Grading the Cowboys and five thoughts: This Dallas team appears to have its identity, and there’s nothing good about it

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ARLINGTON -- You can discuss the two turnovers by the Cowboys' biggest stars, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, but there’s no excuse for the defense and how poorly it played against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

You can also blame defensive coordinator Mike Nolan for the scheme and the players for the lack of execution.

In reality, this mess of a game, a 49-38 victory by the Browns over the Cowboys, resides on the head coach Mike McCarthy. Yes, the Cowboys rallied with 24 fourth-quarter points to make the game close. However, the Cowboys are an onside kick recovery from being 0-4.

Think about that as you spit out your nachos. Here are five thoughts from the game:

So, have we been here before?​

The last time the Cowboys started 1-3 was the 2010 season. Wade Phillips was the head coach, and he was fired after a 1-7 start and replaced by Jason Garrett. The Cowboys finished 8-8 and the rest, as they say, is history. We guess. The Cowboys never got further than the divisional round of the NFC playoffs and Garrett was eventually let go in favor of the man who is now 1-3. McCarthy’s been here before. In his first season with the Packers in 2006, Green Bay started 1-3 before turning things around to finish -- hold on -- 8-8.


Run defense is trash​

With seven minutes and 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Browns had 208 rushing yards. That’s right, 208 yards. When the game ended, the Browns had 307 total rushing yards, the most allowed this season by the Cowboys. Nick Chubb finished with just 43 yards before a knee injury knocked him out in the second quarter. No problem. Kareem Hunt finished with 71 rushing yards, some dude named D’Ernest Johnson came in and gained 95 rushing yards and let’s not forget Odell Beckham Jr., who picked up 50 yards on an end-around late in the game. It was an embarrassing performance by the Cowboys' run defense. Midway through the fourth quarter, some of the Browns' fans started barking as if the game were in Cleveland.

Turnovers lead to 14 points​

Turnovers are detrimental to an NFL team. The Cowboys had two, costing them 14 points. Myles Garrett beat right tackle Terence Steele for a strip sack with 11:15 to play in the second quarter and the score tied. It was Prescott’s third lost fumble of the season, but can you really blame him for this one? The Cowboys allowed Garrett to face Steele one-on-one numerous times in the first half before his benching. After the strip sack, the Browns scored to take a 21-14 lead. On the next possession, Elliott had a long run of 24 yards end in a fumble. Elliott was being tackled and as he sat on the helmet of a Browns defender, safety Andrew Sendejo stripped him of the ball. The Browns recovered and promptly scored to push the lead to 28-14. So, two offensive plays lead to 14 quick points by the opponent in the first half.

Offensive line issues​

Tyron Smith returned to start at left tackle after missing the previous two games with a neck stinger. Too bad La’el Collins couldn’t play at right tackle. With Collins out for the season due to hip surgery scheduled for Wednesday, the Cowboys asked undrafted rookie Steele to protect Prescott from Garrett. He had problems, so many that Brandon Knight took over at right tackle. The Cowboys also lost starting center Joe Looney to a knee injury on the first offensive play of the game. Rookie Tyler Biadasz became the starting center as Looney didn’t return. So as the Cowboys move forward in their season, the right tackle spot is uncertain unless you believe in Knight, and the center spot may have a rookie starting next week against the New York Giants.


Another late charge​

The Cowboys made another late charge in a game where they trailed 41-14 at the end of the third quarter. At some point, all these stats the Cowboys are obtaining will mean nothing if losses keep mounting. The Cowboys need to not only start games strong, something they did Sunday, but sustain it for a full 60 minutes.
 
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Here are Jean-Jacques Taylor’s grades from the Cowboys' 49-38 loss to the Cleveland Browns at AT&T Stadium on Sunday...

Run offense​

Ezekiel Elliott’s longest run of the season, a nifty 24-yard run on a sweep around right end, resulted in disaster when he fumbled. It was his second lost fumble in three weeks and Cleveland turned that mistake into a touchdown and a 14-point lead. Elliott finished with 12 carries, the second-lowest total of his career, but can only blame himself.

GRADE: F


Pass offense​

So Dak Prescott becomes the first player in NFL history with three consecutive games of 450-plus yards passing, but it doesn’t matter when you lose. Prescott passed for 502 yards -- the first 500-yard game of his career -- with four touchdown passes, but he threw an interception with 1:36 left that ended any hope of another miraculous comeback. Amari Cooper finished with 12 catches and 134 yards.

GRADE: C

Run defense​

The Cowboys allowed 307 yards rushing -- the most ever in franchise history. How embarrassing? Some dude named D’Ernest Johnson rushed for 95 yards and Cleveland punished the Cowboys and dominated the line of scrimmage. They pushed the Cowboys around, averaging 7.7 yards on 40 carries.

Nick Chubb probably would’ve rushed for 150 yards if he hadn’t hurt his knee. Chubb finished with 43 yards on six carries. Odell Beckham Jr.'s 50-yard touchdown on a reverse clinched the win.

GRADE: F

Pass defense​


Beckham scored touchdowns on catches of 37 and four yards as the Browns turned a close game into a 27-point fourth-quarter lead. He repeatedly burned cornerback Daryl Worley and Jarvis Landry made several third-down catches to sustain drives. As usual, the Cowboys didn’t intercept a pass and they rarely pressured Baker Mayfield.

GRADE: F

Coaching​


Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore and Mike Nolan each had awful games. McCarthy and Moore were awful because they insisted on letting Terence Steele try to block Myles Garrett one-on-one. Even one snap was too many. Garrett had two sacks, including the strip sack that helped the Browns take the game over. They eventually replaced Steele with Brandon Knight, but it was too late. Nolan kept Daryl Worley one-on-one against Beckham, a dude he has no chance of covering. Nolan has no answers on defense. The decision to attempt an onside kick down 41-38 with more than three minutes left was dumb.

GRADE: F

Overall​

This team is literally a miracle onside kick recovery away from being 0-4. Its defense can’t stop the run or pass and two of its star players -- Prescott and Elliott -- were involved in the two turnovers that turned the game into a rout. At this point, this appears to be their identity: A sloppy team that turns the ball over, plays poor defense and doesn’t get much help from its coaching staff. McCarthy has done virtually nothing to impress.

GRADE: F
 
dbair1967

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McCarthy is really going to regret some of his coaching hires I think.
 
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I would give the offense an A-/B+. Think our WR corp is exceptional and counters lack of run game because I don't think our OL can run block. Can't be too hard on them because they are our only chance.
 
dbair1967

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charleshaleyfan said:
I would give the offense an A-/B+. Think our WR corp is exceptional and counters lack of run game because I don't think our OL can run block. Can't be too hard on them because they are our only chance.
Keep reading...
Need to cut out the damn turnovers, but otherwise I agree with you
 
Doomsday

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dbair1967 said:
The run blocking has basically been shit though.
Keep reading...
We are able to mash 'em in short yardage plays. We push them back consistently in those situations. The actual reason the run game isn't effective is because still, we are primarily running up the gut into 9 and 10 man boxes on 1st and 10. We don't know how to levarage the legitimate fear DCs have of Zeke. We don't scout ourselves in anything like an objective manner. It seems we just pay lip service to running the ball, doing it only early and mostly only in bad situations for it, then shrugging our shoulders and saying, "See? We try to run the ball. We wind up two scores down. We gotta pass to win."
 
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