The Dallas Cowboys get played on special teams, lose

A missed field goal, a blocked punt, and a head-scratching sequence on a punt conspire to doom the Dallas Cowboys on a miserable day in New England.

Forget the two bogus tripping calls on the Dallas Cowboys offensive line. Especially forget the bogus tripping call on center Travis Frederick that denied the Cowboys a critical first down late in the fourth quarter. Moaning about the refereeing is the loser’s lament. The only thing that matters is that this is another loss. And in true Bill Belichick fashion, he spotted a Cowboys’ tell–special teams–that propelled him to another win.

One can almost forgive the missed field goal, given the conditions. It was no gimme to begin with. The blocked punt? Hey, the Patriots pay their players, too. But the sequence in the waning moments of the third quarter put the strategic gap between an elite coach and Jason Garrett into sharp focus. If you ever held out any hope that he is the guy to lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl, then this should forevermore quell that notion.

Never mind the apparent completion to Amari Cooper that got nullified by a holding penalty, effectively killing the drive. The coaching gaffes occurred on the ensuing punt. The first punt attempt was flagged for delay of game. The second punt attempt was flagged for an illegal shift. In both cases, it was the Patriots’ coverage that vexed the Cowboys. That cost the Cowboys ten yards pre-punt. That’s completely on the coaching staff. You could almost picture Bill Belichick doing his best evil villain laugh on the sideline.

The end result was the Cowboys not flipping field position. On the illegal shift play, the ball was downed on the New England twenty. Once the punt team pulled their heads out and got off a good kick, it was downed at the forty. It didn’t take a genius to see that the twenty yard shift offset any potential advantage. From there, the Patriots would march down for a field goal and a 13-6 lead. If we’re being honest, it could’ve been 30-6. Either way, it felt insurmountable.

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Here’s the problem: time and again, when it comes to this team, it’s either Garrett and his guys against Sean Payton and his group. Or it’s Garrett against Aaron Rodgers, because let’s face it, he essentially coaches the Packers. It’s Garrett against Mike Zimmer and his bunch. Most recently, it’s Garrett against Bill Belichick. In the end, the result is the same. It’s loss after loss after woeful loss. It’s gotten beyond infuriating with a lot of fans. It’s become the norm, and that’s even worse. It’d just be nice to feel good about the guy leading the team into battle, but it appears as though he’s imploding under the weight of heightened expectations. It’s pretty telling that the team is turtling when the head coach is doing the same.

There used to be a time when the Jason Garrett Cowboys would surprise you when you least expected it. Take 2014 in Seattle, or 2016 in Pittsburgh. In both cases, the Cowboys traveled into extremely hostile environments and came out victorious. They weren’t necessarily stealing those games, either. They arrived prepared and motivated. But those days are apparently over. That game yesterday was in front of them to win for most of the afternoon–as have so many been this season–but they really showed no will to do so.

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So unless a major change is made, then it’s safe to expect more of the same. Sure, the NFC East is dog mess, and it might well come down to the Week 16 matchup in Philadelphia to determine which flea-infested mutt gets to be an easy out in the wild card round. So if this is your idea of a successful season, great. But if you harbor any expectations of postseason glory this year, then you might as well prepare yourself for more heartache.

Published on 11/25/2019 at 12:20 PM
Last updated at 11/25/2019 at 12:20 PM

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