I like to record the Cowboys games so I can rewatch them the next day because the excitement on game day colors my impressions of the action. Plus I can rewind certain plays to get a better look at what actually just happened. I came away from this game thinking, man, the Cowboys are overrated. But my impressions changed after watching the game a second time.
First some stats. Who would have thought the Packers did not get 350 yards of offense on Sunday? But that's a fact. The Packers got a total of 335 net yards to the Cowboys 560+. Let that sink in for a minute.
The only statistic that matters is the number of points you put on the scoreboard. All the rest is meaningless. Zeke got most of his yards in this game and in the Saints game in the waning seconds of the first half when the Packers were playing prevent the pass. He has not helped at all except with the long pass play. He needs to help the O line and is not doing a good job at that. There was one play in particular when he went to block a DT and let the DE get directly to Dak for a quick sack.
Some might say the Cowboys racked up a lot of yards in garbage time. They did. But they racked up a lot of yards before the half too. Each of their first 5 drives got them into Packers territory. They were moving the ball pretty easily against the Packers defense the entire game. They didn't shoot themselves in the foot in the 2nd half - as much.
I am a big believer in momentum. If Coop catches the pass that resulted in an interception. We score and the feel of the game is 100% different than it was. Dak needs to throw better than that but the ball was definitely catchable and should have been caught.
The difference in this game was obvious. Turnovers and penalties. By the time the Cowboys had over 100 yards in penalties the Packers had 4 for 35 yards.
The turn overs were horrible as were the penalties many of which were pure nonsense as you point out later in your writing. I agree with everything you said, including the BS call for touching Dak's helmet.
Other thoughts:
The pass to Cooper on the first drive was worse than I originally thought. Cooper had to slow down and turn to his left to try to catch the ball. The ball was way behind him, not just off his left shoulder. If he catches it, he scores. He thinks he should have caught it and he probably should have.
I have not reviewed the play and pass and take your word for it that it was worse than we thought. But the bottom line is that Cooper is paid a lot of money to catch footballs. He got both hands on the ball in an akward but not impossilbe position. He should have caught the pill.
The score was 17-0 at the half. No need to give up on the running game. It was working. But so was the passing game. The Cowboys were getting big chunks fo yards in the air, even when Dak was having problems with accuracy.
I hate using the refs as an excuse but they totally screwed the Cowboys in this game. One reason the Packers scored 31 point on 335 yards is the 124 yards in penalties on Dallas. There was a killer holding call on Austin with the score 14-0 that negated a Zeke run to the Packers 18. It was a terrible call. That gave Dallas a 1st and 20. On second down and long Dak threw his second INT. The PI on Brown that JG challenged was also BS. I replayed it 20 times and there really was not that much contact and the ball hit Brown in the back. There is no way that ball was catchable. I could read Garrett's lips after that call. He used the word "horse ****" I believe, multiple times. The flag for unsportsmanlike was also BS. But they saved the worst for last. The no call on the mugging of Gallup was just ridiculous. In fact, one thing is noticeable about the Packers DBs. They are very aggressive and physical. This is why the call on Brown was so bad. There was a big 2rd down pass that got a call on Heath too. The refs also missed about 3 illegal procedure calls where the Packer's RT left early. I saw one call that looked picky against the Packers. The slap in the head on Dak. That was iffy at best.
NFL officiating has been awful for years and this year it seems to have gotten even worse. I hate have Mike Pereira or Blandino as experts that opine as to whether there was or was not a penalty. Pereira said that the refs missed the holding or pass interference call on the db covering Cobb. That was crystal clear, as opposed to the one they called on Brown which was, in my opinion, ridiculous. There was no way he could have caught it and Brown did turn and play the ball.
The play that really irked me was the bogus call that Rodgers was throwing the ball on 3rd down on what was at best a bit of a push of the ball. But wait!!!!! If it was a pass then it should have been grounding. He did not get the ball to the line of scrimmage and there were no Packers who were eligible near the ball. But not one of the geniuses calling the game ever raised that fact. It should have been penalized with a loss of downs.
Dak was inaccurate with his passes in the 1st half. This seems like a pattern. He needs to fix that.
Dak needs to move about in order to throw the ball without thinking about mechanics. He is far better throwing on the run than standing in the pocket.
Dallas went nowhere on there first drive of the 2nd half and had to punt. Jones, of course, kicks one a paltry 33 yards. Is it me or does he do that at the worst times? In any case, the Packers got great field position and scored to make it 24-0.
Jones is great when it doesn't count, just like Maher, who in my opinion should never have been our kicker beginning this season. How much more do we need to see. He cannot make a 33 yarder or a 54 yarder. Hell Heath can make the extra points!!
On defense it was ugly at times. LVE looked overmatched a lot. The Cowboys lost containment to the outside constantly. The RB kept cutting outside and the Cowboys containment was trapped inside way too much. Not one person either. Brown, Chido, LVE, Tank, Lee all get caught over pursuing to the inside. Then the tackling was bad. They need to work on this.
This is JG. He does not believe he could ever be wrong about anything. His entire career has shown that he is incredibly stubborn in the face of overwhelming evidence that what he scripted is not working. Does that call for reflection and change? Of course it does, unless your name is Garrett, the Red Clapper and Spitter. He never adjusts, not just in games but in seasons. It is always the same thing even if it never works. Hubris on his part. While we are on the subject of the Red Clapper, what exactly is his role on the field. He never speaks to anyone on his head set. He does not look at, nor does he call plays. He is terrific at spitting and clapping at the wrong time. The one time he did move and do something he caused a 15 yard penalty. I am so over JG as an NFL coach. He wasn't even a good OC.
I also confirmed my suspicions that the DL was not doing its job. The Packers were able to get at least one lineman upfield to take out the LBs. This looks like what the Colts and Rams did last year. The Cowboys appear soft or physically weak in the middle. But the LBs need to be quicker to the holes too.
The linebacker play by the big three has been less than stellar. I do not know why they are playing so differently than last year but while we are talking defense. Are we going to go the entire year without an interception? The one we got was a cheapy that was hit up in the air before it was caught. Throughout the preseason we were getting turnovers left and right and everyone was talking about the "in your face" coverages being employed. Now they have reverted back to soft coverages keeping everything in front of them but never attacking the ball.
One last point about the officiating. I watched the replay of that Rodgers fumble/pass a dozen times or more. The more I watched it the more it looked like a fumble. Its really close, but it looks like Rodgers got hit by Lawrence and the ball started to slip from his hand. Rodgers then flicked his wrist forward to make it look like he was pushing it, but I think the ball was already loose. LVE recovered it at the Packers 30. Don't know if it would have made a difference but just another bad break for Dallas.
See above. It was either a fumble of grounding, the refs blew it again.
In summary, the Cowboys lost because of a lack of discipline and some bad calls. The discipline is a coaching thing I think.
