Post by Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on X
For the second time in 21 days, the Dallas Cowboys followed up a Monday night loss with a Sunday afternoon win as the Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers 30-14. Dallas is now 6-8 on the season, and still mathematically, if not realistically, alive for the playoffs. With 3 games to go, 1 Washington win or 1 Dallas loss will eliminate the Cowboys from the postseason. Dallas hosts Tampa Bay this Sunday night.
Even though the Cowboys are virtually eliminated from the playoffs, and they’re not good enough to do any damage should they get in, the last two weeks shows just how thin the margin can be in the NFL. Last Monday, with the score tied at 20 and less than 2:00 remaining against the Bengals, Dallas blocked a Cincinnati punt, but inexplicably, Amani Oruwariye tried to recover the ball instead of letting it roll dead. Had the Cowboys left the ball alone, they would have had excellent field position to attempt a game winning FG late in regulation. Instead, Oruwariye wasn’t able to corral the ball, the Bengals recovered, and 3 plays later, Ja’Marr Chase was in the end zone with the game winning score. We’ll never know what would’ve happened had Oruwariye not made that mistake. Maybe the Cowboys turn it over on the next play. Maybe they execute and win. No way to know for sure.
Let’s say Dallas kicks a FG and wins the game. Now, let’s say New Orleans converts a 2 point conversion on the final play of their game against Washington this week. All of a sudden, the Cowboys would be 1 game out of the final Wild Card spot. I say all that not to pretend that the Cowboys are better than they are. You are what your record says you are; they’re 6-8 and will be underdogs in at least 2 of their final 3 games, probably all 3. Good teams find a way to make the key play and avoid the key mistake, and Dallas hasn’t done that enough this season. Several times this year, the Cowboys haven’t even been competitive. Sure, injuries to a lot of key players haven’t helped, but every team has injuries. The good ones overcome or at least hold steady until they get healthy. Despite winning 3 of their last 4 games, Dallas simply dug themselves too big of a hole this season.
The most encouraging thing to see this year has been Rico Dowdle’s production over the last 3 games. The 5 year veteran out of South Carolina had never had a 100 yard game in his career, but Dowdle has now had 3 straight such games and is 120 yards shy of a 1,000 yard season. Pretty impressive considering all the different combinations on the OL and missing his starting QB. I’m not suggesting he could be a superstar someday, but he’s shown that he’s capable of being a productive back in this league.
Lot of discussion about the Cowboys trading Micah Parsons in the offseason. The idea is that resigning Parsons to the deal he deserves will tie too much money into 3 players: Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Parsons. I understand that, but the problem is that Jimmy Johnson isn’t the one making the trade and collecting players and picks. Jerry Jones’ track record in selecting players is hit or miss, and giving Parsons up doesn’t guarantee that Dallas will get equal value in return. Every situation is different, but be very careful trading away All Pro, future Hall of Fame players entering their prime. Parsons wrecked the Carolina game with 2 sacks and constant pressure on Bryce Young. Cowboys had 6 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, and forced 4 turnovers in Sunday’s win. The Panthers aren’t any good, but it’s a different defense with Parsons on the field.
Buccaneers come to Arlington this Sunday night at 7:20 looking to maintain their one game lead over the Falcons in the NFC South. That’s important because Atlanta has the head to head sweep over Tampa Bay. Bucs have beaten the Lions and Eagles, and a few of their losses are against some of the better teams in the league, like the Chiefs and the Ravens. Tampa has won 4 in a row and Baker Mayfield has the 4th most passing yards in the NFL this season. The Buccaneers are 3rd in the league in total offense, 4th in passing, 5th in rushing, and 4th in scoring. Tampa is 11th in rush defense, but the rest of their defensive totals are in the bottom half of the league. Cowboys could know if they’ve been officially eliminated from playoff contention 4 hours before kickoff. Dallas has to continue to rush the ball as they have the last 3 games in order to keep the ball away from Mayfield, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and a rush offense averaging more than 5 yards a carry. Can’t afford any red zone turnovers either as that’s been a reoccurring problem for the Cowboys’ offense.
Buccaneers 31 Cowboys 24