Cowboys Lose To Cardinals
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The Dallas Cowboys had a chance to practically wrap-up the NFC East division title on Sunday. Instead, Dallas once again shows they are not ready for big-time games. The Cowboys squandered chances to score the entire game and wound up on the wrong side of the coin toss in overtime, losing to the Arizona Cardinals 19-13.
Dallas failed in every aspect of the game – offense, defense, special teams, and most importantly, coaching.
The Good – This is a short list. Perhaps the only positive the Cowboys can bring out of this game is the punting unit. Mat McBriar placed 4 of 5 punts inside the 20-yard line and held star return man Patrick Peterson to only 1 yard on 1 return.
The Bad – The offensive line once again showed why it has been a concern all year. With no forward push, the running game was ineffective and quarterback Tony Romo was under duress all day. Romo was sacked 5 times.
The over-hyped Rob Ryan defense was also bad. After a solid first half, the Cardinals were able to make adjustments and torch this unit in the second half. Arizona mounted 3 drives in the 2nd half that were over 70 yards each, including the game winning 80 yard drive to win the game in overtime. By contrast, the Cowboys only had 1 drive of more than 40 yards in the game.
The Ugly – Head Coach Jason Garrett made questionable decisions all day. Starting with the Cowboys second drive, when he first appeared to go for a 4th and 2 at the Arizona 36 yard line, then called time-out and chose to attempt a 53-yard field goal (which missed). Most glaring was the final drive of the game when the Cowboys moved the ball to the Arizona 31-yard line with 26 seconds remaining and 2 time-outs. With a first down, Garrett decided to run the clock down and kick a 49-yard field goal. As kicker Dan Bailey put the ball through the uprights, Garrett had called timeout, an action normally used to “ice” and opposing kicker. As a result of Garrett’s timeout, Bailey’s next attempt fell short, and the game was sent to overtime.
