Did the Cowboys really deserve to win that game?

[CouchCoach]

I know, the officials were too involved and there were questionable calls all game long but if you do re-watch that game, ask yourself if they played well enough to win.

Did they look like a team defending the keep and charged up to stay in the fight for homefield?

Or did Arizona show more fight and passion being down four starters on defense, two of them CB's, and facing the #1 offense in the NFL?

Do I think the Cardinals are a better team than the Cowboys? No, I do not but I do believe they outplayed them. And it is really bad form for any coaches or players to be blaming that loss on the refs, they lost that game by not playing as hard or well as Arizona did.

That was a dress rehearsal for the playoffs against a real opponent, not one wounded and coming off 4 days rest.

They flat out got outplayed yesterday. They show up like that for the first playoff game, one and done.

However, on the positive side, it is a game they could have won with their defense reverting to 2020 standards.

I would say neither of these coordinators improved their HC stock yesterday.

 

[CATCH17]

Absolutely not.


Did the refs screw us over? Sure..

You know what screwed us over more than the refs? Inept offense.

 

[mahoneybill]

Absolutely not.


Did the refs screw us over? Sure..

You know what screwed us over more than the refs? Inept offense.

No run game made it easier for Their D to play aggressive

 

[Nova]

No we didn’t deserve that win.

Cards took it to us and won the important downs.

It’s like they were reaching into their “this is life or death” portion of their playbook in key situations.

We just didn’t play that desperately.

 

[Aven8]

I would agree. All three Coordinators had a bad game.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

Kyler Murray could lead this team to a Super Bowl.

 

[nobody]

I know, the officials were too involved and there were questionable calls all game long but if you do re-watch that game, ask yourself if they played well enough to win.

Did they look like a team defending the keep and charged up to stay in the fight for homefield?

Or did Arizona show more fight and passion being down four starters on defense, two of them CB's, and facing the #1 offense in the NFL?

Do I think the Cardinals are a better team than the Cowboys? No, I do not but I do believe they outplayed them. And it is really bad form for any coaches or players to be blaming that loss on the refs, they lost that game by not playing as hard or well as Arizona did.

That was a dress rehearsal for the playoffs against a real opponent, not one wounded and coming off 4 days rest.

They flat out got outplayed yesterday. They show up like that for the first playoff game, one and done.

However, on the positive side, it is a game they could have won with their defense reverting to 2020 standards.

I would say neither of these coordinators improved their HC stock yesterday.

They proved it until proven otherwise. If the Cards get bumped in round one of the playoffs and the Cowboys don't, then we can say the Cowboys were a better team. But you can't say a team is better after a performance like that.

 

[JBS]

I would agree. All three Coordinators had a bad game.

This. Good observation. Haven’t seen anyone else mention this. We were out coached in every phase

 

[cowboyec]

yes.

 

[CouchCoach]

They proved it until proven otherwise. If the Cards get bumped in round one of the playoffs and the Cowboys don't, then we can say the Cowboys were a better team. But you can't say a team is better after a performance like that.

As many "better teams" that have lost to lesser ones this season, I can say that I believe the Cowboys are the better team; however, they got outplayed by the Cards yesterday. The West is still up for grabs with them playing SEA and the Rams playing the Niners.

 

[Jake]

I know, the officials were too involved and there were questionable calls all game long but if you do re-watch that game, ask yourself if they played well enough to win.

Did they look like a team defending the keep and charged up to stay in the fight for homefield?

Or did Arizona show more fight and passion being down four starters on defense, two of them CB's, and facing the #1 offense in the NFL?

Do I think the Cardinals are a better team than the Cowboys? No, I do not but I do believe they outplayed them. And it is really bad form for any coaches or players to be blaming that loss on the refs, they lost that game by not playing as hard or well as Arizona did.

That was a dress rehearsal for the playoffs against a real opponent, not one wounded and coming off 4 days rest.

They flat out got outplayed yesterday. They show up like that for the first playoff game, one and done.

However, on the positive side, it is a game they could have won with their defense reverting to 2020 standards.

I would say neither of these coordinators improved their HC stock yesterday.

The answer to your question is no.

Offense did next to nothing for 3 quarters and the defense couldn't get enough stops. Too many offensive possessions ended quickly while the Cardinals scored on 5 of their first 6 possessions. It was an uphill battle all day.

 

[glimmerman]

Was another case of our Offense not executing. A big play called back penalties. But again there were some non calls and non calls at pivotal points. Holding on D-Law in the end zone was a sure safety. The questionable fumble that should have been reviewed.

Dak looked confused and had vanilla playcalling. He made a costly mistake trying to take the game in his own hands. I will ask him to take that chance when ever he needs to.

Our Defense looked vanilla and not as aggressive as usual. Parsons was made to play the middle and when asked made plays. I kept waiting for that turnover or spark. We never got the spark. Better get better before the party starts..

 

[Wezsh0T]

No we didn’t deserve that win.

Cards took it to us and won the important downs.

It’s like they were reaching into their “this is life or death” portion of their playbook in key situations.

We just didn’t play that desperately.

We played desperately in the 4Q. You know it's reached that point when we haven't called an RPO all season to protect Dak and KM whips it out on a key 4th down because that is the only running play that will work.

Could we argue that the Rams, TB and the Eagles didn't really deserve to win? It's not like they dominated their opponents this past Sunday.

 

[aikemirv]

I know, the officials were too involved and there were questionable calls all game long but if you do re-watch that game, ask yourself if they played well enough to win.

Did they look like a team defending the keep and charged up to stay in the fight for homefield?

Or did Arizona show more fight and passion being down four starters on defense, two of them CB's, and facing the #1 offense in the NFL?

Do I think the Cardinals are a better team than the Cowboys? No, I do not but I do believe they outplayed them. And it is really bad form for any coaches or players to be blaming that loss on the refs, they lost that game by not playing as hard or well as Arizona did.

That was a dress rehearsal for the playoffs against a real opponent, not one wounded and coming off 4 days rest.

They flat out got outplayed yesterday. They show up like that for the first playoff game, one and done.

However, on the positive side, it is a game they could have won with their defense reverting to 2020 standards.

I would say neither of these coordinators improved their HC stock yesterday.

Deserve, no. Did Tampa deserve to beat the Jets yesterday - no!

Most of the teams in the NFC have major ugly losses and underperform - we do as well!

Everyone except Green Bay here lately. I have not given up but Dak has to do a lot better than that fiasco yesterday!

 

[ShortRound]

We got what we deserved, players came out not ready to play.

 

[Bobhaze]

Kyler Murray could lead this team to a Super Bowl.

But he couldn’t lead the cards to a win against the lions two weeks ago, lol.

 

[Section446]

Absolutely not. There's no excuse for our $40 million QB taking so long to get going.

 

[TheCoolFan]

You have to win those types of games in January. We've seen the Cowboys win games when things go well. It's all fun and games when Dak is throwing for over 300 or if the RBs run wild, or if they defense forces a few turnovers. But the opponents that you will see in January are not going to let that happen as easily...and there's a good chance none of those 3 things happen in a game (like yesterday)

You still have to find a way to come out on top in those games when things aren't always going your way. So far these Cowboys have not shown they can win those types of games

 

[nobody]

No they didn't deserve to win.

 

[Nova]

We played desperately in the 4Q. You know it's reached that point when we haven't called an RPO all season to protect Dak and KM whips it out on a key 4th down because that is the only running play that will work.

Could we argue that the Rams, TB and the Eagles didn't really deserve to win? It's not like they dominated their opponents this past Sunday.

I kinda get where you're coming from. "Deserve" is kind of a no-no word in sports and everyone has a different take.

Some say the team that wins 'deserves' to win, and honestly that's usually how I roll. But I think it also depends on the context of the conversation.

In this case, I think the OP is rightly criticizing the Cowboys' effort, intensity, and performance as inadequate for the opponent and the moment. This form of inadequacy usually results in a loss, and as such, it was more likely than not that the Cowboys would lose-- or that they "deserved" to lose.