The Dallas Cowboys win against the Atlanta Falcons, the first of the Mike McCarthy era, was one for the ages. The Falcons had a 20-0 advantage after one quarter of play. They also led by as many as 15 pts with only 5 minutes left in the game. Incredibly, the Dallas Cowboys did not have a lead the entire game until time had completely expired on the final play. The Dallas Cowboys win was so improbable, that according to ESPN Stats & Info, even when the Cowboys started their next to last possession with 2:57 left in the game the Falcons had a 99.9% win probability. Also according to ESPN Stats & Info, the Falcons became the first team to score 39 pts or more while committing zero turnovers and lose since 1933 when turnovers were first tracked. Prior to the Falcons making history, teams were 440-0 in that situation. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that Dallas Committed 3 fumbles and lost possession twice on botched fake punt attempts. In short, the Dallas Cowboys win against the Falcons was nothing short of a miracle.
By merit, the Dallas Cowboys did not deserve to win this game. They were outplayed badly and made several costly mistakes. Not only the turnovers, but penalties and blown coverages. The offense played well despite the absence of both starting left tackles but committed far too many errors. Even Dak Prescott, who was spectacular, made some poor throws down the stretch and had a costly fumble of his own. The defense was bad. Granted they were given some short fields to deal with early on but still they were not very good at all. They failed to generate any semblance of a pass rush, were victimized on some blown coverages, and Calvin Ridley was running circles around the secondary. Special teams came through in the end but the two fake punts left much to be desired. Execution was poor on the first one and the second one was ill advised. The Cowboys did little to accomplish any of their keys to victory. Despite all this, the Dallas Cowboys did enough in all three phases to win the game.
This Dallas Cowboys win did not happen without some help from the Falcons. An uncharacteristic drop by sure handed wideout Julio Jones combined with a mind boggling too many men in the huddle penalty on fourth down (thanks refs) kept points off the board late in the game. The Cowboys onside kick, while beautifully executed, could not have been possibly converted without the shell shocked Atlanta Falcons hands team hesitating to dive on the ball before it crossed the 10 yard barrier which allowed the Cowboys to recover the ball.
Mike McCarthy for his part deserves some credit for getting his first win with the Cowboys but there were some questionable calls on his part along the way. The fake punts were quite the gamble, both in Cowboys territory. The first one would have worked with a decent throw by punter Chris Jones but the second one was a head scratcher running straight up the middle against a loaded front. Many were critical of his decision to go for 2 pts down by 9 late but modern analytics deem that this was in fact the correct decision. I don’t understand advanced analytics entirely but I will not be accused of being out of touch with the times. As a result I don’t blame McCarthy at all for that. In fact I admire him for making informed decisions based on available information even if it seems counter intuitive. Then there was the decision to pump the brakes and run the ball twice at the end of the game before lining up for the game winning field goal. Greg Zuerlein came through with the clutch 46 yard game winning field goal but there was time to try to get the ball down the field and make it a chip shot. The main criticism thrown McCarthy’s way was how the team came out flat and made several undisciplined mistakes. Ball security was atrocious with 5 fumbles (3 recovered) in the first quarter. Penalties were the other issue but credit McCarthy and the rest of the coaching staff for the team being able to persevere and steal a victory.
That Dallas Cowboys win was huge in more ways the one. That win avoided a disastrous 0-2 start and put the Cowboys right in the thick of it for the early division race. Not only was it the first win of the season for the Cowboys but the first of the McCarthy era. It was a huge confidence builder for this team. It was a huge confidence builder for Dak Prescott in particular. Despite Dak’s many fourth quarter comebacks throughout his careeer, recent history has seen a trend of losing close games and coming up just short of completing the comeback. It was huge for him to get that monkey off of his back because football is such a psychological game and both winning and losing are contagious. This team just won a game they had no business winning, which is something good teams find a way to do. Going forward they will have the belief that no deficit is insurmountable. They will believe that no game is over until the final whistle blows and that they will always have a chance to win.
Yet, as big as that Dallas Cowboys win was, the very real issues need also to be addressed. The Dallas Cowboys defense has struggled this season. I truly believe that because this is a new defense it is still a work in progress. Eventually they will gel together and form a formidable unit. As of right now though, there are serious concerns with the lack of pass rush, the lack of interior pressure, the play of Jaylon Smith, and the at times awful play in the secondary. The safety position continues to be a weakness on this team and if Darian Thompson doesn’t improve his play, perhaps I may be more open to the Cowboys bringing in someone like Earl Thomas. The offense has been better but they have also struggled in part due to the offensive line play. They put up big numbers against a terrible Falcons secondary but they need to be better and more consistent going forward as they will face tougher competition. I am full of optimism because the Cowboys were thoroughly outplayed in both of their games but still had an opportunity to win both games. They couldn’t get it done against the Rams after a bogus offensive pass interference call against Michael Gallup but this week they pulled of the impossible. That is encouraging and I expect the team to improve going forward. However it is still more than a little concerning the fact that they did NOT play well in either game this season. Time will tell which direction this team will go but there is no rest for the wicked. Next week they will face a major test in a very good Seahawks team with arguably the best quarterback in the league Russell Wilson.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
