The Dallas Cowboys are not playing good football. After two games where they flashed good play at certain points, the team went up to Chi-town and put together quite the stinker, as the Chicago Bears won handily, 31-14. It was a peculiar game because it felt like the Cowboys, despite playing from behind early, could still assume control, but things never improved for them. Instead, it got worse.
Not surprisingly, the defense couldn’t make stops. After forcing a three-and-out on the Bears’ first offensive sequence, Chicago proceeded to score on five of their next six possessions, four of which were touchdowns. The Cowboys’ offense, which looked like it might be able to keep up after they tied the game at 14, suddenly faded, never again putting points on the board. It was a bad display from both sides.
We could spend countless hours talking about how bad the defense was, and unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a clear solution coming anytime soon. A lot of the mistakes are attributed to players not understanding their assignments, and the continued breakdowns are being exploited by opposing teams. Expect this to continue until they can get some things figured out, but it certainly won’t happen overnight.
There were other instances where the players just underperformed. They just didn’t have the physical ability to hold up against their opponent. The play of the defense can be summed up by this one play by Trevon Diggs. Yuckie.
We know the defense is bad and that feels helpless, but what was a little more surprising is how ineffective the Cowboys’ offense was. The Bears’ defense isn’t good, but they held the Cowboys to their lowest point total of the season. The Cowboys didn’t score a single point on their final six possessions of the game. What went wrong? Can they blame it on not having their star receiver, CeeDee Lamb, or were there other elements in play?
The first thing that jumps out is that the Cowboys’ offense kept giving the ball away inside their opponent’s 30-yard line after moving the ball down the field and threatening to score. The first instance came on the team’s first possession, and on the second play of that possession, when running back Javonte Williams had the ball taken away from him as he was finishing off a nice run. Williams never saw the defender as he was navigating through a block from Terence Steele, leaving himself vulnerable.
This problem would show itself again later in the game. Early in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys were making one last hurrah at a comeback when a Dak Prescott pass went off the hands of George Pickens and into the arms of a Bears’ defender. Again, a great opportunity to score points ended abruptly.
It wasn’t just the turnovers that hurt the Cowboys’ offense. There were other moments where they just couldn’t convert on third down. The frustrating part about it wasn’t just that they failed, but how many times they wouldn’t have converted even if they properly executed the play. Far too many times, Prescott was pulling up short.
Overall, Prescott played well. The conservative approach was aggravating at times, but when he did attack downfield, he made good throws.
In all, the Cowboys’ offense turned the ball over four times inside their own 30-yard line. The two previously mentioned and two more when the ball was intercepted in the end zone. The last two came when the game was already out of hand, but chalk up more instances where the Cowboys’ offense just couldn’t close the deal. If they keep doing things like this, it’s going to be an ugly season.
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