News: BTB: Defensive Woes Doom Cowboys, Another Verse To The Same Old Song

NewsBot · Dec 10, 2013

Once again the woes that plague the Dallas Cowboys defense have reared their ugly heads.

Believe it or not, there was an actual offensive series where the Chicago Bears did not score on the Dallas Cowboys. Of course, only those of you who stayed until the bitter end were able to witness the event; Chicago quarterback Josh McCown took a knee to run out the clock. Time was the only thing that managed to stop the Bears offense on Monday night as the home team delivered the second old-fashioned butt-whoopin' the Cowboys have experienced in the last month. As one blue and silver clad defender would tell the press after the game, Dallas had no answer for what McCown and the Bears were serving up.

"They had their way with us in all three phases of the game." - Brandon Carr

Nobody who saw the game would challenge Carr's statement. The Chicago back-up quarterback passed for 348 yards and four touchdowns on the night against a team that looked like it was in contention for an early draft pick instead of a division crown. For good measure, McCown also added a rushing touchdown to the mix. Once again, an opposing quarterback played the game of his life against the Swiss cheese defense that Dallas trots out on to the field on a weekly basis. The Cowboys continue to make the other team's passer look like he is an All-Pro.

"If you were back there at quarterback and we played the way we played you'd probably have five touchdowns." - DeMarcus Ware in reply to a reporter's question about McCown's performance

Most of us who watch the team closely expected big performances by the two outstanding wide receivers that Chicago has, but with Brandon Carr and especially Orlando Scandrick, it figured that there would be some challenge mounted against the Bears duo. Such was not the case; quite simply the Dallas DB's failed to go out and do their jobs. While it might be easy to lay all the blame on the Dallas secondary, that would not be correct; once again, the Dallas "rushmen" failed to generate pressure on the quarterback. DeMarcus Ware was able to record a late sack, but it was far too little and far too late.

Not only did the Cowboys struggle to shut down the Chicago passing game, the defense was equally futile in stopping the Bears on the ground. The Chicago backs accounted for 149 yards rushing as well. For Monte Kiffin's charges it was a total breakdown. There are ongoing issues that have to be corrected if the Cowboys want to have any chance of playing football beyond week 17.

Even with Sean Lee back in the lineup, it was still some of the same problems getting pressure on the quarterback or getting off blocks to make tackles in the running game. It was a total team break down in all areas. When you can't get off the field, you can't help the offense... when you don't force the opponents to punt, you are not going to win many games.

Defensive tackle Jason Hatcher summed up the Cowboys night in a simple phrase; "It was a very embarrassing game; we got our butts beat. We got outplayed." The only thing that remains to be determined is if they managed to play themselves out of the playoffs.

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News: BTB: Defensive Woes Doom Cowboys, Another Verse To The Same Old Song

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