Cowboys' clutch TD drive shouldn't distract us from the real story of the game
Last weekend, the sour taste of a Dallas Cowboys' slow start against the Indianapolis Colts quickly faded away after 33 fourth-quarter points secured the primetime win. This time around, let's not let the final score distract us from the real story of the game. The Cowboys trailed the then 1-10-1 Houston Texans by six points […]
Last weekend, the sour taste of a Dallas Cowboys' slow start against the Indianapolis Colts quickly faded away after 33 fourth-quarter points secured the primetime win. This time around, let's not let the final score distract us from the real story of the game.
The Cowboys trailed the then 1-10-1 Houston Texans by six points at the start of the fourth quarter. What got them there? Pick your poison.
A KaVontae Turpin fumble. Errant throws by quarterback Dak Prescott. Dropped passes including what would've been a touchdown by Dalton Schultz. Lack of pass rush against either of the two quarterbacks rotating in for the Texans. Shortcomings in the red zone.
A quick reminder: The Cowboys entered the game as 17-point favorites. They ranked second in DVOA while the Texans ranked dead last in the NFL. Simply put, for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, it's not what you want to see.
Perhaps no moment illustrated the feeling around the game better than midway through the fourth quarter when the FOX NFL broadcast showed a graphic that indicated star pass rusher Micah Parsons had just one pressure all game long.
At that point of the game, CeeDee Lamb had 23 receiving yards. Dak Prescott had completed less than 60% of his passes. That's to say, not even the stars were showing up.
The following drive resulted in back-to-back pressures given up by backup right tackle Josh Ball and an interception by Prescott.
But the Texans are the Texans, and failed to score despite taking over the at Cowboys' own four-yard line. The Cowboys decided to finally show up at that moment and do what winning teams do. Close games.
Clutch passes by Dak Prescott (and Jason Peters taking over at right tackle) and clutch catches by Noah Brown and Dalton Schultz topped off by an Ezekiel Elliott touchdown put six on the board and the Cowboys made things right with a 27-20 win.
But there's no "hooray" here.
The Cowboys shouldn't be happy about this performance as they try to figure out how to stop putting themselves in dangerous situations like they did today. This is a good, contending team we're talking about.
But they can't live in this world come playoff time. Time to fix it.
Featured image via Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
