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By Jean-Jacques Taylor
11:00 AM on Dec 6, 2019
Here are 10 truths from the Cowboys’ 31-24 loss to the Chicago Bears on Thursday at Soldier Field...
1. This team, a collection of the right kind of guys as Jason Garrett often likes to tell us, is mentally and physically soft. They don’t play with any confidence, in part, because they haven’t demonstrated the ability to through the adversity of the season. And when you play soft, it gives the appearance of quitting, because you don’t execute or miss tackles. They played hard, but not well. They don’t get credit for not quitting; they’re supposed to play hard.
2. Dak Prescott was awful when it mattered. He passed for 334 yards and a touchdown, but much of that came once the Bears had a 17-point lead and decided to let him complete some passes as long as he didn’t complete them deep. Dallas needed a better performance from him in a huge game -- and he didn’t come close to delivering it.
3. Brett Maher is the first kicker to miss 10 field goals in the same season in four years. He missed a 42-yard field goal wide right that would’ve tied the score at 10-10 in the second quarter. He’s now 1-of-5 from 40-49 yards. The Cowboys worked out three kickers this week. They should’ve signed one. Maher’s misses, especially the past two weeks, have affected the flow of the game. It’s absurd he’s still on the team.
4. Mitch Trubisky has played poorly much of the year. The Cowboys made him look like a franchise quarterback. Ridiculous. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran nine times for 63 yards and a 23-yard touchdown. He plays Green Bay, Kansas City and Minnesota in the final three weeks. Odds are he’ll return to looking like an average player.
5. Defensive linemen DeMarcus Lawrence and Michael Bennett made two of the biggest mistakes of the game, which is completely unacceptable. In the first quarter, Lawrence was offside turning third-and-9 into third-and-4, which Chicago converted. They later scored on the drive. Later in the second quarter, Bennett helped Chicago convert a third-and-2 when he was offsides. Two of the Cowboys’ best players made unforced errors that helped lead to touchdowns.
6. For the second consecutive game, Ezekiel Elliott was poised to have a huge game. For the second consecutive week, the defense couldn’t keep it close long enough to feed him the ball. Elliott, who scored two touchdowns, had a run of at least 30 yards for the second consecutive week but failed to get 100 yards for the fifth straight game. It’s the longest streak of his career.
7. It was embarrassing how many tackles the Cowboys missed last night. They missed them at every level of the defense, and that’s one reason Chicago had so much success running the ball and making yards after the catch. Linebacker Sean Lee was among the culprits. He made five tackles, but he missed several others and failed to make an impact. He has struggled with missed tackles all season. Tackling has never been a problem for Lee.
8. Amari Cooper had his best road game of the season with six catches for 83 yards and a touchdown, but it didn’t matter much. Again, the Cowboys struggled to get him involved early. Prescott didn’t throw him a pass until early in the second quarter, and he finished the first half with one catch for 15 yards.
9. Jourdan Lewis made a nifty interception on Chicago’s first drive, toe-tapping along the sideline and going out of bounds at the Dallas 1-yard line. The turnover ended a streak of four games, 16 quarters and 262 plays without a turnover. They added a second turnover in the third quarter when Jaylon Smith recovered a fumble.
10. Jason Garrett’s time is coming to an end. This team no longer responds to him as evidenced by their sorry performance through three quarters against Chicago. They have regressed as a team, they don’t play with urgency and they don’t make adjustments. This team is 0-7 when trailing at halftime. That’s an indication their coach isn’t making much of an impact.
