Question from a guy who didn't see the game today vs the Falcons

[Cmac]

This is the worst Cowboys team in quite some time. They’re just not very good.

.....there's an extreme lack of talent to overcome ......it's just that simple. USFL team

 

[bigE79]

Don't forget the failed fake punt when it wasn't even necessary inside their own 40 yard line.

.. and the 4th and short jet-sweep call failure.

The only entertaining part of the game was McCarthy slamming down a tablet in anger.

Idk,I kinda look forward to Aubrey making 60 plus FGs

 

[sdfidaho]

Because you can get yards and not score?

I’d be shocked if they don’t lead the league in Red Zone False Starts and holding calls

 

[big dog cowboy]

Well they have one dude on offense, CeeDee, he was hurting bad the entire game.

Ferg and Tolbert have proven they can make plays if #4 get them the ball. And CeeDee wasn't hurting the entire game. Everything was fine until he landed on his shoulder.

 

[Kingofholland]

I didn't watch today's game either, but Dowdle seemed like he was having an effective game and he got 12 carries? McCarthy doesn't know how to run the ball.

 

[DZSierra]

Well, so much for stats...

Didn't even get to see the horrible panthers play yesterday

Total yards New Orleans 427 / Carolina 246
First downs New Orleans 25 / Carolina 15
Total plays New Orleans 74 / Carolina 50
Time of possession New Orleans 34:79 / Carolina 25:41
Turnovers New Orleans 0 / Carolina 1

And Carolina won the game....

 

[TwentyOne]

Total yards 378 Cowboys / 311 Falcons
Total passing yards 241 Coboys / 211 Falcons
Total rushing yards 137 Cowboys / 100 falcons
First downs Cowboys 23 / Falcons 18
Total plays Cowboys 74 / Falcons 56
Time of possession Cowboys 30:40 / Falcons 29:20

NO turnovers by the Cowboys and one fumble by Atlanta.

I generally try to keep up with the game here because it's faster time than the scores I find on my phone.

Generally, all everyone does here doesn't say nice things about the game on the Cowboys side if the game is close or the opponent takes the lead, so I take everything with a grain of salt when I read it here.

Given the stats and not watching the game, how did the Cowboys blow it?

I kind of gave up late in the last quarter with like 5 minutes to go, then all of a sudden see the Cowboys were still in the game and thought they might have actually pulled it off.

We had 4 turnovers on downs, including one fake punt try.
One was very early in the game when the score still was ok. 4 point differential. That was just a bad call.

Dak had no turnovers but he was very close at throwing an INT at 3 (maybe 4?!) times. He had a horrible game.

The running game worked ok. Dowdle played a good game (for his talent level). But you could see it was nothing that really threatened the Falcons.
Our passing game was bad. Dinking and dunking. Not even one playcall that was supposed to go deep. It was a lousy gameplan against a falcons secondary we could have taken advantage of.

Our OL play was bad. Especially in pass protection. We made the Falcons looks like a good passrushing team when they are everything but not that.

We looked like a bad team. We made the game close in the first half but it really felt more like we were lucky or the Falcons didnt really toook it too seriously.
In the second half the game went out of reach. They were 2 scores ahead when Dak hurt his hammy. The late score that made the game close again does not show the difference between the two teams.

 

[JohnsKey19]

It's not about what you do, but when you do it. The game was there for the taking late in the 2nd quarter into the 3rd quarter and the Dallas offense laid a massive stink bomb. 3 failed possessions including a fake punt which led to a short field for Atlanta's TD drive. So instead of having at worst a 16-14 lead, you're down 21-10.

 

[JohnsKey19]

Cowboys couldn't convert on 3rd downs. Failed several times on 4th down.

Penalties in bad situations. Every time they get inside the 10 they have a stupid penalty.

Dak sucks.
The coaches suck.
The defense sucks.
Offensive line is horrendous.
Defensive line is even worse.

Probably don't have much of a chance to win another game until Thanksgiving against the Giants. If they played next week I would pick the giants

Everything you said is true. But I highlighted the reason why McCarthy should have been relieved of HC duties 2 seasons ago. Dont care about the 12 win seasons. The team has been one of if not THE most penalized team in the league since he took over.

 

[DizzyT]

The penalties and sacks are what kills any momentum this offense has.. Guyton has to hit the bench and ride it out with Steele if you want any chance at moving the ball and scoring.

 

[Cmac]

I didn't see the 2nd half......can someone tell me why we tried a fake punt?

 

[RodeoJake]

I

I didn't see the 2nd half......can someone tell me why we tried a fake punt?

I kinda get going for it to get some offensive momentum, but I would've left the offense on the field to try to draw the defense offsides. If that failed, then maybe some trickery. The way the Falcons defender jumped that pass, it looked like they expected it.