Dallas Cowboys Lose Again in High Scoring Affair

“Cowboy Killer” Odell Beckham Jr. With Three Touchdowns

Early in the game the Cowboys were up 14-7 after quickly going down 7-0 to a Jarvis Landry-to-Odell Beckham trick play. Dak Prescott was electric, throwing for nearly 200 yards in just the first quarter. Prescott connected with CeeDee Lamb for a 43 yard score to tie the game at seven. Minutes later, Prescott threaded the needle between two defenders for a touchdown strike to Amari Cooper. Things looked up for the Cowboys and their 1-2 record.

Then everything went wrong.

On two consecutive offensive plays we fumble the ball and the Browns go and score a touchdown each time. First it was Prescott on a strip-sack by Myles Garrett. Then it was Ezekiel Elliott on a 24 yard run that Andrew Sendejo stopped. Absolutely heartbreaking. It was quickly 28-14. Then 31-14. Then 38-14. Then 41-14. The nightmare that every Dallas fan worried of was happening. We were losing to the Browns.

Dallas Sleeps Until the Fourth Quarter Again

Dallas didn’t score again until 12:24 was left in the fourth quarter. Tony Pollard ran up the middle for three yards. Dak connected with Elliott for a quick throw and conversion to make it 41-22. After a somewhat quick stop on defense, the Cowboys had the ball again with a little over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Seven plays and a minute and 50 seconds later Dalton Schultz fell into the endzone on a beautifully designed and executed play up the left seam. Prescott ran his patented quarterback draw for the two-point conversion to make it 41-30.

At this point, all I could think about was the Falcons game from a few weeks back. We were going to do it AGAIN.

Our defense shows up for the second time this quarter to force a punt after five plays and only 31 seconds taken off the clock. Dallas would start their drive at their own 20 yard line with six minutes to go and one timeout. After a methodical 11 play drive from Prescott, he finds Lamb in the back corner of the endzone with nearly 3 yards of cushion between him and the defender. Dallas goes for two with a handoff to Cooper around the left side and again they convert successfully. Its now 41-38 with 3:42 left in the fourth.

This is where the roller coaster that is the Cowboys made me sick. Greg Zuerlein goes for some sort of trick onside/squib kick hybrid that absolutely destroyed any chance of us winning or tying this game. He basically mishit the ball for 23 yards and set them up at the 50 yard line. One play later we nearly tackle Beckham for a huge loss on an end-around, just to let him weave through the offense and score a touchdown. Beckham finished with a 5-81-2 receiving line and 2-73-1 rushing line for his first three touchdown game in nearly five years.

The rest of the game was history. We realistically had no shot at this point to win the game. The Browns successfully converted their two point attempt making it 49-38. To save you the time, Dak got picked off on a play during the next drive where I wish receivers could get credited for interceptions thrown. Cooper was the target on a simple slant route, but he was not looking for the ball at all. Instead he was focused on the defender crashing down in front of him, which prevented him from locating the ball in time. Had he turned his head at the top of his route, that interception is likely not thrown.

Are the Cowboys an Underrated 1-3 Team?

Or are they just bad? There is no doubt that the offense is stellar when all the gears are working. The offensive line has had its issues but I think many fans are pleased to see that it hasn’t been so bad to the point where we can’t produce.

The number one problem right now is the defense, combined with our offensive turnovers. It’s horrendous. The secondary is full of holes that desperately need improvement one way or another. We also let up the most rushing yards this past weekend in Cowboys history. So with the secondary being the main culprit in my eyes, that should tell you a lot about the quality of this defense. After so many off-season additions that looked promising, this defense needs to improve drastically if the Cowboys want to start winning games.

Follow me on Twitter @FantasyVitamins for more Dallas Cowboys, DraftKings, and fantasy football content!

Follow @OTH_Football as well for any and all things sports!

Our brand new OTH Football podcast is now available on Spotify and Anchor!

Come discuss all this and more on our forums.