Here’s why the Dallas Cowboys will continue to fail

Late in the game, the Dallas Cowboys had two legitimate chances to win a game that their defense kept them in and could not do it. With 3:25 to go in the fourth quarter, receiver Tavon Austin returned a punt to the Dallas 45-yard line. Gain twenty yards or so and you’re in field goal range. Instead, the Cowboys go three and out and are forced to punt.

For what felt like the hundredth time already this season, Dallas chose to run on first down, only to predictably throw on second and third down. A good team gets at least three in that situation and closes the game out. The Cowboys are not a good team.

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Then, in overtime, the Cowboys won the toss and got all the way down to the Houston 42-yard line facing 3rd & 2. For some insane reason, on 3rd and 2, receiver Cole Beasley was motioned into the backfield along with Ezekiel Elliott. The Texans blitzed, heavy, and stuffed the run attempt for a half yard gain.

Why you would ever put your only viable pass-catching threat, all 5’8,” 180 lbs of him, in the backfield is beyond me. Why this coaching staff refuses to spread defenses out in these scenarios and run read-option is also beyond me.

On the very next down, instead of using the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft, behind two first-round draft choices, a second rounder and a free agent who would have been a first rounder to extend the game, they punted. That decision, in my opinion, speaks volumes about this head coach.

There is no question that Doug Pederson goes for it. I’ve seen Bill Belichick go for it in that scenario. Sean Payton absolutely believes in his offense too. Those three are Super Bowl-winning coaches. Jason Garrett talks a whole bunch but doesn’t have the stones to let his actions back it up.

You don’t punt the ball when you’ve built your team to be able to handle these exact scenarios. It was a coward move from a guy with no clue how to win in this league. Plain and simple. The sad facts are that this coaching staff has made their bed and now they must lie in it. There is no magic fix to this offense. What you see is what you will get for the next eleven games.

Every so often, you’ll have a decent game and that will be good enough to win because of this defense. It won’t be enough to matter though. Hopefully, these are the last eleven games we have to see Garrett and Scott Linehan on our side of the field.