Whenever the Dallas Cowboys don’t quite play up to expectations, the blame game always rears its ugly head. That is exactly what is happening after the Los Angeles Rams came to town and handed the Cowboys their second loss of the 2017 season. Everybody will have their own opinions about the loss, but where should the blame actually be placed?
I know that it’s going to be a copout, but I firmly believe that a team wins and loses together. I don’t believe that one individual person is responsible for a win or loss. I believe it takes a collective unit working together to accomplish what they set out to do. And, I know head coach Jason Garrett believes the same.
Jason Garrett: "Everybody contributed to the loss. You win as a team, and you lose as a team." #Cowboys #Rams
— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) October 2, 2017
Even though I believe football is the ultimate team sport, it doesn’t mean that one individual play can’t change the outcome of an entire game. I think that is exactly what happened to the Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Rams.
Now, you can blame the loss on the disappearing act the offense had in the second half of the game if you want to, or the defenses inability to contain Todd Gurley and the Rams offense. But, I think it was another play that changed the momentum and outcome of the entire game.
Unfortunately, it’s a play that Cowboys Nation would like to forget, but the Ryan Switzer muffed punt could possibly be the one single play that changed the entire trajectory of the game. Fair or not, I believe that is when the momentum of the game shifted from the Cowboys to the Rams.
Ryan Switzer’s fumbled punt return allowed the Rams to pick up the loose ball at the Cowboys 18 yard line with 6:33 left on the clock before halftime. At the time, the Cowboys had a 17-6 lead over Los Angeles, but the Rams offense was able to capitalize off of Switzer’s turnover by scoring their first touchdown of the game and decrease the deficit to 17-13.
Before Switzer’s turnover, the Cowboys offense had three consecutive drives putting points on the board against the Rams. The Rams defense simply didn’t have any answers, which means a fair catch by Switzer would have likely increased the Cowboys lead heading into halftime.
The Dallas Cowboys were still able to head into halftime with a 24-16 lead over the Rams, but it could’ve easily been 31-16 or at the very least 27-16. That’s a much larger deficit to come back from and could have possibly sealed the game then and there. But, we all know how the second half of the game for the Cowboys turned out.
Given what we know now having seen how the entire game turned out, it’s probably unfair to solely place the blame on Ryan Switzer and his muffed punt. But, there is no denying that it might have been the turning point in the game. That is why whoever usually wins the turnover battle, typically wins the game.
special teams was anything but
muff punt and 66 KO return really put boys in 2 holes that should not have existed.
I completely agree. The muffed punt and long kickoff return resulted in 10 points for the Rams. It’s entirely possible those two plays alone cost the Cowboys the game.
Yes the rams stole the momentum from there and we never got it back. Switzer said it’s not the first and probably not the last time. I hate to hear that but I guess if it only happens every few years or longer I can deal with it. But I can’t deal with him not calling a fair catch when there is absolutely no where to run and there’s already a few players in your face. We’re only four games in and I’ve seen him do this atleast twice. It’s unacceptable in my eyes, this is not college and 1 turnover can cost your entire team the game which we seen Sunday. They scored a TD off of it and we lost by 5 points. He has to call for the fair catch when there’s nothing there, not only because it can cost your brothers on the team a game but for his safety as well. Hopefully he learned something here and isnt going to have to learn by getting seriously hurt. Fortunately I’m sure these coaches are straightening all of this out with there fearless rookie returner, especially coach bisacia. I think heath should have saved that TD by Gurley. Heath has not looked good yet and if he struggles against the packers I hope they let woods get all the 1st team reps during the bye week and start him against the 49ers. And marrinelli is going to have to quit playing his corners 10 yards off the line. It’s seems to kill us when he does this. But when they play up on the receiver at the line they seem to be alot more comfortable . He’s going to have to adjust that part of his scheme for these corners because it’ seems that’s all of there strengths is when they’re playing tight sticky man coverage. Any ways switzer is the main reason i think we lost but heaths poor safety play and marrinelli not playing to his corners strengths and never bringing any extra pressure whatsoever helped lose this game. If we can get Lee, Hitchens, and irving all back this week or after the bye i think we’ll be fine. But marrinelli is also going to have to play to these corners strengths and also bring a little creative and unpredictable blitzes every once in a while. I’m so happy for jaylon and how far hes come and i truly beleive he’s going to be great but he’s not there yet. He might not get there untill he gets through this season and another offseason. He’s just a tick late most of the time. He’s making tons of tackles but the majority of them are after 3 or 4 yards past the line of scrimmage. That tick late is the difference between 1-2 yards a pop and 3-4 yards a pop. For now I think hitch will be an upgrade but I’m sure by the end of the year or early next season that will change. Like I said I’m so happy for jaylon and he’s going to be a great LB but I think hitch will give us an upgrade on defense for now. If marrinelli can make some adjustments and we can get Lee hitch and irving all back and woods can be an upgrade over heath, I think we’ll get this defense back to being really solid. I think woods is going to be really good.
Truth Brian, what really grinds my gears are ppl actually defending him, like we aren’t the same fan base that went off against T will when he didn’t get out of bounds against the G men, week one last season. Switzer’s response really pissed me off talking about “It won’t be the first or last time” like who the f*** is this guy???
I agree. I wasn’t really happy about Switzer’s response either, even though he was just being honest. I think he will be a difference maker this year in the return game, but he definitely needs to work on his situational awareness. You have to have a better understanding of when you can be aggressive and when it is best to just call for a fair catch.
Truth, side note I counted at least 4 times Dak over threw Dez Sunday, smh if Dak was more accurate Dez would have at least had 130 yards and we would have won, and would you believe Dez has more yards and touchdowns than Julio and Aj green but Dez isn’t elite anymore lol at least that’s what “They” say right lol
Honestly think that Prescott is trying to shoulder too much of the load and it’s affecting his accuracy. He seems to be pressing just a little bit, but if we start seeing more consistency in the running game, I think he will settle down. Of course, the OC could help him out by moving the pocket. He is much more accurate when throwing on the run.
Watched him all 4 years in college. He needs some time. I don’t recall that he took kickoff returns, if he did it was rare. He was a wide receiver and took punt returns and NO ONE would kick to him his last 2 years, including Clemson. They would take a penalty rather than kick to Switzer. He missed the preseason due to injury. So he is really a newbie in this position. But he is fast learner, so hopefully he’ll get enough chance to show what he can do.
I think he’s just trying to be too aggressive to try to make a difference. I think the Cowboys coaching staff will stress the importance of making the right decisions from here on out. I’m not too worried about him personally. I think he will be a difference maker this year.