Must be Deja Vu For The Dallas Cowboys
Must be Deja Vu For The Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears faced each other on Thursday Night Football, where the Dallas Cowboys fell to Chicago to the tune of 4 Mitch Trubisky scores, 3 passing, and 1 rushing.
Not only did the up and down Bears beat the struggling Cowboys, but they also beat the Cowboys in nearly the same fashion as their loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving Day:
A solid 1st quarter followed by a multitude of mistakes and misfires.
First thing is first: the Cowboy’s defense looks pretty pitiful right now. The number of tackles that were missed by the Dallas secondary seemed very strange especially since they haven’t been getting any interceptions either. The Cowboys first interception since October didn’t even come from a starter in Thursday nights game. Reserve cornerback Jourdan Lewis came up with a very impressive sideline interception in the 1st quarter, but nothing more was done by the secondary who gave up several touchdowns in the red zone on short passes including a 33-yard catch and run by receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.
The Bears and Trubisky heavily abused the Bears linebacking core and their continued use of zone blitzes. It seemed that every time the Cowboys blitzed Trubisky, they immediately were exposed in coverage. Jaylon Smith struggled to protect the middle for the defense in coverage, but was able to recover a fumble in the 3rd quarter.
However, it wasn’t just the defense that struggled. The opening drive for Dak and company seemed to be very promising for the rest of the game. On the first drive, Dallas went nearly the entire field to score the first touchdown. Shortly after that, the offense struggled the rest of the game to complete a pass. This is likely due to the offensive script being predetermined and once the Bears made their adjustments, Garrett and offense were not able to produce a consistent set of plays to counter.
The Cowboys had several opportunities in the red zone to score, but we’re often stuffed short of converting. Combined with a missed field goal by Brett Maher and lack of red-zone conversions, the Cowboys wasted opportunities became the story of the night.
Regardless of how inconsistent the Cowboys may look right now, they don’t necessarily look terrible, but they are a ways away from being a legitimate playoff contender. Although they are still top of the NFC East, the chance of them winning out in divisional play seems bleak and with Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones at odds over Garrett’s future, it still remains to be seen how the Cowboys can improve before their playoff hopes are quickly dissolved.
-By: LeMarkus Bailey
Writer/Interviewer