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Corn on the KolbI wish I could come here today and place all the blame on the kicker Dan Bailey or even Garrett. However, this was a collision, coming slow and easy.
If you watched the Cowboys muddy things up against Washington and Miami the last two weeks, you knew they were on a collision course with heartbreak.
It came in the perfect conditions: A feisty Cardinals team on the road. It was a recipe for disaster. Thing is, the Cowboys played like shit and almost won. Or, they played like shit against a bad team and lost in prime position to put the NFC East in a stranglehold.
They didn't, but it's still OK. The Giants, Falcons, Lions and Bears all lost. They still lead the former by a game and are effectively "tied" with the latter three in case of wild card action. By the way, the Bears have lost their starting quarterback and running back.
Who to blame?
Tony Romo
Unless he was told otherwise, I thought his demeanor and pace was awful in that final drive. He hit Kevin Ogletree with a 10-yard pass with 1:59 left in the game. Romo got the first down with 1:42 left in the game. First down, Arizona 46. The next play, an incompletion, came at 1:06 left. That's 36 seconds of nothingness. No loss. No gain. Just walking around, gyrating and pointing at the line of scrimmage, hiking his leg and yelling. Romo hit Dez Bryant with that huge 15-yard pass with :31 seconds left in the game. Still, two timeouts left. There are eight seconds left when Romo throws another incompletion. Romo didn't have a bad game, but you would have thought that he thought it was the third quarter when you observe his body language. He had zero urgency.
Jason Garrett
Yes, he iced his kicker. The play calling is more than suspect. He watched his team squander two minutes of the game with two timeouts.
Rob Ryan
There's a pattern here. The Cowboys defense can't throw the shutdown inning. It feels like the entire season the Cowboys defense will play well. Then it appears that when the offense scores, lanes open up and the defense can't hold the opponent. This is especially true of the last three weeks. When it matters the most, when you need a hold, they haven't come through. That overtime possession was TERRIBLE. Not unlike Romo, you will look at the numbers and assume the Cowboys defense was pretty good. It wasn't awful. It just wasn't good when you really needed it to be.
The Offense
It starts up front. The offensive line was terrible. Thus, Garrett quit running the ball (which makes zero sense, but it's sort of his MO at this point) and the Cowboys became incredibly unbalanced on offense. However, the offense has sucked for three weeks now and it's not always been the offensive line and they haven't been unbalanced. I have a theory, however.
The grades:
Quarterback -- D
Not good when it really mattered. Not turning the ball over is OK for bad quarterbacks. However, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethisberger, Andy Dalton and, apparently, Kevin Kolb win that game. Romo needs to prove it at some point. I don't care if he is better than Quincy Carter and Drew Henson.
Running Back -- C
If it was a good run, it was probably Felix Jones. However, they ran DeMarco Murray just 12 times and in a tied game or nursing a lead, that's entirely too few. I didn't think Murray was that awful. Big play: Romo lobbing it to an unaware Jones, who I 'm pretty sure is still looking for the ball. Jones has the worst football instincts in Cowboys history.
Wide Receiver -- B
I think the problem with the Cowboys offense is Dez Bryant. No, he's not a guy that is whining for the ball and I don't think Romo's forcing to him or anything. It's clear he runs bad routes and is seemingly only good when Romo's on the run. Still, they are not the reason the Cowboys lost: 17 catches, 214 yards.
Tight End -- B
Very active. Sweet catch by John "Monday, Monday" Phillips. Jason Witten still runs like he's playing on a peanut butter field.
Offensive Line -- F
Worst game in a long time. The Cardinals seemed very aggressive and athletic. Big false start on Montrae Holland. Lots of blitzes from the Cardinals. Cowboys seemed to get pushed off the ball a lot.
Defensive Line -- B
I thought one of the better games they've had. Three sacks and Beanie Wells was a relative non-factor. Noticed Jay Ratliff a lot.
Linebackers -- C+
Hit or miss. A couple of containment issues and you could probably argue the winning play landed at the feet of a linebacker. Sean Lee was terrific.
Secondary -- F
Zero plays made. Terence Newman was either getting beat jamming a guy on the line or playing 15 feet away. Frank Walker is good for at least two mistakes a game. Mike Jenkins is still one of the worst tacklers in the league.
Special Teams -- C
Mat McBriar was really good pinning the Cardinals in their own 20 four times. The Cardinals return game didn't do much. Per Dan Bailey, it appeared there was a bad snap on the first field goal. The second miss is inexcusable. I don't care if your own coach ices you.
Coaching -- F
Terrible. It appears they have made zero adjustments the last three weeks and are willing to let it ride until the Giants roll into town. The team's been in a funk for three weeks and it's not gotten better. For the record, literally, the Cowboys are 0-1 in December this season.
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