have bet my house on a Dallas victory. Oh and just for the record…that WASN’T a catch!
Agree that a rusty Romo who can’t move, would not have done better than Dak. DP had his worst game, but come on. Came in as the 3rd rated passer in the league, as a rookie. He’s going to hit some obstacles and downturns as he faces new things and good DC’s like Spagnuolo.
Dak missed some throws he usually makes, but generally he faced great coverage, few open receivers and a Dez who also had one of his worst games. Hit was hit and hurried a lot – which is how you know Romo would not have changed the outcome. The Giants won in the trenches, and that is where the Dallas O needs to start if & when it has it’s next preparation week against them.
Couple things from the last 2 weeks: We know now that talented defenses can match up well against what Linehan puts on the field. He has to go to another gear for the playoff defenses he will face – at least those like MN and NYG.
Better go to 50/50 on 1st down and let Dak get some easy strikes while the defense keys on Elliott. Also it is time to ramp up Elliott as a receiver in the flat, and put in a screen pass for him. LaDainian Tomlinson used to run a route right up the hash mark from the backfield. Let’s see that.
I think those would have done some damage Sunday night given the blanket coverage on the WR’s and Witten, but they only tried 1 swing pass – and Dak missed Elliott on it.
Late in the game Linehan went to some pitch plays and one of those broke open. If your opponent is really good through the middle, I would rather the Cowboys vary up the run game and use Elliott’s speed outside more. The run offense was too vanilla and too predictable Sunday night IMO.