Lions 31, Cowboys 30
The NFC East is screaming to won by somebody -- anybody -- this season and so far, Dallas has looked like the best of the teams in NFL's most disappointing division. Unfortunately, the Cowboys blew a great chance to move to 5-3 when they blew a six-point lead against the Lions on Sunday with under one minute remaining.
The Giants have won two games in a row, unimpressively, to move to 2-6. The Eagles are 3-5 and have lost two games in a row, including two games ago at home, 17-3, to the Cowboys. The Redskins are 2-5 and took a 21-7 lead on the Broncos this past Sunday but lost, 45-21.
Dallas could have put some distance between it and the other teams in the division if it could have held on and beat the Lions but instead, the other teams are nipping at the Cowboys' heels. Despite having a plus-4 turnover margin against Detroit, the Cowboys could not close the deal, giving up 623 total yards, 488 through the air to Lions QB Matt Stafford. WR Calvin Johnson recorded 329 of those yards on his own on
14 catches with one touchdown. His 329 yards are the second most in the history of the NFL, with the Los Angeles Rams' Flipper Anderson coming in first with 336 he recorded during a 1989 game against the Saints. Sixteen teams in the NFL have not had 329 passing yards in a game this year, the Redskins and Chiefs haven't had one since 2010, and the Cardinals haven't tallied one since 2009. The Cowboys are now 44-2 all-time when recording a plus-4 turnover margin.
Another stat that blew me away is Dallas is the first team to give up four 400-yard passers in one season -- and we are just halfway through the 2013 campaign. So far, Monte Kiffin's defense gets a good grade for forcing turnovers, but an average to poor grade overall. Dallas has forced 19 turnovers this year in eight games -- three more than all of last year and just two behind league leader Seattle. As far as total yardage goes, Dallas is currently dead last in the NFL in defense, giving up 422.5 per game, 21 yards per game more than the Vikings and Eagles.
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| Lions WR Calvin Johnson |
Another stat that blew me away is Dallas is the first team to give up four 400-yard passers in one season -- and we are just halfway through the 2013 campaign. So far, Monte Kiffin's defense gets a good grade for forcing turnovers, but an average to poor grade overall. Dallas has forced 19 turnovers this year in eight games -- three more than all of last year and just two behind league leader Seattle. As far as total yardage goes, Dallas is currently dead last in the NFL in defense, giving up 422.5 per game, 21 yards per game more than the Vikings and Eagles.
The Cowboys have offensive problems as well. Analysts seem to think Dallas has a great offense. You will always hear them say the Cowboys can put up a lot of points. I think this is misleading. Dallas has had basically two good offensive games in the first half of the year -- at home vs. the Rams and at home vs. the Broncos. In week 1 vs. the Giants, Dallas scored 36 points, but that included two defensive touchdowns. In week 2, Dallas managed just 16 points vs. a good Kansas City defense. In week 4, the Cowboys scored just 14 offensive points against the Chargers (the other TD was a Sean Lee INT TD), a team that came into the game having one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL. In week 6 vs. the Redskins, Dallas scored 31 points, but one TD was a Dwayne Harris punt return, one was set up by him on the 15-yard line with a great kick return, and another was set up on the 3-yard line when the defense sacked Robert Griffin III and
he fumbled. In that game, though the Cowboys mostly dominated the scoreboard, the Redskins easily won the yardage battle, 433-213. The next week at the Eagles, the Dallas defense played well and the Philly offense was completely inept, a good thing considering the Cowboys managed just 17 points. Perhaps most frustrating sometimes for the Cowboys is they put up yards, but not a lot of points. Against the Eagles, they recorded 368 yards, a figure you would think would translate to more than 17 points.
And last week, Dallas just didn't score enough points. It had three touchdowns and three field goals. It needs to score more touchdowns, especially when it gets handed four turnovers by the defense. The Cowboys tallied just 268 total yards and couldn't move the ball when it mattered most. Sure, it would have been good for the Cowboys to get a first down with one minute remaining. It would have sealed the victory. But passing the ball there is risky and can stop the clock with an incompletion. So I don't necessarily disagree with Dallas' call to go conservative there and kick the field goal. Where the Cowboys could have been more aggressive was during the four-minute offense. Dallas got the ball back with 3:33 left on its own 19-yard line. I believe Dallas ran the ball three times and then punted. If the Cowboys could have gotten one or two first down on that drive, then down the line, that would have meant less time for the Lions. On Detroit's next drive, it went four-and-out. After that came Dallas' final drive that ended in a field goal and then the Lions' fateful final drive. Had Dallas got a first down on its four-minute drive, that defensive stand might have meant the end of the game. Instead, Detroit ended up having enough time for that one last drive.
Right now, the Cowboys remind me a bit of the Bears last year. The defense forces lots of turnovers and that helps the team win games (though Dallas is still not winning some of these games). In games where the defense doesn't create turnovers, the team is going to struggle to win. That is what happened to the Bears. After a strong start a year ago, they petered off down the stretch, finished 10-6 (after a 7-1 start, I think) and missed the playoffs. Head coach Lovie Smith was fired.
Dallas is still in first in the NFC East, but its lead could be bigger. The offense needs to start scoring more touchdowns and the defense needs to give up less yards. It might mean less turnovers, but maybe that's what it will take for the defense to tighten up as a whole. Hopefully, the return of safety Barry Church will help as well. He injured his hamstring late in the Detroit game and could not return for the Lions' last drive. Jakar Hamilton, who had been signed two days earlier and had never played an NFL snap, was put in on the final drive and we know how that ended.
Right now, the rest of the NFC East is struggling but the Cowboys need to find a way to step on the throats of teams. They lack a killer instinct. They need to win games down the stretch or one of the teams behind them in the division is going to catch fire and pass them.
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| Cowboys LB Sean Lee has four INTs this season |
And last week, Dallas just didn't score enough points. It had three touchdowns and three field goals. It needs to score more touchdowns, especially when it gets handed four turnovers by the defense. The Cowboys tallied just 268 total yards and couldn't move the ball when it mattered most. Sure, it would have been good for the Cowboys to get a first down with one minute remaining. It would have sealed the victory. But passing the ball there is risky and can stop the clock with an incompletion. So I don't necessarily disagree with Dallas' call to go conservative there and kick the field goal. Where the Cowboys could have been more aggressive was during the four-minute offense. Dallas got the ball back with 3:33 left on its own 19-yard line. I believe Dallas ran the ball three times and then punted. If the Cowboys could have gotten one or two first down on that drive, then down the line, that would have meant less time for the Lions. On Detroit's next drive, it went four-and-out. After that came Dallas' final drive that ended in a field goal and then the Lions' fateful final drive. Had Dallas got a first down on its four-minute drive, that defensive stand might have meant the end of the game. Instead, Detroit ended up having enough time for that one last drive.
Right now, the Cowboys remind me a bit of the Bears last year. The defense forces lots of turnovers and that helps the team win games (though Dallas is still not winning some of these games). In games where the defense doesn't create turnovers, the team is going to struggle to win. That is what happened to the Bears. After a strong start a year ago, they petered off down the stretch, finished 10-6 (after a 7-1 start, I think) and missed the playoffs. Head coach Lovie Smith was fired.
Dallas is still in first in the NFC East, but its lead could be bigger. The offense needs to start scoring more touchdowns and the defense needs to give up less yards. It might mean less turnovers, but maybe that's what it will take for the defense to tighten up as a whole. Hopefully, the return of safety Barry Church will help as well. He injured his hamstring late in the Detroit game and could not return for the Lions' last drive. Jakar Hamilton, who had been signed two days earlier and had never played an NFL snap, was put in on the final drive and we know how that ended.
Right now, the rest of the NFC East is struggling but the Cowboys need to find a way to step on the throats of teams. They lack a killer instinct. They need to win games down the stretch or one of the teams behind them in the division is going to catch fire and pass them.
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