Week 5 Tweetcap: Cowboys inability to close brings on the bye week blues at 2-3

Once again, the Cowboys squandered a second-half lead and lost a heartbreaker. They now enter the bye week at 2-3 with too many questions and not enough answers. Social media was an absolute five-alarm dumpster fire yesterday evening following the crushing 35-31 loss to the rival Packers. There will be plenty of time to dwell on this as the Cowboys don’t play again until October 22nd. Here are just a few sensible social media thoughts or reactions.

Clearly, the Cowboys miss Sean Lee but it was ultimately smart to not rush him back. Jaylon Smith has struggled mightily in these past two games. Everyone believes in Jaylon as a future star in this defense but he needs a more limited role going forward. As his nerve continues to regenerate, he’s not able to change direction as quickly as he needs to. In two weeks, quarterbacks have figured out ways to exploit his current limitations.

Smith’s had to carry the load while Lee and Anthony Hitchens have been banged up. Hitchens returned and Lee is expected to return after the bye, Smith needs some relief.

Let’s move on to the criticism of the Cowboys last offensive drive. The second and goal pass is under tremendous scrutiny as only bad results could come from that try.

They were running the ball extremely well and another run just may have forced the Packers to use their final timeout. Instead, it stopped the clock, Dallas scored on the very next play and the numbers 1:13 will live in infamy.

What’s a little silly though is the criticism that Dak Prescott take a knee at the one-half mark. They needed six points and Dak gave it to them. You’re not guaranteed anything and getting cute can cost you.

What’s ultimately crushing is that the Cowboys’ offense finally looked like itself after weeks of lamenting:

Games like these typically come down to the team that makes an untimely mistake. The Cowboys had a few of them from only one empty possession in the third quarter to Terrance Williams missing a catch he has to make:

Now, Marcus is bit extreme there about sitting him but that pick-six was just bad.

The expectations may have been set to high for this Cowboys’ team following 13-3 and the complete restructure of their secondary. Still, 2-3, is not encouraging moving forward. What happened against the Packers hurts but it’s miserable when you tack on that loss to the Rams. The Cowboys have looked like a first-half team that cannot close.

Asking an outmatched defense to stop the two-time league MVP, Super Bowl champion, and All-time leader in passer rating is a tough task. Aaron Rodgers has 18 game-winning drives with 12 in the fourth quarter.

That’s a guy who has won 94 games in the NFL and the Cowboys had 11 defenders who played significant snaps with less than four years of NFL experience. The defense hasn’t been good but the Cowboys’ offense hasn’t helped with third-quarter absences.

The bashing is going to continue for the next 13 days as it should for everyone who has made 2-3 possible. However, with 11 games left, the potential for this team to rise out of this hasn’t died just yet.

The running game is a common gripe but they’re not exactly awful. The line is trying to gel but to say they can’t run is quite the stretch. Ezekiel Elliott is a darn good football player.

Another quick reaction has been for folks to talk about Dak Prescott struggling to perform in year two. That’s way misguided because he’s actually been pretty sensational.

There are so many questions that this team will be asking themselves over the next two weeks. We hear nothing but confidence out of the players and they’re well aware of how inconsistent they have been. The Cowboys have really brought the mood down but they can still dig themselves out. Hopefully, the Cowboys will find every answer they need in the bye week.