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Boy oh boy, where do I begin?
My Cowboys fell to their third straight defeat on Sunday afternoon, succumbing to Sam Darnold’s Jets 24-22 at MetLife Stadium in what was a drastically different Jets team with Darnold under centre.
In a Dallas game that had multiple drive-killing drops, numerous penalties and once again a costly missed field goal, the Cowboys simply could not get out of their own way as Dak Prescott threw for 277 yards, completed 28 of his 40 passes with no touchdowns and no interceptions in what was a tough away performance.
It all started halfway through The Cowboys first drive, losing Amari Cooper to a quad injury five minutes into the game and forcing a reshuffle of sorts for the offensive group already without Randall Cobb and tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins.
The offence looked out of sorts from the outset, with dropped passes from Michael Gallup killing their first drive of the game.
The defence didn’t fare much better in the first half, as they simply could not stop even a nose bleed with the Jets racing to a 21-3 lead in part thanks to a very questionable fourth-down try when already in field goal range where Dallas turned the ball over on downs. With the Jets’ next play, a 92-yard catch and run from receiver Robby Anderson sent them on their way.
With half of his offensive line out Dak was under pressure for most of the first half and man did he take some serious shots. He was sent into the medical tent to be assessed for a concussion but emerged minutes later.
It did feel like after every play in the first half Cowboy players were dropping like flies with injuries and a number of Cowboys got medical treatment at some point during the half. To put it into perspective, Tavon Austin was the Cowboys’ leading receiver on the day with five catches for 64 yards and he is normally a bit-part player at best.
Jason Witten’s five receptions for 57 yards and Gallup’s four receptions for 48 yards, not including his two big drops in the first quarter, also led the way for the Cowboys.
Zeke Elliot had an extremely quiet first half, barely amassing 40 yards of rushing in a frustrating display, but he then clicked into gear in the second half as did the Cowboys offence as he finished with 28 attempts for 108 yards and a touchdown to go with his five receptions for 47 yards.
Brett Maher once again missed another field goal, which makes it back-to-back games in which he has missed. His miss last week against Green Bay was costly as nearing the end of the contest it should have been a one-score game. On Sunday, had he converted along with Prescott’s rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter, he would have put Dallas in the lead with under a minute to play.
Now let’s talk about my quarterback. Doubt him if you want but it would have had to of been one of the gutsiest games of his career, as his offensive line was banged up and Prescott took shot after shot after shot in a punishing display by the Jets defence, which although only managed one sack did get a host of brutal takedowns to go with it.
You simply cannot underestimate his heart and character as the leader of this franchise. With his receiving core depleted, Prescott almost brought them back to tie the game, but ultimately failed with a two-point conversion which again, was a questionable play call that left him exposed to the blitzing Jamal Adams as he took another shot.
A chance to possibly win in overtime went down the drain but in truth, that would have been harsh on New York as they deserved their win since Darnold had his way with the Dallas defence in the first half.
Dallas lead in most key areas; they had more total yards than the Jets with 398 to 382, got an interception, two sacks to the Jets’ one, were a very respectable 58 per cent on third-down conversions compared to the Jets 20 per cent and also led in time of possession with 32 minutes to 27. And still, they found every way to lose the game.
With the Eagles by all accounts getting blown out by the Vikings, this was a perfect chance to take some control of the NFC East with a win but as Dallas does, they crumble when needed most. Now with the Cowboys hosting the Eagles at Jerry World next Sunday night it shapes as a monster game with huge ramifications: win and you’re a game clear, lose and after starting the season 3-0 fall under .500 and behind in the division.
With the hopeful returns of Smith, Collins and Cobb and depending on how bad Cooper’s quad injury is, Prescott could well have some reinforcements coming next week, but this does loom as one heck of a division showdown come Sunday night.
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