This loss is on two players

[tomokawan]

Bottom line: If your O sucks for over 2 quarters, they failed. The O lost the game.

LOL. Which side got us the lead and which side gave it away at the end???

 

[John813]

There were multiple players who had a hand in the loss

Clark with his face mask penalty on the last drive.
Hendershot dropping a td, Pollard playing like he's smaller than Turpin, the offense in general checking out for the middle 30 minutes. Etc

 

[Blast From The Past]

Luepke is not a ball handler. I bet he doesn't get 5 practice snaps during the week. MM got too cute.

Luepke has handled tons of balls in his football life. You don't forget how to tote the rock. You are right probably on his amount of snaps with carries in the week (s) leading up to the game. Player needed more time in the backfield with Dak and could have been accomplished in any of our blowout games if MM would have had his druthers.

 

[doomsday9084]

They didn’t lose because of Luepke, that was the opening drive. Now, Edoga should have had more help, get a TE or two next to him. There were far bigger issues than the early fumble.

IMO, beyond the extra 7 points, the complexion of the whole game changes in favor of Dallas if they go up 7-0.

There are probably several plays where you can go through the butterfly effect of the play but that one was huge. I can think of few bigger ones in the game.

 

[Hennessy_King]

It doesn’t work that way. Besides, how is that any different than a punt on the opening drive? Neither produced a score. Dallas took the lead….twice. It was not lost in the 1st quarter, blame quarters #2 and 3.

Of course it works that way. The fact it happens in the beginning, middle, or end it cost the team 7 points

 

[DeaconMoss]

I don’t feel like dissecting that play but doesn’t matter who is at fault. Pollard should have pushed in before that.

Agreed

 

[Ozone22]

They win as a team. They lose as a team. They had plenty of chances to put the fins away

 

[Tabascocat]

Of course it works that way. The fact it happens in the beginning, middle, or end it cost the team 7 points

You are 100% incorrect. You are saying that every play after the missed TD is the exact same call, action and result. You can’t simply add seven and call it a 27-22 victory. What if they did score the TD but Miami ran the kickoff back for a TD? Every play would have been different thereafter with varying results.

I do admit that it hurt and changed the tune of the game, Dallas might have even won. It’s the butterfly effect which has been mentioned. It did cost them seven points but it is asinine to blame the loss on that fumble, Dallas had plenty of chances to add to their lead if they played a competent 2nd and 3rd quarter.

 

[quickccc]

How does edoga consistently not know who to block?

that's a big mystery... seemed like he wasn't that bad when he actually engaged one on one vs pass

but he seemed clueless in who to block in certain sets.

Major costly mental mistakes.

 

[Robbieac]

I don’t feel like dissecting that play but doesn’t matter who is at fault. Pollard should have pushed in before that.

Are you saying that the guy on the play before who made it a first and goal at the 1 is more at fault than the next guy who fumbled at the 1?

 

[Tabascocat]

Are you saying that the guy on the play before who made it a first and goal at the 1 is more at fault than the next guy who fumbled at the 1?

I don’t blame either for the loss but if Pollard didn’t play soft there, the fumble never happens. To fault one but ignore the other is disingenuous.

 

[Starforever]

Luepke is not a ball handler. I bet he doesn't get 5 practice snaps during the week. MM got too cute.

Edoga is a backup. If Dak wasn't making a quarter of the team's salary cap, maybe we could have afforded to shore up the backup positions on the OL.

Be thankful it wasn't Chaz Green out there.

Other teams make due with high salaried players. Dallas is just a bad run organization.

 

[Robbieac]

I don’t blame either for the loss but if Pollard didn’t play soft there, the fumble never happens. To fault one but ignore the other is disingenuous.

I don’t think anyone is giving Pollard a pass or ignoring it. He definitely should have tried harder.

But Pollard’s weak play gave us 4 new downs at the 1 yard line, while Luepke’s bad play gave 7 points away and totally changed the trajectory and outcome of the game.

Apples and oranges.

 

[Pass2Run]

While we're at it, let's also place blame on Trevon Diggs. He should have never gotten injured.

 

[Tabascocat]

I don’t think anyone is giving Pollard a pass or ignoring it. He definitely should have tried harder.

But Pollard’s weak play gave us 4 new downs at the 1 yard line, while Luepke’s bad play gave 7 points away and totally changed the trajectory and outcome of the game.

Apples and oranges.

It did change the trajectory but not necessarily guaranteeing a Dallas win. Lets say Dallas does get that TD and go up 7-0. Miami may or may not have gotten the FG to make it 7-3. They might have even got a TD instead knowing they are already down 7 calling different plays or maybe they don’t get a FG attempt at all.

Also, that TD strike to Lamb might not have happened either due to Miami maybe playing a different defensive look seeing that they were losing instead of ahead. The score at the end of the 1st qtr might have still been 7-3 instead of the projected 14-3.

The butterfly effect. My whole point is that you can’t pin the loss on a fumble in the opening drive because a whole different set of circumstances would have happened after.

 

[fansince68]

Also, championship teams defer. Control the controllable.

I hate NOT deferring. We don't have that kind of swagger to do that.

 

[kskboys]

LOL. Which side got us the lead and which side gave it away at the end???

The D got us the lead by stopping them for 2 full qtrs while the O sputtered. I mean, you did watch the game, right?

 

[tomokawan]

The D got us the lead by stopping them for 2 full qtrs while the O sputtered. I mean, you did watch the game, right?

How many 3 and outs did the defense have??. The defense never scored a point or got a turnover. You are clueless if you say the defense did not lose the game in the end. Good defenses make that stop in the end. And that pathetic end of the first half performance where they just let Tua just March down the field was terrible. Tua did not have much pressure all game. Tua was off target on alot of throws to wide open recievers. I knew that defense was not gonna get an end of the game stop because they rarely if ever do. You watched the game, right??

 

[blueblood70]

Luekpe before this game had 3 carry’s all season. One was a TD from the 4 yard line. You have a Offense with red zone problems and a guy that is 230 pounds and can run short yardage and barely use him..

Yes but at least we saw an offensive game plan that included him and I believe they should start doing that going forward every game from here on out I'm not going away from hunter just because of that botched handoff even if it was his fault just keep having that type of a offense creativity to create the run game especially in short yardage and goal line that's what we need more of and I hope that at least McCarthy sees that and we go to that he had a really good fullback in Green Bay I can't remember his name but it was a weird name as well he used him quite often and I'd like to see that again

wasn't it koonce or something weird like that..?

If we get anything from this game is we realize we could have won this game with one defensive stop or not have this fumble happen but that game plan in the first half I really like the way he used the all the running backs and the fullback and then we need to see this every game now no hiding things no saving it for the playoffs let's start devising a playoff offense... We need to own more time of possession because this defense gives up too many long drives it gives up too many field goals I don't care that they're not giving up touchdowns in a game like that they still are being easily moved down the field between the 20s this looks like rod marinelli's defense and we're gonna need to protect it we have to find a run game on offense to keep the defense fresh and off the field and that sucks because I thought we finally found a defense that was ready for the playoffs and they are not the defense has been the biggest problem this year in the losses they can't make the critical stops when it really necessary...

 

[Gorgon]

Sure, there are a ton of reasons that contributed to the loss. But, without the fumble by a slow, below average rookie, and without the ineptness of a waste of a roster spot LT, we probably win this game!
Both Luepke and Edoga would not earn a practice squad spot on most teams. We must do better at those positions!! They should both be fired the day after Christmas.

Very Disappointed in both Luepke and Vaughn who when drafted looked to be solid additions.