Cowboys humbled in loss: ‘I just think we came out there and played piss-poor’
The Dallas Cowboys were certainly feeling themselves heading into Sunday’s 23-0 embarrassing and humbling blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Cowboys no longer had the edge that carried them to a five-game winning streak after being left for dead at 3-5.
They had a stranglehold on the NFC East title even if hadn’t been clinched yet.
They still do, if all truth is told.
But this was a Cowboys team that came to Indianapolis acting like it was going to a coronation rather than one playing with a sense of urgency, one win away from clinching a division title.
Rookie linebacker Leighton Vander Esch debuted his clothing line on Friday. Linebacker Jaylon Smith had a pop shot for his eyewear. Defensive tackle Antwaun Woods had his t-shirts made.
And members of the defensive line got off the plane in Indy with suits and HotBoyz hard hats.
They all left angry, humbled, embarrassed and pissed off after being on the business end of a shutout for the first time since 2003.
Leave it to running back Ezekiel Elliott, arguably the only player on the team who played up to his usually high standards, to make it plain.
“I just think we came out there and played piss-poor,” Elliott said. “I mean we just came out there and didn’t do our jobs. We got beat in all aspects of the game. I think a loss like this was very much needed. It’s better for us in the grand scheme of the season. We needed to get put in check. We needed a reality check.”
It was a common theme after the game.
Quarterback Dak Prescott said the Cowboys were angry in the post-game locker room.
“The way we didn’t give ourselves a chance, it pisses me off. It pisses everybody off,” Prescott said. “If anything, we all came together and said, ‘hey, in a way we needed this’. I don’t know if we were too hot to trot or whatever with our five-game win streak or whatever it was. We got beat in every facet of the game. Simple as that.”
Defensive tackle DeMarcus Lawrence, one of the members of the hard hat crew and the undisputed leader of the HotBoyz defensive line, was certainly taken back by the play of a Cowboys defense that had been playing at its high level in years.
A unit that came into the game ranked fourth in the league and third against the run let an unknown running back Marlon Mack rush 27 times for 139 yards. It registered no sacks and allowed the Colts to convert eight of 12 third downs.
“I am absolutely surprised,” Lawrence said. “As a defense, we have to step up week in and week out. That win streak had us feeling like we were bigger than what we are. This game shows us we have to get back to the basics and get back to work. I don’t feel like they did anything difficult. It was about us not making our tackles. It was about us. I felt like the edge was less. It was humbling. We got hit in the mouth.”
A disappointed owner Jerry Jones didn’t give them any slack, either. He said the Cowboys played like they were reading their own press clippings and came into the game acting like the Colts were going to hand them the game and the division title.
“I thought if your name is Jones or if you’re the Cowboys they handed it to you,” said Jones, who tried a little tongue-in-cheek humor to cope with the team’s horrible loss. “And we played like that. Lost an edge early and just never got it back. It’s very disappointing. They took it to us, there is no question about it, about as good as I’ve seen us in the last 10 or 15 years just doing the things it takes to win the game. Well, it just shows me that when you meet up to a good team, just because people are writing about you being in the playoffs, it doesn’t mean that’s going to get you anything.
“I think that’s the worst we’ve had it since ‘03 as far as that goes. That just goes to show you they’re not reading the same paper I am.”
The Cowboys need to win just one of their final two games, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home Sunday or at the New York Giants in the season finale to clinch the NFC East title.
They could also get in with a loss by both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins in one of their last two games.
But this reality check has the Cowboys heading into the final two games with a renewed sense of urgency.
“The one thing about it is it’s going to cause us to fight every minute or fight every two minutes or every quarter these last two ballgames,” Jones said. “I really do think we’ll take this as a lesson well-earned and to learn off of, this is a young team and I think we’ll come back and let it be wind under our sails. I really do.”
And for those who think this was more exposure of who the Cowboys really are rather than a reality check or wake up call, Elliott has an answer for that.
“At one point we were 3-5 and all of you guys counted us out,” Elliott said. “None of you guys thought we had a chance of making the playoffs. And we took that on the chin and we won five straight. Now we hold our future is in our hands. We have to win one more game to make the playoffs. I think this is kinda like that. This team has responded to adversity all season and I don’t think we won’t respond well to this one.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2018 at 11:47 AM.
