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Cowboys offense hurt by many things
December, 10, 2013
By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com
CHICAGO -- The Cowboys' offensive players say they were affected by the cold weather, it was eight degrees at game time with a wind chill of -9 making it the coldest regular season game in team history, in their loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
And while you believe the players, there were some offensive possessions during the Bears burst to building a 35-14 lead after three quarters that hurt the Cowboys.
"It's hard, they were clicking on everything and everything they were doing was on point," wide receiver Dez Bryant said catching two passes for 12 yards and one touchdown. "You have to give credit to them, they were on point. It’s a team thing you have to score points to help out our defense and that’s the way it goes."
The Cowboys did that in the early going and it seemed as if they were keeping pace with the Bears, even establishing a solid running game, which finished with starter DeMarco Murray finishing with 146 yards on 18 carries. But the Bears had two long scoring drives, seven minutes and 27 seconds to get their first touchdown of the game and a eight minute and 10 second drive that pushed them to a commanding 35-10 lead that limited the time the Cowboys spent on the field.
Quarterback Tony Romo said there wasn't an expectation the teams would be in a shootout given the weather situation. While the Bears scored on their first eight possessions, the Cowboys just couldn't keep up.
After scoring on their first possession of the game, the Cowboys punted on the next one after Romo was sacked on a third-and-seven when the offensive line failed to protect him on the blitz.
After tying the game on the third possession, the Cowboys passing game failed them.
Faced with a first-and-10 from the 39, Romo was hurt by a dropped pass by tight end Jason Witten. On second down, Romo threw a hard pass that sailed through the hands of Murray. On the third down, Terrance Williams couldn't make a contested catch while covered by cornerback Zack Bowman, who tipped the pass away.
On the ensuing possession, the Bears scored to push the lead to 24-14 at halftime.
"Its definitely not what we want," receiver Cole Beasley said, who also caught a touchdown pass. "We did a good job in the beginning and some possessions got away from us and they put some points up on the board and it kinda got to the point where it felt like catchup a little bit. It’s a disappointing day."
Chicago pushed their lead to 27-14 in the third quarter but the Cowboys went three-and-out on their first possession of the half. Romo's third down pass to Bryant sailed too high forcing the Cowboys to punt.
The Bears would score again, taking eight minutes off the clock and basically sealing the game. Dallas had one more legit try to make it a contest but again couldn't do anything offensively on their second possession of the second half as Romo threw an incomplete pass to Murray on fourth down from the Bears 41.
"We did a pretty good job," said Romo, who did throw three touchdowns. "We ran the ball, and we had a game plan coming in and we stuck to it, pretty much throughout the game. We executed a lot of things well, but ultimately, it wasn’t good enough and we have to be better."
December, 10, 2013
By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com
CHICAGO -- The Cowboys' offensive players say they were affected by the cold weather, it was eight degrees at game time with a wind chill of -9 making it the coldest regular season game in team history, in their loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
And while you believe the players, there were some offensive possessions during the Bears burst to building a 35-14 lead after three quarters that hurt the Cowboys.
"It's hard, they were clicking on everything and everything they were doing was on point," wide receiver Dez Bryant said catching two passes for 12 yards and one touchdown. "You have to give credit to them, they were on point. It’s a team thing you have to score points to help out our defense and that’s the way it goes."
The Cowboys did that in the early going and it seemed as if they were keeping pace with the Bears, even establishing a solid running game, which finished with starter DeMarco Murray finishing with 146 yards on 18 carries. But the Bears had two long scoring drives, seven minutes and 27 seconds to get their first touchdown of the game and a eight minute and 10 second drive that pushed them to a commanding 35-10 lead that limited the time the Cowboys spent on the field.
Quarterback Tony Romo said there wasn't an expectation the teams would be in a shootout given the weather situation. While the Bears scored on their first eight possessions, the Cowboys just couldn't keep up.
After scoring on their first possession of the game, the Cowboys punted on the next one after Romo was sacked on a third-and-seven when the offensive line failed to protect him on the blitz.
After tying the game on the third possession, the Cowboys passing game failed them.
Faced with a first-and-10 from the 39, Romo was hurt by a dropped pass by tight end Jason Witten. On second down, Romo threw a hard pass that sailed through the hands of Murray. On the third down, Terrance Williams couldn't make a contested catch while covered by cornerback Zack Bowman, who tipped the pass away.
On the ensuing possession, the Bears scored to push the lead to 24-14 at halftime.
"Its definitely not what we want," receiver Cole Beasley said, who also caught a touchdown pass. "We did a good job in the beginning and some possessions got away from us and they put some points up on the board and it kinda got to the point where it felt like catchup a little bit. It’s a disappointing day."
Chicago pushed their lead to 27-14 in the third quarter but the Cowboys went three-and-out on their first possession of the half. Romo's third down pass to Bryant sailed too high forcing the Cowboys to punt.
The Bears would score again, taking eight minutes off the clock and basically sealing the game. Dallas had one more legit try to make it a contest but again couldn't do anything offensively on their second possession of the second half as Romo threw an incomplete pass to Murray on fourth down from the Bears 41.
"We did a pretty good job," said Romo, who did throw three touchdowns. "We ran the ball, and we had a game plan coming in and we stuck to it, pretty much throughout the game. We executed a lot of things well, but ultimately, it wasn’t good enough and we have to be better."