Sunday for the Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1) was nothing but deep embarrassment, like waving the white flag, as they suffered a humiliating 44-24 defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos (6-2) at Mile High, which immediately raised questions about the team’s playoff aspirations. This loss was Dallas’s eighth straight against Denver, tying their longest losing streak against any team in franchise history.
The entire debacle began with a horrific lack of discipline, especially when Bo Nix threw an inexplicable interception and handed the Cowboys the ball right near the end zone, at the half-yard line. But instead of capitalizing on this crucial turnover, a catastrophic false start pushed them from second-and-goal at the one to third-and-goal at the six, and they were forced to settle for just a field goal.
Skip Bayless’ Anger Over Cowboys’ Loss
Analyst Skip Bayless published a video on his YouTube “The Skip Bayless Show,” calling this situation “sh*tty” play calling:
“Schotty, you can’t be sh*tty,” Bayless said. “That’s who you are. You were. This was sh*tty play-calling. That’s what it was. Just change the O to I and you got it. Because who are you trying to impress? Is it just too easy to hand it to 33 for a touchdown? Is that too easy? I thought you were meat and potatoes like your dad. I thought this was going to be Marty Ball. Pound it and play defense kind of ball. What? What are you doing?”. [Timestamp – 5:07]
Coach Brian Schottenheimer also admitted that discipline was a very big issue; he stressed that in such a tough environment, you have to score touchdowns in the red zone.
“Because there’s big momentum gains that happen when you do that, so unfortunately, we did not do that,” Schottenheimer told the media in a post-game press conference. “I thought the guys fought, I thought they battled, but at the end of the day, we did not coach or play well enough today to beat a good football team.”
This colossal failure was not limited to offensive execution; Schottenheimer himself admitted that they did not own the line of scrimmage and that it started up front. He said,
“I think when you look at it, I’m not just going to start with the defense. I don’t think any of us coached or played well enough. We knew we’d have to come in and own the line of scrimmage. I think it started up front. You got to give Denver a lot of credit. I think they moved us around pretty good, had some big explosive runs, and that’s hard…”
Dallas’s Defense Was Handicapped By Injuries
The Broncos’ defense also kept complete pressure on Dallas’s offense, as a result of which Dak Prescott flushed out of the pocket a lot and was not really throwing the ball with his feet up under him. CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo praised this Broncos D-line, calling it complementary football, where the pass rush is so much that the defensive backs have to work with a time clock in their brains.
“The combination, it’s almost like complementary football, so the defensive backs understand there’s a time clock in their brains,” Romo said.
And when Dallas’s defense was handicapped by injuries – especially in the absence of Trevon Diggs (concussion protocol) and Donovan Wilson – Denver tore through for 157 rushing yards via RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins. Bo Nix threw four touchdowns, and Dallas did not get a single sack, because of which analyst Bayless went so far as to say, “In all my years, I have never seen a worse defense than the one the Cowboys put on the field today”.
Now the question is, why is this talented team so inconsistent? Coach Schottenheimer saw the answer in consistency; he said that this is the word that keeps coming back:
“Here’s the word, it’s coming back again, consistency,” he said. “We’re not very consistent, and we have to be more consistent”.
The team’s owner, Jerry Jones, also expressed being “not happy at all with three wins,” even though his team’s goal is very big. Now the Cowboys have to move forward; he said that good teams look in the mirror and that adversity is a good thing. After this massive beatdown, they will have to prepare for their next home game against the Arizona Cardinals, because if you don’t bounce back in this league, then it goes the other way.
The post “Schotty, You Can’t Be Sh***y”: Angry Skip Bayless Over Cowboys Loss appeared first on Last Word on Pro Football.