I feel like the Cowboys had a soft culture before I saw the injury report ahead of the Colts’ game, and that thought was cemented when I saw George Pickens, Joey Porter Jr., and DeMarvion Overshown on the inactive list in Indianapolis.
How many of these guys were actually too hirt to play? Who really knows, but what I can tell you is that P.J. Locke cleared concussion protocol this week, got Jonathan Taylor one-on-one in the open field on third-and-3 and tackled him a yard past the line of scrimmage.
One of the things that bothers me, and it has been an ongoing thing with this team, is how little Dallas got out of that tackle. The Cowboys were up 3-0. Locke got the defense off the field, Indy punted, and Dak Prescott fumbled the ball to the Colts in Indianapolis territory.
I would have loved for Christian Parker’s defense to have held them to three, but those guys already got a stop, and gave their quarterback the ball with a lead. What more do you need?
Daniel Jones Had it Pretty Easy
Dak’s throw to Jonathan Mingo on the opening drive was great. Third-and-3, George Pickens out, and Dak goes down the middle to Mingo for 23 yards.
Imagine being the Colts and having to account for Mingo the rest of the game because you gave him that much room while CeeDee Lamb was on the field. A few uneventful plays to Javonte Williams and you just gave Brandon Aubrey a shorter field goal.
Even at 3-0, I liked Dallas’ chances of making a 2-6 team play from behind. That is what we watched Dak give up on that fumble.
I wanted to see Daniel Jones take Indianapolis 80 yards against a defense that just forced a three and out. Instead, Jonathan Taylor got the Colts down to the 2, and Seth McGowen ran it in.
If I’m Christian Parker, I’d be calling out the offensive play calling and Dak when someone asks me about those seven points.
I Wanted Aubrey to Stay on the Sideline
Brian Schottenheimer would’ve heard me screaming from Oklahoma if he’d sent Aubrey out on fourth down at the Indianapolis 10-yard line.
A field goal there gets Dallas within a point of a team that’s done nothing to earn the lead. I wanted Schottenheimer to give Dak a chance to get it back, and he did leave the offense out there.
I loved the decision before I knew whether Jake Ferguson would catch it.
I liked the throw even more. Camryn Bynum was right there with Ferguson, but Dak put it high, and Ferguson went up over him. That gave Dallas a 10-7 lead over the Colts with 14:08 left in the second.
If you’ve read any of my articles in the past you would know I’ve been pretty tough on Ferguson and his penchant for putting the ball on the ground and missing blocks. The guy barely practiced all week because of his ankle, but that was one heck of a catch.
Give Me More Caleb Downs Blitzing
DaRon Bland has caught plenty of strays from me this season. He earned a little credit in the second quarter when he made an open-field tackle that left Indy with a third-and-8.
Parker sent Caleb Downs on the next snap, and Daniel Jones never saw it coming. Those are the kind of plays I want to see from Parker and Downs. Indy punted and Dallas got the ball at its own 39. Tyler Goodson would then pick up 12 yards on the ground.
The throw we can’t forget from this game is when the Cowboys finally decided to take a deep shot. Dak hit CeeDee for 44 yards after a busted defensive assignment and the pair made them pay with the touchdown.
Dak is going to get blame for the short field earlier on the fumble, but he gets some of the heat off him with the touchdown to put the Cowboys up 17-7 over the Colts.
After watching Dallas blow a 17-3 lead against Arizona last week, I was in no mood to celebrate 17-7 at halftime.
I do like that the defense has given the offense a chance in two games, but finishing is an issue.
How Many Stops Does Dallas Need?
The Cowboys went into halftime up 17-7.
Dee Winters came out and tackled Jonanthan Taylor in space, Caleb Downs nearly picked off Daniel Jones, and Indy punted.
Why couldn’t Dak march down the field and make it 24-7? Instead, the next team to score would be the Colts, and a 2-6 team was back within a score.
This is one of the biggest issues I have with this offense and the play calling of Brian Schottenheimer. He calls the game scared. CeeDee Lamb just scored from 44 out.
The defense is getting you the ball back. Do something with it Schottenheimer. You have become a liability this season with your vanilla play calls.
The game should not have been 20-17.
Is the Defense Slowly Becoming the Better Unit?
Parker’s defense seemed worn out after the Cowboys’ offense couldn’t do much of anything, besides running the ball and a couple big plays.
I say that to be able to say this. Parker’s defense gave up a 55-yard touchdown to Ashton Dulin after several missed tackles on the screen pass.
A Dallas team that should have been up 20-10 and limiting the Colts to passing plays opened up the entire Colts playbook. This was as much the offense’s fault as the defense.
I am going to double down on Brian Schottenheimer being a coach with no backbone. The Cowboys led by only three halfway through the fourth quarter, and we got to watch Dak throw 4–5 yard passes when they needed 10. Are you over Schotty yet?
The Cowboys’ defense came to play this game, even if it was against the lowly Colts. This game came down to the Cowboys’ offense being able to put up points when given the chance.
We watched repeatedly as those chances for the offense against the Colts fell flat. This game came down to the play calling of an offensive-minded head coach that went away from anything fancy in the offensive playbook.
The Dallas offense doesn’t scare anyone. When they go for a deeper throw, we get yards, but when we play the line of scrimmage we go three-and-out.
Time to blow it up. The Dallas Cowboys need a reset from the top down. Watching the Cowboys lose because of the offense is the final straw.
This defense did everything they could to keep the offense in it, and the “Greatest Offense There Is,” is more like the Greatest offense that never was.
The stats show a good offensive performance, but if you watched the game you know that’s not true.
The defense won this game 27-23.
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