Although Dallas still has a high chance of making the playoffs, it didn’t look like the team fighting for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
ARLINGTON – Just 11 days ago, the Dallas Cowboys they were seen as one of the best teams in the NFL after their 40-point beating of the Atlanta Falcons. With his defeat 36-33 in overtime in front of Las Vegas Raiders the Thanksgiving Day, they have lost two games in five days and face serious doubts.
With a 7-4 record, the Cowboys they still have a 94 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to the “Football Power Index.” ESPN, but that was a team that looked like it might be in the contest for the No. 1 seed of the National Conference, not just for a playoff berth, winning the NFC East.
Wow, maybe that’s not much of a certainty anymore because of the way the Philadelphia Eagles are playing lately.
Yes, the Cowboys they did not have their two best receivers, CeeDee Lamb, who was unavailable due to a concussion suffered in Sunday’s 19-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and Amari Cooper, who is on the reserve / COVID-19 list, but the airstrike was hard to see for most of the game.
Dak Prescott finished with more than 300 passing yards and two touchdowns, but was assisted by a 51-yard pass to Cedrick Wilson in the second quarter and shipments of 41 and 31 yards to Michael Gallup in the fourth quarter to prepare scores. The Cowboys They didn’t move the ball consistently until they played fast in the fourth quarter.
In fact, they tied the game twice in the final three minutes to send the game into overtime, however, Prescott failed to ship to Noah Brown on a third-down pitch single and the Raiders they were able to push the defensive of Dallas to set up Daniel Carlson’s fifth field goal of the game.
Worse do not be confused by the 33 points. The Cowboys They are made to be successful because of their offense and this time it was not accurate.
If the air attack was off, the ground attack was worse. The Cowboys spent the week talking about getting the running game going, it seemed fine against a defense of Las Vegas they allowed 159 yards in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Ezekiel Elliott, who is dealing with a knee injury, finished with 25 yards and Tony Pollard had 36 yards.
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Carlos Nava looks at the Cowboys’ recent Thanksgiving Day loss to the Raiders.
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When the Cowboys come to December, the returns of Lamb and Cooper they will help, but they will need to find their offensive strength before it is too late.
Worrying trend: As much as the defense has exceeded expectations, they have allowed too many big plays and have started games too slow lately. In five of the last six games they have allowed points on first possession, including four touchdowns. The Raiders It took three plays for the first touchdown, with DeSean Jackson defeating Jourdan Lewis for a 56-yard touchdown. With the offensive of the Cowboys Looking spotty in three of the last four games, the defense can’t afford bad times.
Complicated day: Playing on the opposite side of NFL interceptions leader Trevon Diggs, Anthony Brown it has been mostly in the shadows. He was in the spotlight Thursday for the wrong reasons. He became the first player this season to be penalized three times for pass interference in the same match and was penalized again in overtime in a situation of third and 18, giving the Raiders the first attempt that set up the winning field goal. He is the only player of the Cowboys to be sanctioned with at least three defensive pass interference penalties in the same game in more than 20 years.
Brown He is now the third player of this century to be penalized for defensive pass interference four times in a single game: He joins Trayvon Mullen and Xavien Howard, who did it last season. As a team, Cowboys they finished with 14 penalties and 166 yards.
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