The Dallas Cowboys ended up getting dismantled at home against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the New England Patriots. It was a bad game for the Cowboys as they lost 30-6, which marks their third loss in a row. A first in the Jason Garrett era as head coach. Brandon Weeden losing his 11th straight game as a starter. The Cowboys are no longer in first place in the NFC East rankings, and they’re going into their bye week with a 2-3 record.
Here are my thoughts
Offense: The offense was absolutely terrible, as it was only able to get 59 yards in the first half of the game. There was one drive that consumed over six minutes of the clock, and the Cowboys were only able to come up with a field goal. The Cowboys Brandon Weeden finished 26/39 throwing for just 188 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden both rushed for a combined 76 yards. The Cowboys failed to find the end zone in this game and finished with 264 total yards of offense. Reports have indicated that Head Coach Jason Garrett will evaluate the situation on the quarterback position. In other words, Matt Cassel may become the starter when the Cowboys travel to the New Jersey to take on the New York Giants on October 25th, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Defense: Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain both returned to the defensive lineup after they both served four-game suspensions. Greg Hardy got two sacks in his debut in a Cowboys uniform and had one tackle for a loss. Rolando McClain also recorded a sack, and had two tackles for a loss. The defense did a tremendous job in the first half by sacking Tom Brady five times, and only allowing 13 points in the first half. Although in the second half, the Cowboys defense collapsed again. Although this time, they’re not to take the full blame, except for the fact that they failed to force a turnover. Due to lack of support by the Cowboys offense, the defense ended up being drained and could not find any answers to stop Tom Brady and the powerful Patriot offense.
Special Teams: Kicker Dan Bailey was the only one who put points on the scoreboard for the Cowboys. He went 2 for 2 in this game, and is now 8 for 8 this season. Punter Chris Jones punted six times and only one punt was inside the 20-yard line. Punt returning is still a problem for the Cowboys as they they only had a total of six yards. The Cowboys only had one kickoff return, which was a 21-yard return by Lucky Whitehead.
It’s going to be a long bye week for Cowboys fans. They’re next three games will be against the Giants, Seahawks, and Eagles. So they’ll have to take advantage of this bye week to practice a hundred times harder, and to heal their injured players. Dez Bryant, and rookie DE Randy Gregory are rumored to return after the bye week, but there has been no confirmation. The Cowboys will need to be ready and they’ll have to beat the Giants to keep their playoff chances alive.
