By
Jean-Jacques Taylor
11:00 AM on Dec 23, 2019
Here are 10 truths from the Cowboys’ 17-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field...
1. You’re not going to win the NFC East with an awful performance from your quarterback. Dak Prescott was awful Sunday against Philadelphia. Now, you can certainly blame his sprained right shoulder that kept him from practicing all week and the two fingers on his left hand that are banged up which he taped together, but nobody cares. Prescott threw for 265 yards but missed several throws high, and he badly overthrew Tavon Austin for what should have been a 75-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to cut the score to 17-15. He needed to match Carson Wentz, who passed for 319 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t come close.
2. This is probably the biggest collection of wasted talent since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989. The only other team in the conversation is the 2008 team that lost 44-6 in a win-and-get-in game, also against Philadelphia. This season began in Oxnard, Calif., with Super Bowl aspirations for a team with a collection of young talent that most NFL general managers believed was among the best in the league, but the Cowboys wilted time after time this season under adversity. They had two three-game losing streaks and have lost eight of their past 12 games despite not losing any elite players to injury for more than a game or two. Pathetic.
3. Jason Garrett never figured out how to get this team to play for him consistently. He never figured out how to get Dallas off to fast starts, and it struggled in the first quarter again against Philadelphia, trailing 10-0 early. The Cowboys trailed early against Green Bay (14-0 in first quarter), the New York Jets (21-3 in second quarter), Minnesota (14-0 in first quarter), Chicago (17-7 in second quarter) and Philadelphia (10-0 in first quarter). The early deficits limited their run game and forced them to play from behind way too often. Dallas is 0-8 when trailing at halftime this season.
4. Chidobe Awuzie was benched in first quarter and Jourdan Lewis replaced him. He deserved to be benched. Awuzie was beaten for receptions of 12 and 6 yards early in the game, but he was tentative in setting the edge and making a tackle on a Miles Sanders run that went for 8 yards. He played when the Cowboys went to their nickel defense. The big question is: How can you not be ready to play on the second series of a game for the NFC East title? The other question is: How come Garrett didn’t display this type of accountability throughout the season?
5. The Cowboys racked up a bunch of empty numbers this season. Prescott has thrown for more than 4,500 yards, Ezekiel Elliott has rushed for more than 1,100 yards and Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup have each surpassed the 1,000-yard mark. The Cowboys lead the NFL in offense but failed to score a touchdown in two games this season (New England, Philadelphia).
6. For the seventh time this season, the Cowboys failed to force a turnover. Xavier Woods dropped what should have been an easy interception in the second quarter and defensive end Robert Quinn forced a fumble on a sack that Wentz recovered. The Cowboys’ inability to create turnovers is among the major reasons they lead the NFL in offense -- they’re always starting with poor field position. It’s hard to consistently win without forcing turnovers.
7. Cooper said he was pulled by the coaches for the final play. Garrett said Cooper was rotating with Tavon Austin. Either answer makes you question how much to invest in Cooper in the offseason when he’s a free agent. He caught just four of 12 passes directed to him for 24 yards. His body language was bad and he was a non-factor in the biggest game of the year. You can’t pay a dude $18 million a year if you don’t trust him to be on the field at the end of the biggest game of the season.
8. Woods made two huge plays in the first half but missed a third that could’ve changed the game. He hit tight end Zach Ertz on the game’s first drive, creating an incompletion that forced the tight end out of the game with sore ribs. Ertz returned but didn’t contribute much. Woods later made a big tackle for loss on a third down that forced the Eagles to punt after they had grabbed a 10-0 lead. But Woods dropped a tipped pass that was right in his hands when Dallas was down 10-3 after Wentz made a throw under pressure from DeMarcus Lawrence.
9. Elliott seemed like he was ready to break loose a couple of times in the second half, but the Cowboys couldn’t sustain enough drives to keep giving him the ball. In a lot of ways, it was the story of his season. Elliott has five career games with 12 or fewer carries, and three occurred this season (Green Bay, Buffalo and Philadelphia). The Eagles stacked the line early and the Cowboys didn’t force them to back up by completing passes.
10. Overall, play-caller Kellen Moore had a good season. That said, there were too many questionable calls in this game, especially the last play. You don’t call a 50-50 jump ball for Gallup with Cooper and Randall Cobb on the bench. They have to be in the game. If you have to burn a timeout, then do it, because the season is at stake. And there has to be a better play than a jump ball to Gallup because you just need 8 yards. A rub route. Y option to Jason Witten. There should have been a lot more options than a fade to Gallup.