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Well, well, well. Cowboys fans have become accustomed to winning over the past month. Spoiled, perhaps. But with a backup QB playing like a backup QB, the good times came to an end. Cooper Rush did exactly the opposite of what we’ve seen over the past four games. He played really, really sloppy. Bad balls and ill-timed mistakes flooded this team from the jump. Throwing three interceptions is a recipe for disaster for any team, especially for a stagnant offense that has been camouflaged by an elite defense.
The Cowboys had momentum in the second half after the Jake Ferguson touchdown. The momentum was halted by the Eagles rushing attack, a physical execution that was nostalgic of last year’s Wild Card game against the 49ers. It’s really hard to place the blame on the defense, though. The offense turned the ball over more times than they scored and sometimes in plus territory. That is not, by all accounts, a reliable path to victory.
Speaking of not reliable paths to victory, committing nine penalties fits that bill, especially with how many seemed costly and avoidable. There’s blame to place all over because the Cowboys truly did beat themselves. Avoidable turnovers in addition to avoidable penalties is truly irksome. If the Eagles were able to run the ball all over the Cowboys from start to finish, you tip your cap and head into next week with Dak Prescott coming back and new life coming to the Lone Star state. It just wasn’t that type of game. The pass blocking held up, the running game was as strong as ever, it just didn’t all come together.
On the bright side, we saw the very reason KaVontae Turpin made this team as an undrafted free agent. His return yards were an integral part in the few successful drives this offense had.
Cowboys WR Kavontae Turpin has 123 return yards. Cowboys have 81 yards of total offense.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 17, 2022
It was just a really ugly game and it’s tough to stomach after the excitement of the past month. Although this is just a bump in the road, the division championship is now going to be a tall task. Seeing what the rest of the NFC has to offer through six weeks, it seems likely the winner of the East will hold the #1 seed come January. The Eagles have one of the easier schedules in the league and it seems like a tough task to dethrone them down two games and now being 0-1 head-to-head. Is it possible? Sure, but improbable seems like a better adjective to describe it.
There’s nothing else to do right now than be somewhat grateful the Cowboys are 4-2 and have their starting quarterback ready for action come next Sunday. They will be favored in both their next two games and if Vegas serves correct, they will be 6-2 heading into the bye. This one hurts, but it could be worse. Although it’s hard to have optimism after a rather dim night, they should be in the mix come January.
Let's try not to overreact and bank on the pieces of this team coming together at the right time, and if that is the case, they can hang around just long enough to do their job. That’s the new motto of the season: do your job.
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