Dallas Cowboys crush the LA Rams, but no one should trust Jason Garrett’s team
Just in time for holiday shopping, the Dallas Cowboys from their 3-0 start showed up to suck you back into thinking this is the beginning of their special run.
Let the record show that the 2019 Dallas Cowboys’ first win against a team that had a winning record was Dec. 15. They will finish the season with one win against a team that has a winning record.
The Cowboys, with their lame red duck coach sprinkling his Christmas magic on his players, slammed the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday 44-21.
A team that lost to the New York Jets can look good enough to defeat the defending NFC champions.
Don’t bother asking, “Where has this been?” because the players don’t know. We know head coach Jason Garrett and his assistants don’t know.
And Jerry Jones will say, “It’s been there all along.”
Which is the essence of the problem when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys. It’s there, only when it’s not, which is too often to trust this team is better than an stocking full of inconsistency.
“Should people trust this team?” Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “We’re not thinking about people, we’re thinking about winning the next game. No offense to fans, this is an in-house thing. We have to go out and prepare for a one-game season.”
DALLAS COWBOYS SET UP FOR A DIVISION TITLE
The Dallas Cowboys are not as bad as the three-game losing streak they ended on Sunday would indicate. What the Cowboys did on Sunday is what average teams do: Show up half the time.
Nonetheless, the Cowboys’ win sets up the “showdown” we are all forced to believe is a matchup of Super Bowl-caliber teams: The 7-7 Dallas Cowboys against the 7-7 Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday in Philly for the right to win the NFC East, and to host an NFL playoff game.
Don’t be surprised when the game ends tied at 4.
All the Cowboys have to do to win the NFC East is beat, or tie, Philly.
“It’s great to know that a single win gets us in (the playoffs),” Cowboys running back Zeke Elliott said. “Our goal isn’t just to make the playoffs. We want to keep this thing rolling.”
No one, other than Jerry, should trust the 2019 Dallas Cowboys to “keep this thing rolling” and beat the Eagles. The last time the Cowboys won on consecutive Sundays was Sept. 15 and 22, against Washington and Miami.
Don’t be surprised if the Cowboys lose against Philly, but win the division after a Week 17 victory against the Redskins, and the Eagles lose against the New York Giants in New Jersey in what will be Eli Manning’s last game.
That scenario is the appropriate finale for this division this season.
THE DALLAS COWBOYS PLAY WELL EARLY
One of the biggest problems the Cowboys have had throughout the season is their uncanny ability to consistently fall behind in the first half. Good teams don’t fall behind as frequently as the Cowboys.
Before Sunday’s game, they had been outscored 69-54 in the first quarter of games.
They have racked up big offensive stats in rallying; for instance, before Sunday, they outscored opponents 114-45 in the fourth quarter of games.
As their 6-7 record indicated, that point fourth-quarter point differential suggested an offense that was scoring garbage points.
Against the Rams, the Cowboys actually did what they wanted and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, and his head coach, called the game the way this team is designed.
Quarterback Dak Prescott has gaudy numbers, but the Cowboys can only be what they want as a Zeke Elliott team.
COWBOYS BLOWOUT THE RAMS IN THE FIRST HALF
After forcing the Rams to punt in each of their first two offensive possessions, the Cowboys took a 7-0 lead.
Zeke was running like the player from his first or second year. In the game’s first 30 minutes, he ran the ball 17 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
After Dak found a wide open Tavon Austin for a 59-yard touchdown catch, the Cowboys led 14-7.
Their next drive began at the Rams’ 3-yard line with a little less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The drive ended with Zeke scoring on a 1-yard run.
That 14-play, 97-yard drive was the best of the Dallas Cowboys.
Two plays later, veteran linebacker Sean Lee intercepted Rams quarterback Jared Goff and returned it to the 9-yard line.
Zeke scored again before the end of the half, and the game was over. The second half was 30 minutes of preseason football.
The defense forced some turnovers. Zeke ran for more than 100 yards, as did rookie Tony Pollard. Dak only threw it a season-low 23 times. He completed a season-low 15 passes.
“We played horrible. We got beat on,” Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. “We got beat pretty bad. We got embarrassed.”
The Cowboys played the way they are designed, and they have their first win since defeating the Lions in Detroit on Nov. 17.
The Dallas Cowboys are 7-7 “winners,” and maybe they sucked you into thinking this is the beginning of their special run, right in time for the holiday shopping season.
This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 7:00 PM.
