Another game another bad loss at home. Totally expected or it should have been. I hate losing even when I know they are going to lose. I console myself with the thought of a top 10 draft pick next April but 50% of my subconscious brain tells me Jerry will do something stupid with that pick, like take Shedeur Sanders. Yet, I hope for something better.
The 2024 Cowboys are a really bad football team and getting worse. For 3 quarters last night, the banged up defense gave a good effort. The truth is, they are not very good as a unit, and missing DLaw, Sam Williams, Bland, and Lewis is too much to make up for.
Sun Tzu said, "The battle is won before it is fought." He was referring to preparation, training, planning. In football, that begins in the offseason. The Cowboys lost this game last March and April. They lost all 7 games last March and April. Sun Tzu also said, "when the soldiers fail to follow orders it is the fault of the generals." In this case, Jerry is the only general.
I think McCarthy has given up. Maybe not consciously, but his game decisions indicate he is desperate and feeling like if he doesn't do some crazy things like fake a punt inside his own 40 yard line in the 1st quarter down 7-0 the Cowboys will have no chance to win. Maybe he is right. But moves like that are for losers. He is not acting like a winning coach. It is not McCarthy's fault. He is a capable coach with an incapable team. But we all know that play calling like that is what losing teams do. Teams that know there are still 3 quarters to play and they will score points at some point, do not take huge risks in situations like that. It was 4th and 9 from their own 33! Maybe on a 4th and 3 that's a better risk. But 4th and 9? Thomas caught the ball and was still a few yards short of the first down.
The injuries hurt. They have to. They say don't use injuries as an excuse. When you lose your best players to injury it has to hurt. losing Dak hurt. Losing Cooks hurt. Losing Ferguson hurt. By the time the game ended 3 of the Cowboys starting 5 left the game injured. But not as much as losing all those players to free agency in the off-season and not replacing them.
Another truth. Rush is not as good as Dak and those who said otherwise could not be more wrong. I could say something stronger there but I won't. Dak is a very good QB. Not the best. Not top 5. Not worth $60 million per year. But he is much better than Rush or Lance and you have to be a strong Dak hater to suggest otherwise. At the same time, it is also true Dak was playing poorly when he got hurt.
The Cowboys RBs are not very good, but it is clearly the offensive line that is the problem in the running game. There is no blocking. There are no lanes to run through. Since 2016 the offensive line has totally collapsed.
I said before the season this team would win 6 games, maybe 7. I also said they would get blown out as much as they would win. 3 wins. Five blow-outs so far. At this point it is hard to imagine where 3 more wins come from, especially if Martin and Tyler Smith miss any significant time. If they finish 3-14 they will certainly have a top 5 draft pick.
