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By Jon Machota Dec 12, 2021
LANDOVER, Md. — Mike McCarthy isn’t in the business of apologizing for wins, especially when it comes against a division rival. The Cowboys head coach said on Thursday that Dallas would win Sunday at FedEx Field. He was proven correct. The Cowboys defeated the Washington Football Team, 27-20, extending their NFC East lead to three games with four to play.
But it’s difficult to simply look past the outcome and think everything is fine. The Cowboys led 24-0 at halftime and 27-8 with under six minutes left in the game. They then struggled to close things out as Washington scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and then two plays later when Dak Prescott was intercepted for a pick six.
But McCarthy didn’t seem interested in discussing the negative aspects after the game.
“To me, that’s your narrative,” he responded when asked about the Cowboys struggling to put away the win. “I think that’s the reality of pro football. They have good players, too.”
McCarthy specifically pointed to the highlight 43-yard touchdown grab wide receiver Cam Sims made with Dallas standout cornerback Trevon Diggs in coverage midway through the third quarter to get Washington on the board.
“Trevon Diggs is as fine of a player with the ball in the air in the National Football League,” McCarthy said, “so they can make plays, too. I think you got to recognize that. This isn’t fantasy football, it never has been from my perspective. I would’ve liked the game to have been more open in the second half, but at the end of the day, things happen. It’s the ultimate team sport. It’s 11-on-11, a lot of moving parts. They played with two different quarterbacks. We had some things going on with our running back situation, too.
“That’s why it’s a great team win.”
It can be considered a great win because it improves their overall record to 9-4, keeping them in contention for the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs. But there were several aspects of the game that were concerning.
At the top of the list has to be the play of Prescott. He continues to be inconsistent, throwing two of his worst passes of the year on Sunday. One was on a deep-ball interception by Washington safety Landon Collins that was intended for CeeDee Lamb midway through the first quarter. The other was the pick six that was thrown directly to Washington linebacker Cole Holcomb with 4:13 remaining.
Prescott finished 22 of 39 for 211 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a 58.8 passer rating, the sixth-worst passer rating of his career. The other five games all resulted in Cowboys losses.
This was expected to be a day when Prescott and the Cowboys would get back on track offensively. Washington was without its top four edge rushers because of injury or COVID-19. Amari Cooper pointed out last week that they were hoping this would be the first time this season when their star wide receiver trio of Cooper, Lamb and Michael Gallup were all going to be healthy for an entire game.
They were, and none had more than 61 yards receiving. Cooper caught Prescott’s lone touchdown pass, a 7-yard score across the middle late in the first quarter.
But like it has for most of the previous six games, the offense didn’t come close to resembling the group that opened the year 5-1 before Prescott missed time with a strained calf.
Five times Sunday, Dallas managed four plays or fewer on a possession. Bryan Anger punted six times. He punted seven times last week against the New Orleans Saints. He punted seven times the game before that against the Las Vegas Raiders. He punted six times against the Kansas City Chiefs.
In the first nine games of the season, Anger never punted more than four times. The offense was playing so well earlier in the year, Anger punted only once at New England, once against the New York Giants and once at the Los Angeles Chargers.
“It was a struggle on offense and we weren’t exactly executing the way that we wanted to, especially late in the game, but it’s better in a winning effort,” Prescott said. “Some of the things are just simple decision-making by me, and I’ll clean those up. As long as we’re heading on a winning track, and heading into the tournament, we’ll get it right.”
Prescott has said similar things about the offense not being far off for several weeks now. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has said the same. But the product on the field is cause for legitimate concern.
The fix is obviously not simple. If it’s not Prescott, it’s the offensive line missing a key block or the wide receivers not being on the same page or a stagnant running game, which has been so ineffective that it forced the Cowboys to play up to seven offensive linemen on certain plays Sunday to try to get it going.
“I wouldn’t say I’m concerned at all,” Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “We knew it would be tough. We have to play a lot better football on offense. (But) we have to celebrate this win. We can’t be mad about a win. We’ll be better next week.”
The good news for the Cowboys is that even if they’re not better next week, the defense has emerged as a group that can pick up the slack, and should be enough to get a win at New York next Sunday. The Cowboys are expected to be a double-digit favorite over the Giants (4-9).
It’s been impressive to see how quickly defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and company have been able to turn last year’s historically poor group into one that has the potential to be elite. The key is having sensational do-everything rookie Micah Parsons on the field at the same time with DE Randy Gregory, DE DeMarcus Lawrence and DT Neville Gallimore. For the first time this season, those four were able to play together on Sunday. Injuries have caused Gallimore to miss 12 games, Lawrence to miss 10 and Gregory to miss six. That group deserves the most credit for Dallas being able to escape with a win.
Parsons had two sacks. Gregory, Lawrence and Gallimore each had one. Those four also combined for seven quarterback hits. Parsons forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. Gregory recorded an interception.
“The best is yet to come,” Parsons said. “This is the first game having us all back. I think we all should all be excited. There were a lot of turnovers that we created out there. We were able to score on defense. I think it’s just the beginning. I think we got a long journey ahead and I think the more you see us play together, the more you’re going to be like, ‘Man, this is insane.”
After McCarthy said the Cowboys would win last week, Washington coach Ron Rivera responded by saying that he thought McCarthy was trying to do two things: One, get in Washington’s head. Two, “He’s trying to convince his team.”
And maybe that’s exactly what McCarthy did last Thursday, he tried to convince his players that they are better than they’ve been playing. The defense answered the call Sunday. The offense looks like it needs more convincing.
“It’s a good division win,” McCarthy said when asked what he told the team after the game. “We play these guys again in two weeks. I think just like anything, I think you have to be conscientious of that just like we were coming into it. I was proud of the way they competed. I love the adversity that teams go for. I get the 24-0 and everything, but there’s so much value in those moments. To get to where we want to go, we need to thrive in those situations. Now, we created it today, some of them. I get that. But there’s still a benefit in adversity football.”
