I have read many of the tear stained threads about this loss. I have perused the cursing, blaming, giving up, fatalistic comments by so many who want to blame everyone.
But not one whiff about the guy who actually lost the game.
Penalties? I hate them, and I think Dallas got jobbed a couple of times. The fact a defender can have his back to the QB as the ball comes in and the receiver just stops running, causing the defender to bump him, and this is a penalty, reminds me of basketball where the man with the ball leaps into the defender, pretending to take a shot, and the defender is at fault.
This rule is the same steaming pile of bull nuggets that falls from a tall bull's butt. The person initiating the contact should be the aggressor. This is the league thinking high scoring games are all the fans want, ignoring the fans want a game called fairly, and the rule not favor one side more than the other.
But that did not lose this game.
The replacements for two pro bowl receivers showed why these guys are not ready for prime time. No team respects them, because they need the real playmakers on the field so these guys can somewhat shine and get open.
But they did not lose the game.
Regardless of what you think about Dak, he has to have a somewhat clean pocket, and not those beasts crashing through the line like it was tissue paper. One play in the fourth quarter, Martin pulled out and headed to the second level as the line moved left. Collins was left on a island with two defenders. He took the one on his right. The tackle for the Raiders rans right at Dak who had to throw before he was ready. He couldn't get enough on it from huis back foot. Being rushed and throwing before he was ready happened all day. And even then he brought the team back to force an overtime.
But Dak did not lose this game.
Taking the point off the scoreboard and going for two was a great play by the linebacker. When they do something like this and it works, I don't see many here complaining about that. And even Romo said the play was one they felt would work. But sometimes the other team just makes a play.
Yet that decision did not lose this game.
This was not poor time management by McCarthy. Fact is, he played the last two minutes or so of regulation exactly the way they should have. The defense made a play and the offense drove to tie. That seems to be ignored by most here.
But McCarthy did not lose this game.
This comes down to Greg Offline and the points he missed. He has shown he cannot be trusted. This was not a windy field where the ball sails. This was bad kicks.
But even then, if you know your dog has fleas, you can't blame your dog. You blame the person who didn't take care of the dog. The one who didn't get rid of the problem.
So in a way, Greg Offline did not lose this game.
This comes down to Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, and the front office.
I can't imagine there is one fan on this board, or one MOD, or one Admin, or even the trolls that come here - some swearing they are Cowboy fans but rejoice when the team loses because they think that makes their vitriol correct - not one of those guys doesn't understand Greg Offline cannot be trusted.
The front office saw in the Tampa Bay game that Greg Offline would lose for them by missing kicks. Give him an opportunity in a close game and he will lose. The Special Teams coach cannot just go out and hire a better kicker on his own. This comes down to the front office ignoring that Greg Offline will spit the bit. Shate the bed.
Every game this team faces in the NFL has a potential of the opponent winning. The Raiders have a really decent QB and evidently an offensive line that can give him time to hit his receivers. The defense played poorly, primarily because Dallas could not get a pass rush going other than The Parsonator.
I have said this for a very long time. NO pass rush, no pass defense. Nothing was more evident yesterday. And since you have a starting DT, and both starting DE's sitting in street clothes watching this game, there was nothing going, other than The Parsonator, which was going to crash through the offensive line of the Raiders.
But even that was not why the team lost.
This team lost in spite of the special teams run back. This team lost because the kicker cannot do his job.
This team lost because Jerry Jones, who thinks he is part of the coaching staff the way he gives press conferences like he wears a whistle to practice, decided to trust Greg Offline. Evidently Skeletor looked out at the team from his box, and seemed to think he knew better than what even fans on this board knew for a fact.
Get a new kicker before you close games to a guy that cannot be trusted. But he knew better, didn't he?
Jerry Jones lost this game. Jerry Jones, The Impersonator, is the reason this team lost this game.
