On Sunday, Cowboy fans had to suffer through a terrible loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in overtime. This loss would bring the Cowboys’ record to 10-4, which is still very good, but not enough to become the #1 seed in the nearing playoffs. It was surprising that this game turned into a loss for the boys, the offense played great, and the defense had trouble but still had good stops. So what went wrong?
Coaching is what went wrong. I have many complaints about what occurred during the game and they all came from play calling and decisions. I feel like Head Coach Mike McCarthy has done a much better job at Dallas than at the beginning of the year, but this loss is not acceptable.
The amount of talent and skill I see on the Cowboys is amazing, and we outmatched the Jaguars via talent. When it comes to coaching, not really. Mike made a lot of bad calls this game and I mostly blame him for the loss. Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore did well at his job, but even he made some fatal mistakes.
One big mistake was not running the ball at the end of the game. If you remember, the Cowboys’ defense had just stripped the ball away from Quarterback Trevor Lawrence and had possession with under two minutes to go. While the Cowboys were faced with a 3rd and 10, they decided to throw the ball which resulted in an incompletion. Here’s where I get upset.
If the Cowboys were to run the ball, the Jags would have had to waste their last timeout and would only have just over a minute left. Instead, they didn’t need to waste their timeout and used it later to set up a game tieing field goal. If the Cowboys ran the ball and forced the Jags to waste their timeout, then the chances of them scoring would have been much lower.
That right there is one of the main reasons overtime was forced. Another topic to debate is how Mike never seems to communicate with his players or other coaches. To defend this, I bring you to every single time he’s on camera. Do you ever see him talk? I see a very large lack of communication between him and his team.
One more problem I had with Mike during this game is his “Game winning decisions”. Mike seems to have a history of non-clutch plays. He always losses at the end of games and never wins at the end of them. For this game, he had multiple chances where he could potentially end the game and win it with a simple play call or option, and he always chooses the wrong one.
Takes me back to earlier in the year during the Wild Card game against the San Francisco 49ers. Had a chance to win the game at the end, and made a terrible call that resulted in the whole world laughing at the Cowboys. I really get sick of never being the team that makes a good final play call, it’s always the opposite team.
A lot of fans are frustrated over losses like this one too. In a game where we should have won, we lost. Let’s just hope that Mike can agree and accept the fact that he screwed up in this game. I really hope things are better next week for the Eagles, we are gonna need it.
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Hello Tony! I agree with your assessment of how this game was managed or mismanaged if you will. I don’t think McCarthy is the RIGHT HC for this team. I also think Kellen Moore could stand to be replaced as well. I think they have to remember that Dak Prescott is NOT Mahomes, Brady, Burrow, or Herbert. He’s who is is! And who he is, is plenty good enough for a talented roster like the Cowboys have. Imagine if Sean Payton had this team. It would probably be undefeated at this point.. I hope Jerry and Stephen Jones finally conduct a critical analysis of this team and DO WHAT CLEARLY MUST BE DONE!!!! FIRE MCCARTHY AND MOORE.
Hey Lawrence, that’s a very good point that not a lot of people realize. Dak ISN’T Mahomes, and I feel like the Coaches are trying to force him into that. Sean Payton would be a great hire, but at the moment, we are going to be stuck with Mike and Moore.
Tony, I couldn’t agree with you more about Dak. I think he’s bring put in some situations that just isn’t good for him. I feel like the interception in overtime at Jacksonville was a horrible mistake by Dak and horrible play calling by Moore. Perhaps Noah Brown should’ve made that catch, but it seemed to me, the pass was forced. Prescott is trying to run what Kellen Moore’s calling, and in my opinion, that’s where the problems are! Kellen Moore has to give Dak Prescott things that he does well. In other words, tailor the play calling around the strengths of your quarterback. Dak Prescott is only Dak Prescott!!!!! He can’t be who Kellen Moore wishes he was.
Defensive play calling is beginning to look a bit suspect also. And Parsons may need to get off of Von Miller’s radio segment and quit talking about how much he’s gonna get paid and simply focus on the job at hand!
Get Sean Payton (or is it Peyton) in here and let him hire his own staff
It’s Payton, and yes, the defensive calls were also quite shaky this game. I give a lot of credit to Dan Quinn, but he missed many calls in this game. We’ll see what happens next week against the Eagles.
Tony, I’ve heard that Dan Quinn is opening up the competition for the Cornerback position opposite of Diggs. That’s great news, because Kelvin Joseph simply isn’t ready for the NFL. Not going to bash him because it’s not his fault he was drafted so high and shouldn’t be on the field yet. If I ‘m recalling this correctly, Mel Kiper Jr. or Todd McShae said Joseph wasn’t more than an UDFA as far as his overall talent suggested back in the last draft. The Jones Family obviously didn’t get the memo. A second round pick nay have been used to get the Cowboys a stud Defensive Tackle to help shore up the run defense . Long story short, it’s impossible to blame Joseph for his shortcomings at the Cornerback position.
Incredibly accurate assessment Fat Fan. Micah’s production seems to have fallen off a bit. I like this kid, but Von Miller is trying to get these two guys and these two teams at each other’s throats. This rivalry is real and doesn’t require any extra from Miller or anyone else. I agree that Micah should focus on the Cowboys and his performance. If Hurts is named League MVP, I don’t think it would be a bad call. He’s playing good football and has his team lis locked in at a solid 13 – 1 record. It doesn’t hurt to call it like it is on this case. NOT AN EAGLES FAN AT ALL, but give Hurts credit, he and his team are getting it done. If McCarthy and Moore don’t beat the Cowboys on Christmas Eve, WE WILL BEAT PHILADELPHIA!!!!