By Jamal Baker
NDG Contributing Writer
Another year, another loss to Denver. The Dallas Cowboys fell 44–24 to the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday—their eighth straight defeat in the series since 1995.
In a highly anticipated matchup between the Cowboys’ high-powered offense and Denver’s formidable defense, the Dallas offense appeared to be overmatched during their porous and sloppy showing.
The Cowboys played undisciplined and were not fundamentally sound throughout the game—totaling nine accepted penalties, including three pre-snap penalties in the first eight minutes.
“It starts with us looking at ourselves,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday. “Why it happens, No. 1. The first one you’re down there in the red zone, it’s loud. Low red zone. We’re bringing the guy in motion and Guyton is amped up and wanting to go so he flinches. It shouldn’t happen. Tyler knows that. He knew that before anybody else. You look at the crowd noise and the environment, maybe we had a little bit too many shifts and motions. That’s who we are. We do it all the time. We do it out here with crowd noise all the time. I just think it’s settling in.
“The guys were probably pressing a little bit. They wanted to get the ball in the end zone. At the end of the day, it can’t happen. And we have to fix it. We’re the second-most penalized team in the league, if not the first, and that’s unacceptable.”
Star wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens had 14 catches and 152 yards, while tight end Jake Ferguson did not record a single reception.
Quarterback Dak Prescott struggled to find a rhythm—throwing for 188 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns.
“It’s all about preparation,” Lamb said of the offenses’ struggles Sunday. “We’ve got to come out and execute the things that we’ve always been able to do throughout the week. And for us, understanding that is 17 games. I kind of lose track of what week it is, but I do feel like it’s about time for us to start winning consecutively and putting streaks together.”
When the offense has a rough day at the office, the Cowboys basically have no chance at a victory.
Schottenheimer also must do a better job of knowing the identity of his team and personnel by being more aggressive on fourth and short situations.
Late in the third quarter, the Cowboys trailed 30-17 and had the ball close to midfield with a down and distance of 4th and 5. Instead of leaning on the team’s greatest strength—the offense—Schottenheimer deferred to the team’s greatest weakness by punting and putting the defense back on the field.
The Broncos, of course, walked right down the field and scored a touchdown to go up three scores, 37-17.
“When you look at it, I don’t think any of us coached or played well enough,” said Schottenheimer. “… We did not play well, we did not coach well. We didn’t coach very well. I wasn’t very good today. I don’t think [Matt Eberflus] thinks he was very good today. Klayton [Adams] doesn’t think he was very good today.
“We’ll look at it. And we’ve got an extra day this week to get ready for Arizona, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”
Dallas now sits at 3-4-1 on the year and will look to bounce back against the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium this Sunday.
