The Dallas Cowboys first road game of the 2017 season didn't exactly pan out the way they had hoped. The Cowboys were handed their first defeat of the season at the hands of a dominant Denver Broncos team with a final score 42-17. Dallas will have to quickly compose themselves because they will be on the road once again next week when they travel to take on the Arizona Cardinals for Monday Night Football.
To say that the Denver Broncos dominated all three phases of the game would be an understatement. Offensively, defensively, and special teams for the Cowboys just looked off-kilter the entire game and it was just an all-around poor performance, especially from a team with so much talent.
Unfortunately, not everything can be sunshine and unicorns week in and week out for the Dallas Cowboys, but I don't expect them to be down long. I think we'll see a bounce back performance against the Cardinals next week, at least I hope so.
Having said all that, let's dive into this week's edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. As always, please feel free to use the comment section at the end of the article to voice and of your thoughts and opinions on the topic.
The Good
There wasn't a lot of good for the Dallas Cowboys against Denver Broncos. But, if you're looking for the lone bright spot, it has to be DeMarcus Lawrence's performance. Lawrence might just be the one player for the entire Dallas Cowboys team that showed up in Denver to play.
DeMarcus Lawrence opened the season against the New York Giants with a 5 tackle, 2 QB sack performance and followed that up with another 5 tackle, 2 sacks, and one forced fumble game against the Broncos. Lawrence is finally healthy and playing like a man possessed. It's probably no coincidence that he's in a contract year, but I think he is probably the only player that really showed up against Denver Sunday afternoon.
The Bad
I hate to kick a man when he's down, but Nolan Carroll was being picked on early and often Sunday afternoon by the Broncos offense. It was obvious the Broncos were targeting him and the best thing that might have happened to him was the injury. It's a harsh thing to say, but probably true.
I don't know about you, but I think Carroll is one of the worst CBs currently on the Cowboys roster. I think the only reason he still remains a starter is because the young CBs have struggled with injuries early in the season, which has slowed their development. Hopefully, Orlando Scandrick can return next week and Chidobe Awuzie can get healthy and take over.
The Ugly
I started to put this in the bad category, but obviously went a different direction. I think the ugly Sunday afternoon for the Dallas Cowboys was their tackling on defense. There were several instances where they had a chance for a tackle for loss or a tackle for a short gain, but they let the offensive players slip through their fingers.
C.J. Anderson is the first 100 yard rusher the Dallas Cowboys defense has allowed since Alfred Morris in 2015. Anderson was simply running through the arm tackles and having Cowboys defenders bounce off of him the entire game. The Dallas Cowboys absolutely to have to clean up their tackling and I'm sure defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will be on their case after watching film from the Broncos game.
