Sturm Morning After

GShock

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
6,384
Perhaps, as we sort through a gutting end to an unexpected amazing Cowboys season, we should start with the most simple truth that there is: At this time of year, with one game to decide your fate, there are details everywhere that make a small difference. And that small difference is the margin between winning and losing. Inches. Mere inches. It is said it is a game of inches, because for decades, these post-season battles in which both teams feel like they earned that victory have ended in similar fashion.

One team survives. They make one more play. They use those last precious moments to figure out one more score. And then they celebrate with the entire pot in the middle of the table.
The other team falls to the ground. They fought their tails off. They were sure they earned a better fate. They are simply gutted with the verdict that claims they were 2nd best, because they know they were the better team.

Every franchise that is ever successful knows that in order to win a few trophies, you have to have your heart broken countless times. It is just the way it is in a sport where 12 teams get to go to the post-season - where the other 20 teams would trade anything to go - but by the end of the month, 11 of them have had their successful season converted into tears and misery yet again.
These are the stakes at the biggest table. The perennial losers never risk their hearts because they are already a few weeks into their offseason, no doubt on a beach somewhere hot. But, the winning teams slug it out for our entertainment, waging unforgettable classics with the twists and turns that will be imprinted on our minds for decades to come.

Fair? Don't be silly. There is nothing fair about playoff football. Two teams who have both had seasons to be proud of meet on a field where only one will leave happy. The game of inches will be decided by just a few. And on this occasion, the inches did not favor the Dallas Cowboys.
I assume we will talk about this game, a 34-31 loss to the Green Bay Packers, for a long, long time. The Cowboys as the #1 seed were rested and ready to deal with the prospect of winning 2 home games on their way to a Texas Super Bowl in a season where it appeared the NFC was without another season-long heavyweight. The usual suspects had either missed altogether or had sustained enough attrition that 2016 was not their year, while there was unanimous agreement that the Cowboys had never been healthier or in better form.

But, Green Bay had come in as the hot team in the NFC, having won seven in a row on the trot. One thing agreed upon all week long was the importance of a fast start to keep Aaron Rodgers from dictating the feel of the game and putting the Cowboys behind. This could affect everything from nerves to play-calling and it was vital to get off to a fast start. The opportunity would be virtually assured because the Packers insist on deferring the snap.

The start was not particularly fast. The Cowboys moved the ball all day long on a per-play basis were never really slowed down. The Green Bay defense gives up yards every week and are simply playing the gamble that at some point of a 12-play drive, you will allow them a big play or accommodate them with a self-inflicted error. The game offered both.

1st drive, on 3rd and 2, the Cowboys are already in range and they try to push the ball down the field to Dez Bryant. It is a statement of intent, but it comes with the consequence of settling for a field goal if it doesn't connect. It doesn't. And in a game like this, a field goal is not necessarily a successful drive.

The Packers slice right down the field and get their touchdown.

2nd drive, the Cowboys easily move the ball back into Packers territory, before they are handed a penalty that I will confess is one I never see enforced. The nature of the rule that stopped a drive and made Brice Butler the target for many's rage is not to preserve the integrity of the huddle, but rather to not allow a team to try to deceive their opponent with substitutions. Once you run players on to the field - in this case 11 personnel, you cannot circle back off right before the play. You run on, the defense gets a chance to match your substitutes, and then the play happens. When Butler ran on, circled, and ran off putting the Cowboys back into 21 personnel, the officials threw the rare flag. It certainly appeared to be a strict interpretation of the rule, but one where the Cowboys might call timeout if they had it over again. Regardless, they punt and get nothing.

The Packers again go 90 yards down the field and get another touchdown.

3rd drive, the Cowboys featured a rare drop by Terrance Williams, which almost became a turnover. On 3rd down, Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers were able to affect the throw, and Dallas suffered the only drive all day in which they went 3-and-out. In fact, on every other drive, the Cowboys moved the chains no fewer than twice.

The Packers again go 80 yards right down the field and get yet another touchdown.

21-3.

In a game where you simply could not afford a slow start, with 7:37 to go in the half, Green Bay has gone touchdown-touchdown-touchdown and puts the lead at 18 points. This season, teams down 18 points had a 2-89 record. You could argue the hole was just too deep already.

But, that is where a Cowboys fan can be very proud today. For this team, which prided it self on "Fight" and a resolve that was unshakable all year, fought its tail off.

The rookie tandem of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, in particular, whom this season seems all about, accounted for themselves brilliantly for most of the afternoon.

Prescott made countless plays, under duress and in tight spots, as he tried to help the team dig out of the hole. He wasn't perfect and he has a few throws he would like back, but once he found his rhythm the Cowboys offense again looked like the machine it has been since September. In their final 6 drives, they scored 5 times with 3 touchdowns and 2 field goals. Unfortunately, his interception to Micah Hyde, on what appeared to be well-scouted defensive play, took points off the board and in a game like this, arguably helped decide the outcome.

Elliott was very impressive all day long. The narrative will certainly revolve around not using him enough, but from this view, that is more a byproduct of being down 18 points early in the game. We all know that running the ball is best done to deliver knock out punches. They lost most of that with the deficit. In fact, you could argue that it is actually a bit of a marvel they got their RB 23 touches in a game that was quickly in peril.

As both of those young stars look to their 2nd years, I would feel great confidence in more of the same. That duo was a great portion of dominant offense this season and its theme - repeatable and sustainable - in the way they went about their business. A team that was capable of magic tricks beat them, but when you talk probabilities and the ability to win 7 or 8 out of 10 meetings, you have to trust the physical bulldozing capabilities of what Dallas is doing over a QB making miraculous moments happen. History favors the Cowboys build.

But, nobody wants to hear about 2017 or 2019 right now. They want to talk about this game and how it got away.

Green Bay had the ball after the Cowboys furious comeback at 28-28. There was 4:08 to go and it appeared the game was now about whether Rodgers could get one more touchdown. Anything less would put a Green Bay defense back on the field that had nothing left against a Dallas offense that was rolling downhill.

They had to settle for less when DeMarcus Lawrence destroyed a Ty Montgomery running play to the left for a massive loss of 5 and out of supposed field goal range. One incompletion later and Green Bay faced a 4th and 12 from the 37 yard line. Mason Crosby is a fine kicker, but over 50 with the game on the line has not been his specialty. Crosby had been 0-4 all-time in kicks over 50 to tie or take a lead in a 4th Quarter.

56-yard Field Goal started right and barely got through. 31-28, Green Bay.

But, the Cowboys now had 1:33 to go back down the field and win. Again, Green Bay had been allowing drive after drive since Dallas got in rhythm.

Prescott knew the game was one drive from the win column. He needed 75 yards and got 35 yards on the first 2 snaps. 24 to Williams, 11 to Witten. 1st down now with 0:48 to go.

The spike here is under plenty of critique today. I understand the view that it was not needed. But, I also see the idea - rookie QB, lots happening, let's recollect our thoughts here with half of the task completed. Remember, the Cowboys were not playing for the tie. They thought at that moment they were going to score a touchdown. They were going to finish the fight right there. So, they spiked 1st down.

7 yards to Beasley on 2nd down. 3rd and 3 from the 33. 4-man rush from Green Bay and with Peppers and Matthews working the backside with a stunt, Nick Perry is in the throwing lane on a slant to Dez Bryant that has worked all day. Again, Green Bay concedes yards looking for a play or a stop. They got the stop when Matthews hit Prescott as Perry batted down the ball with his club. Incomplete pass, clock stopped. And Dan Bailey has to settle for a game-tying field goal from range.

31-31 with 0:35 to go.

You know what happens next. A series of moments. A 17-yard screen play where Green Bay catches Dallas in a big blitz. A Jeff Heath sack that was the play of the game in terms of Rodgers holding on to a ball that was in 1-hand as he is blindsided. Again, probabilities suggest most QBs fumble right there and the game is lost.

And then, on 3rd and 20, with :12 left from their own 32, Rodgers makes magic happen again. I would love to see the All-22 this morning, but I will have to wait. I assume the Cowboys feared a Hail Mary and dropped too many defenders deep beyond the field goal range distance. A 3-man rush was not enough to apply pressure and it sure looks like there could have been a holding call on TJ Lang against David Irving. Regardless, the throw was something seldom witnessed and the catch by Tight End Jared Cook right in front of the horrified Cowboys bench stunned everyone.

He got in, but how? How did Byron Jones not seal that off? How did the throw get there from a QB running to his left? How?

This is the type of play that the playoffs produce. 2 Heavyweights throwing punches for 3 hours and 1 play claims the entire game.

Crosby then hits a 51-yarder, making him now 2-6 in those situations. The only 2 kicks of his career of that magnitude happened 10 minutes apart.

Green Bay cannot believe their win. Dallas cannot believe their dream season disappeared on a 3rd and 20.

These are the playoffs. This is why we love and hate this sport.

I am confident Dallas will be back to this spot very soon. They have a few remaining weaknesses that will be addressed. This is now a young team with a bright future.

But, the present is going to sting for quite a bit. Any team that goes to the playoffs with regularity has a list of disasters to remember that surround the occasional trophy. It is part of the struggle. It hurts and leaves a mark, but it comes with the territory.

The problem with being a playoff team is the gutting losses that usually follow instead of parades. A real shame anyone had to lose that. The Cowboys lost an instant classic. And those young stars will remember that and get better for the next time.

And yes, I am confident there will be a next time.
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,465


Now he's 2-6. Wow.
It's sad, if he misses that 56 yarder, we probably march down the field and win the game. What are the odds the guy makes both of those. Hell he made a third one that was negated by a timeout as well.
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,462
We need defensive studs, plain and simple. Like we already have on offense. We are soft defensively.
 

Smitty

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
22,488
Yeah, we do, but keep in mind what Rodgers did to the Giants.
 

marsbennett

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2013
Messages
330
I don't need a fucking rehash or excuses. They lost that game. Flat out. And out coached too
 

shoop

Semi-contributing member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
4,459
If we hadn't clocked the friggin ball on 1st and 10 with :35 on the clock I believe we score again. Worst case scenario we tie it with time expiring.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
37,486
If we hadn't clocked the friggin ball on 1st and 10 with :35 on the clock I believe we score again. Worst case scenario we tie it with time expiring.
Totally agree, except there was like a minute left, which makes the decision even worse.

Just a baffling decision that I'm still struggling to believe actually happened.
 

Simpleton

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
17,418
Totally agree, except there was like a minute left, which makes the decision even worse.

Just a baffling decision that I'm still struggling to believe actually happened.
Classic case of Garrett overthinking things, which is the main reason I never wanted him calling plays after the first year or two, because he overthinks in critical situations, freezes up and does dumb shit.

His rationale was that they wanted to save the timeout in case they needed it with just a few seconds left for a FG attempt. Well, if we were on the 30 that'd make a bit more sense, but we aren't even in FG range yet at the 40, spiking the ball there and losing a down is idiotic.

It's also especially idiotic when the rationale is you supposedly want to go for the TD and want to save the timeout. If that's true, you need yards and plays, not time, so run the god damn play on first down and don't throw it away. Plus, the Packers D was on their heels, don't give them time to breath.

They were at the line with about :50 on the clock, let's say they get a play off with about :42 on the clock, play runs until about :37, if it's incomplete, you only lose 11 seconds with the reward of gaining yards. I'd rather take a chance at gaining 10 yards there and losing about 10 seconds, you have to trust Prescott there to not run a play that gains 3 yards and keeps the clock running.

The 2nd down play was perfect, if they have a similar play on 1st down it's 2nd and 3, maybe :37-:40 seconds on the clock. Much better situation than 2nd and 10, :48 on the clock from the god damned 40, not even in FG range.

And of course there's the fact that you want to leave Rodgers as little time as possible, even if you only tie the game, it seems that Garrett doesn't even take that into consideration. I know for a fact he didn't take it into consideration at the end of the 1st half when they passed three times in a row from the 15 and ended up leaving the Packers over a minute and 2 timeouts left.

They're damn lucky they didn't allow a FG there at the end of the half honestly.
 

data

Forbes #1
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
50,293
Silver lining is that, on our last offensive drive, Dak didn't throw an INT or bobble the snap. We'd have to endure another generation's worth of shit.

Very thin sliver of lining, but, shit, I got nothing else on a Tuesday morning.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
37,486
Classic case of Garrett overthinking things, which is the main reason I never wanted him calling plays after the first year or two, because he overthinks in critical situations, freezes up and does dumb shit.

His rationale was that they wanted to save the timeout in case they needed it with just a few seconds left for a FG attempt. Well, if we were on the 30 that'd make a bit more sense, but we aren't even in FG range yet at the 40, spiking the ball there and losing a down is idiotic.

It's also especially idiotic when the rationale is you supposedly want to go for the TD and want to save the timeout. If that's true, you need yards and plays, not time, so run the god damn play on first down and don't throw it away. Plus, the Packers D was on their heels, don't give them time to breath.

They were at the line with about :50 on the clock, let's say they get a play off with about :42 on the clock, play runs until about :37, if it's incomplete, you only lose 11 seconds with the reward of gaining yards. I'd rather take a chance at gaining 10 yards there and losing about 10 seconds, you have to trust Prescott there to not run a play that gains 3 yards and keeps the clock running.

The 2nd down play was perfect, if they have a similar play on 1st down it's 2nd and 3, maybe :37-:40 seconds on the clock. Much better situation than 2nd and 10, :48 on the clock from the god damned 40, not even in FG range.

And of course there's the fact that you want to leave Rodgers as little time as possible, even if you only tie the game, it seems that Garrett doesn't even take that into consideration. I know for a fact he didn't take it into consideration at the end of the 1st half when they passed three times in a row from the 15 and ended up leaving the Packers over a minute and 2 timeouts left.

They're damn lucky they didn't allow a FG there at the end of the half honestly.
EXACTLY.
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
26,462
If we had the Giants defense, he would never have caught up with our offense.
how long did that Giants defense keep Rodgers and Co out of the endzone? Almost the entire first half. If we had that sort of defense, we would have been up significantly by halftime. Different game from then on.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
37,486
how long did that Giants defense keep Rodgers and Co out of the endzone? Almost the entire first half. If we had that sort of defense, we would have been up significantly by halftime. Different game from then on.
We would not have been up significantly by halftime because our offense - the life blood of our team - was busy scoring only 13 points.
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,465
We would not have been up significantly by halftime because our offense - the life blood of our team - was busy scoring only 13 points.
Hard to do when you can't stop the other team and it limits your possessions.
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
21,689
Hard to do when you can't stop the other team and it limits your possessions.
True. It is simply a matter of the defensive for Dallas in the first half was a conventional coverage alignment that not only didn't work but I played right into the hands of Rodgers. He not only shredded the secondary but did so without breaking a sweat. The only time he had to move was to run with the ball to make a first down.

The second half finally brought some pressure on him and at least slowed down Rodgers and Also gave the Dallas offense some time to put a few series together to score.
 

Genghis Khan

The worst version of myself
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
37,486
True. It is simply a matter of the defensive for Dallas in the first half was a conventional coverage alignment that not only didn't work but I played right into the hands of Rodgers. He not only shredded the secondary but did so without breaking a sweat. The only time he had to move was to run with the ball to make a first down.

The second half finally brought some pressure on him and at least slowed down Rodgers and Also gave the Dallas offense some time to put a few series together to score.
Not true. Number of possessions wasn't the problem. We were kicking field goals instead of touchdowns.
 
Top Bottom