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Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket host Bob Sturm grades the Dallas Cowboys in their loss to the New York Giants on Sunday.
OFFENSE
D
For the second consecutive game, the Cowboys certainly lacked any sort of passing game rhythm or confidence to move the ball down the field. A busted coverage gave them their only touchdown, which was on a brilliant first quarter drive where they showed aggression and invention. But, for the final 3 Quarters, they possessed the ball 13 different times and totaled nine first downs and zero points. This, despite having a running game that was pretty effective all night. They finally paid for their third down issues of the last two weeks and turned the ball over three times.
DEFENSE
A-
If the Cowboys defense is going to go on the road against a reasonable offense in a division battle in December and take the ball away three times and sack the Quarterback two times and battle their tails off all night long while allowing only 260 yards and ten points, I am going to give them the highest grade available. I am now sure Sean Lee and his mates could have done more and held the Giants to zero, which is what would have had to happen to get the win. Overall, they fought hard and rallied to the ball and got stops continuously. I have no real issues with the defense.
COACHING
D+
I was disappointed in what appeared to be a departure from the coaches willingness to push the defenses around with aggressive tactics and instead seemed to help diminish their own rookie QB's playbook when he appeared to start shaky again. It is highly possible that they are coincidentally going into a shell with the rookie as the veteran QB stands by, but I would advise them not to run continuously on predictable first downs and end up in disadvantageous down and distances when your receivers are not winning enough versus aggressive defensive backs. This offense was successful because of balance and design. They had limited balance and design here, which made their performance problems worse.
OVERALL
C
There are much bigger problems in the NFL than a 11-1 team dropping a game they could afford to drop in a very difficult situation against a desperate, divisional opponent. If you attach it to the headaches in Minnesota, you can understand that people are stressing because their team has shown some vulnerabilities for the first time this season. But, this is the league they play in, where victories are supposed to be difficult and winning the 1-seed without resistance is not normal. Everyone should consider a deep breath and understand this was a very competitive December battle with two excellent teams that don't care for each other. Relax. In other words, this is the type of game that waits in January, but in Dallas if they finish the job.
