The Dallas Cowboys are now 2-0 in the NFC East division after defeating the Washington Redskins on their home turf Sunday afternoon 33-19. The Cowboys are currently second in the division behind the 7-1 Philadelphia Eagles, but fortunately there is still a lot of football to be played in the 2017 season. This was an important win in order to keep pace with the division leader, but also to help keep their playoff hopes alive.
Against the division rival Washington Redskins, the Dallas Cowboys pretty much dominated the entire game. There were a few hiccups along the way, but they continued to battle and overcome the adversity. Wins can’t always be pretty, but the important thing is that you do what needs to be done in order to get the victory.
Having said all of that, let’s dive into this week’s edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. As always, please feel free to use the comment section provided at the end of the article to share your thoughts and opinions on this topic.
The Good
There was certainly no shortage of good for the Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon against the Washington Redskins. It took a team effort to outlast their division rival, but once again one player in particular stood out most, Ezekiel Elliott.
Elliott once again put the offense on his back and rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 33 carries. The Redskins didn’t have an answer for Elliott the entire game and the Dallas Cowboys took full advantage of that.
Elliott of course may have been the most noticeable, but like I said earlier it took a team effort. I had to mention that both David Irving and DeMarcus Lawrence added to their QB sack totals, Mike Nugent filled in nicely for Dan Bailey, and Byron Jones sealed the game with the first pick six of his career. Overall, the entire Dallas Cowboys team deserves credit for this victory.
The Bad
It’s always easy to complain about the officiating for any given game, but all of the penalties called against the Dallas Cowboys yesterday was absolutely the bad in my opinion. It seemed as if every time the Cowboys got something going on offense or the defense was about to get the Redskins off the field, a penalty would occur.
I know I’m not imagining things, but it seemed as if the officials had tunnel vision for the Dallas Cowboys when letting that little yellow flag fly. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think the beat up and backup Redskins offensive line had a single penalty called against them yesterday. That seems a little odd to me, especially considering how many the officials called against the Cowboys OL.
Now, I’m not going to say they were showing favoritism for the home team or anything like that, but it is a little bit suspicious. Especially considering a lot of the penalties called against the Dallas Cowboys where questionable to say the least. Fortunately, the Cowboys were able to overcome.
The Ugly
From start to finish, the entire game for the Dallas Cowboys against the Washington Redskins yesterday afternoon was ugly. We knew heading into this game that the weather was going to be a factor, but that can’t really account for all the other sloppiness we saw from the Cowboys.
It first started on the Dallas Cowboys opening drive when Ezekiel Elliott uncharacteristically fumbled the ball away. That allowed the Redskins to put points on the board first. Then all of the penalties called against the Cowboys only added to the sloppiness.
I’ve already covered what I thought about the officiating yesterday, but regardless, the Dallas Cowboys absolutely have to eliminate all of the penalties. They can’t continue to put themselves and bad down and distance situations. It’s going to catch up to them eventually. They also need to improve the red zone playcalling. Having to settle for field goals instead of TDs is an ugly thing to watch week after week.
But I’ve been saying that all year! Cowboys are playing against teams and the refs.
It certainly looked that way yesterday afternoon. There was some terrible penalties called by the officials.
most definitely some bad calls against us. i think this ties hand in hand with what’s going on in the zeke case and with what Jones is trying to do blocking the commish’ extension….
A conspiracy theory! I like it. It would certainly explain why the Dallas Cowboys more penalizes much as they were and not the Redskins.
I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it would kind of makes sense. Plus, I kind of like conspiracy theories.
We’ve had a lot of ticky tacky holding calls all year, more than a couple bad PIs called either way, and have had two or three challenges go against us that had no business being overturned.
Everybody likes to stick it to the Cowboys, maybe the officials are following suit.
The last point is very important. For at least 3 years now, we’ve been struggling with redzone playcalling. Taking the 3 points instead of 7 is a routine our offense is stuck in for a while now and we can’t seem to break out of it.
Linehan infuriates me with his playcalling in the red zone. He so predictable. Something needs to change because it’s hurting the team. They should’ve put up 50 points against Washington.
Brian make a call to Jerry for me to get rid of Linehan. I get it you have a really good RB but come on everyone can see run plays coming a mile away. Also while you are on the phone ask to trade for a WR that can actually run past people. We have none and it would help poor Zeke dodge one less player in the box.
Rory, I wish I had that kind of pull. The WRs the Cowboys have can get the job done, but again the playcalling is the issue. Need to put them in better situations to succeed.
Dear Roger Goodell and NFL. The cowboy game had more viewers than any other game including Game 5 of the WORLD SERIES. It’s time for the sake of making money you as refs help them out not hurt them. Call bogus penalties on the other team and not the cowboys. For the sake of the dying league due to protests don’t kill the big money maker. Also to note drop the Zeke case. Let the man play. Never convicted by they law so why are you punishing him?
Rory, don’t you know the Commissioner wants ultimate power? He wants to be judge, jury, and executioner. That is why he’s trying to make an example out of one of the league’s brightest stars on arguably the most popular team. I’m really hoping Zeke wins his case and Goodell ends up losing his job over it.
I disagree with the notion that the Cowboys struggle in the Redzone. We are one of the top teams in scoring within the RZ. Over the last 4 games we have averaged over 30 points a game. RZ is not our struggle with the exception of the redskins. I do agree that we still have flaws offensively due to our receivers disappearing for no apparent reason, offensive line penalties, and the inability for Linehan to make offensive adjustments for Dez. How many times do I have to watch a Dez fly pattern? Along with Dak missing easy throws. Terrance Williams is a wreck waiting to happen. I hate to be overly critical but we should have a 6-1 record or at least a 5-2 record. Too many mistakes are holding this team back.
The Redskins game was really the red zone problems I was referring to. The Cowboys are putting up 30 points over the last several games, but they should probably be putting up at least 40. There still many areas this team needs to improve, but for me playcalling is right at the top the list.
We wont get away that playcalling against decent defenses….turn to sunday, KC wont let you get away with that. Yeah we’ve averaged 30 over the last 3 but too many plays are left on the field. KC has the ability to score 30 too.
That’s the point I was trying to make Travis. They’re leaving too many points on the field by settling for FGs. They were extremely lucky against Washington, but like you said that won’t happen against better defenses.
7 points taken from us on a shoddy call against Tyron, and 7 points gift wrapped to the Skins on the call on Anthony Brown. Simple hand fighting, no way that should have been called. Zeke was a beast again, and Dak played a clean, if sloppy at times, game. It is really nice to say the defense made some plays, and the same is true of special teams. A real “team win” which was nice to see. Still some things to clean up. Scandrick was very good, the rest of the secondary, not so much. Anthony Brown was chasing players all day, not sure what his issue is this season. Made me think more about how nice a trade for Vontae Davis would be. But that is a discussion for another day. Today is victory Monday, all three phases made plays, and life is good.
Very well stated and thought out. Thanks for commenting.
Brian, I have been telling friends that Linehan is a poor offensive coordinator for years now. The Boys are good offensively but they could be so much better with another coordinator instead of Linehan. Also, until JJ starts working on the defensive deficiencies of this team it will be at the mercy of other good offensive teams around the league.
There were some calls that were questionable. The Tyron holding penalty that called back Zeke’s TD – didn’t see a whole lot there. The Anthony Brown pass interference was a terrible call – Troy and the Ex-official stated both were hand fighting and it should have been a no-call. Witten was holding, as was Collins. Collins struggled, but Cooper was solid. There was some “other “ good that I liked. Ive seen several disparaging articles about Taco and Jaylon. I really liked the athleticism of both going for those interceptions. It was like the light going on for these two rookies. Jaylon had been targeted on the pass because he is still recovering. That play showed me he is getting better and that may hold off other teams from going across the middle on Pass plays against him. Jaylon did miss a couple of tackles, but so did Jourdan and Xavier. Plus Taco still doesn’t have a sack, but both those plays were encouraging for their development. That all said, it was UGLY, but it was a win. Go Cowboys!!
There was a lot to really like about this game and still quite a bit that needs to be cleaned up. Overall, it took a team effort to come away with the victory and that was really good to see.