Last week, I published an article flashing us back to the last time the Cowboys faced the Denver Broncos. It was 2013, and after a shootout for the ages, the Cowboys suffered a heartbreaking defeat.
Well, yesterday, the Cowboys played like it was 2013 once again. For the first time since that 8-8 season, a Cowboys team which had its real starting quarterback got absolutely demolished.
That’s it, demolished. From start to finish the Denver Broncos controlled the game, en route to an embarrassing 42-17 defeat. And, for once, it was a complete team failure.
No, you can’t simply blame the defense.
Sure Dallas couldn’t get off the field on third down whatsoever and seemed to fold on every single key down, but offensively they simply had no answers for the stingy Denver defense. The offensive line could not open any real running lanes for Ezekiel Elliott and not a single receiver seemed to create any separation from the Broncos secondary.
Dak Prescott, who I firmly believe is the future of this franchise, played about as poorly as we have ever seen him play. Though one of his two interceptions was clearly not his fault, Prescott was still rather inaccurate all night long, finishing the day off with a pick six to Aqib Talib.
But, with all that being said, this is not completely on the offense either.
This was, by far, the worst tackling performance by a Cowboys defense in two seasons. There are obvious holes in this defensive unit which we have all acknowledged, but when Byron Jones and Sean Lee have bad days, the unit simply doesn’t stand much of a chance.
Just about the only bright spot from this 42-17 loss was defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who pressured Trevor Siemian multiple times and came away with a strip sack to set up a Cowboys touchdown. Besides Lawrence, and a Jourdan Lewis interception, the defense was abysmal.
But, even with all of that said, I can’t blame this all on the players either. Dallas was completely out-coached yesterday, from the top down. Jason Garrett made some very questionable decisions late in the game which, while may not have really affected whether a comeback would have happened, still caused me to scratch my head.
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan tried to get cute a little too often, and left his young quarterback in some terrible situations. Especially on the road against this defense. And, of course, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s unit just did not seem ready to play whatsoever.
The season is far from lost, though, Cowboys Nation. The Cowboys now travel to Arizona to play a 1-1 Cardinals team which barely squeaked by the lowly Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Then, they face an improved Los Angeles Rams team at home, in another game in which they should be favored.
The point is, the Cowboys should have plenty of time to right this ship and get back to playing the way they did over 17 games last season, and have once this season already.
This is still a very talented football team, and one that should win a lot of games and compete for the NFC East crown. It’s been a long time since the Cowboys were beat down like they were yesterday.
Maybe they were just due.
Good article brah, I look forward to the content this site provides…. Now onto the task at hand.
This game came further highlighted an area where we have been struggling for some time and that is coaching and the failure to adapt both seem to be our Achilles heel. I swear if I see JG clapping on the sideline one more time I’ll go crazy. I am so happy that this was only week 2, but we have to get it together and fast.
Sadly the USS Prescott will have to actually hit the bottom before anyone sees it’s a ship full of holes. He just can’t throw deep and he can’t pick up an offense. Man I miss watching Romo carve up defenses. He did it with no RBs, no blocking, on the road, against top defense. Teams used to talk about fearing Romo and how they had to game plan to stop him. No one will ever say the key to the game is stopping Dak’s passing. No one.
I strongly disagree. Dak showed several times last year that he could overcome adversity in a game and pick up the team. Just don’t expect him to do it on a timely basis, YET. You forget this is only his second year and this was by far the worst game he’s had so far. He was definitely due for one. Romo certainly would have fared better yesterday than Dak, but that’s only because Romo has been there and done that time and time again. Like any young player Dak needs time to grow and get experience. It is completely unfair to expect that he can just put the entire team on his shoulders in only his second year in the league and win games by himself. It took YEARS for Romo to be able to do that and even then, he always had one or two games where he had a complete meltdown. What will be telling of Dak is how he responds the next few weeks. Usually Romo played just fine the rest of the season once he got that one terrible game out of the way. So far nothing shows that Dak will not overcome this game. Another thing, this offense is built to run the ball, not have a second year quarterback chuck it 50 times. The Cowboys usually didn’t fare well when Romo had to throw it that many times either. Regardless of who it is they’re playing, they can’t start the game throwing 10 times out of their first 15 plays. That’s not who they are. JG and Linehan got out coached on the offensive side of the ball. They needed to keep running it to protect Dak and keep Denver’s dominant defense honest and they didn’t do it. Anybody talking about Dak not being the answer for the long term success of the Cowboys after ONE game needs to chill out.
Are you always this wrong? “…carve up defenses” to the tune of TWO playoff wins in ten years?!
You nalied it: outcoached. But still we need help on the backfield and Caroll is not the answer, but hey there is a roster spot wasted on Moore. The problem can go beyond week 2…
Your right about Carroll not the answer
Lack of effort all together players coaches not 1 player but all as a whole need to reevaluate and fans relax
And Shannon Sharpe is just a hater
And make a note of la Collins being exposed by Miller several times