Post by Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on X
Dose of humility and perhaps reality for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday as the Buffalo Bills dismantled Dallas 31-10 in a game that wasn’t that close. Cowboys fall to 10-4 on a day that they clinch a playoff spot but see their winning streak stopped at 5 games. Dallas has played 14 games this season, and the margin of victory or defeat has been double digits in 11 of those 14 games. Mind boggling in a league that is built for parity.
Buffalo RB James Cook was sensational in this game, rushing 25 times for 179 yards and a TD as well as catching 2 passes for 42 yards and a score. Cook outgained the Cowboys by himself. It’s the most rushing yards a Bills RB has amassed in one game since Fred Jackson had 212 yards against the Colts in 2010. Cook is the first Bills RB to have receiving TD’s in consecutive games since Thurman Thomas in 1995. He also became the first Bills player with more than 200 yards from scrimmage, a rush TD, and a receiving TD in one game since Thomas did it in 1991. Incredible game and a fantastic performance by Buffalo’s offensive line. Why more teams don’t just line up and run right at the Cowboys, I’ll never understand. I’m sure some of it has to do with Dallas jumping out to leads and opponents getting impatient. I suppose the Cowboys miss DT Johnanthan Hankins, but for all the good that Dallas does defensively, the way to attack them is to run right at them. It’s a very fast but undersized group. Buffalo exploited that and I’m amazed more teams haven’t throughout the season.
Bills QB Josh Allen said he felt like the kid that didn’t do anything on the class project but got an A anyway, and that’s pretty accurate. It’s not that he played bad, going 7-15 for 94 yards and a TD as well as running 8 times for 24 yards and a score. I’m not sure he needed to throw a pass at all for Buffalo to win this game. The running game was that dominant on Sunday.
The Bills’ defense was stifling, holding Dak Prescott under 100 yards passing and the Cowboys without a TD until the final drive of the game. Prescott was sacked 3 times, hit 7 times, had 7 passes batted away, and threw a pick, narrowly missing several more. He’s had a fantastic season to this point, but I still worry a little about ball security when Dallas is behind and Prescott knows that he needs to bring the team back. Just feels like at times, when he presses, he gets careless with the ball. Credit Buffalo for that on Sunday because the Bills’ defense was all over the Cowboys’ receivers.
Tony Pollard had some success on the ground, running 11 times for 52 yards, but other than that, everyone’s numbers got inflated on a meaningless TD drive at the end. RG Zack Martin left the game in the first half with a quad injury and didn’t return. Dallas can’t afford to lose him and here’s hoping he was correct when he told Mike McCarthy that he’d be fine.
Cowboys didn’t help themselves with three terribly timed personal fouls, all of which led to Bills TD’s. On the first drive, Dallas got a stop on 3rd and 4 from the 6 yard line, but a DeMarcus Lawrence roughing the passer penalty gave Buffalo 1st and goal at the 3, and two plays later, Latavius Murray found the end zone. On the Bills’ third drive, Sam Williams was called for roughing the punter, and six plays later, Allen found Cook for an 18 yard TD pass, giving Buffalo a 14-0 lead. On the Bills’ next drive, Jayron Kearse was called for unnecessary roughness, and instead of Buffalo facing 3rd and 19 at their own 38, the Bills had 1st and 10 at the Cowboys’ 47. Seven plays later, Allen scored from one yard out, and the Bills led 21-3. Buffalo was dominant enough to win the game without those penalties, but Dallas continually shot themselves in the foot on Sunday, and they’re nowhere near good enough to overcome those mistakes against a quality team. Bemoaning a lack of discipline with penalties really gets old.
Doesn’t get any easier this week for the Cowboys as they go to Miami to meet the Dolphins at 3:25 on Sunday. QB Tua Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passing yards. WR Tyreek Hill leads the league in receiving yards despite sitting out last week’s game against the Jets with a left ankle injury. RB Raheem Mostert is third in the NFL in rushing yards and leads the league with 18 rushing TD’s. As a team, the Fish lead the league in total offense, pass offense, scoring offense, and are 4th in rush offense. They’re a handful. Defensively, they’re better than you think, ranking 5th in total defense, 10th against the pass, 4th against the run, and 14th in scoring defense. I’ll be interested to see how Miami approaches this game offensively. Even though they’re fantastic throwing the ball and can hit a big play at any time, throwing the football, especially with deep QB drops, plays to the Cowboys’ strengths defensively. How healthy Hill will be is something to keep an eye on. I’d expect Dallas to bounce back offensively, but Miami has too much offense for the Cowboys to handle.
Dolphins 31 Cowboys 24