Dallas Cowboys season experiences Hollywood ending of sorts

For the fifth straight time, the Dallas Cowboys season ends in round two of the playoffs, thanks to a porous defense and familiar play calling issues.

The 2018 season is over for the Dallas Cowboys after a 30-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Whether you’re shocked by the outcome, angry at how that outcome came about or still in disbelief that it’s over, there is no more football for this team, this year.

You had to expect that the high-octane Rams offense would be a problem. You could not have expected the Cowboys to allow two 100-yard rushers and 273 rushing yards in total. The Rams finished 2018 with the second most total yards and points scored, third-most rushing yards and fifth most passing yards. All that is to say they can beat you in many ways.

Saturday night, they ran up and down the Dallas Cowboys defense. A defense that finished fifth against the run this year, mind you. All night, including effectively the last play of the game, the Rams did whatever they wanted on the ground.

The defensive effort was embarrassing, to say the least. Dallas never once laid a hand on Rams quarterback Jared Goff. As I wrote in my keys to a victory, this was an absolute necessity. Pass rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory went M.I.A. and Goff never had a worry in the pocket.

This does not mean the third-year Rams’ passer had a great game because he didn’t. He did not have to either. That’s because the run defense was completely abysmal. The Rams ran 48 times for 273 yards and three touchdowns. The demoralized and manhandled a Cowboys team that seemed disinterested in gap responsibilities or getting off blocks.

Too many times, the linebackers overran plays, leaving easy cut back lanes for big gains. When that didn’t happen, guys missed tackles in the holes. It was a sad effort, no matter how you look at it.

Offensively, the Dallas Cowboys could not do the same. The imagination that severely lacks on this side of the ball, once again reared its ugly head. All-World running back Ezekiel Elliott was limited to just 47 yards and 2.3 yards per carry. For whatever insane reason, quarterback Dak Prescott only had two carries.

I’ve written time and again about the importance of Prescott using his legs as another weapon to make defenses fear. When Prescott has seven or more carries, Dallas has never lost. With five or more carries, they are 13-4. When has two or fewer carries, Dallas is just 4-9.

On the biggest play of the game, down eight to start the fourth quarter and needing just one yard to continue their drive, the Cowboys shunned Prescott. Instead, they announced to everyone that the ball was going to Elliott and, not surprisingly, were stopped on fourth down. Replays show an obvious opportunity for a quarterback keeper to the left side, but those rarely seem to get called in this offense.

Ironically, on the same drive a few plays before, there were incompletions to tight ends Rico Gathers and Dalton Schultz. Why do I say ironic? It seems as though offensive coordinator Scott Linehan adores the tight end position. The Cowboys employ more dual tight end sets than any other team in the league.

On a night when Rams defensive backs were playing eight to ten yards off receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, the ball went to Gathers and Schultz more often than Cooper and Gallup when a scoring answer was needed most.

Today is not the day to discuss the future of this team. That is for another time. What cannot be overlooked, however, is that there are obvious things that handcuff this team in the worst of moments. The bad night against the run defensively was an aberration, but it is very disconcerting that no one this team relies upon to make plays made a single one.

The offense is outdated and needs new guidance. In a league where almost half the teams scored more than 24 points per game, Dallas struggled to average 21. Last year, the barely averaged 22 per game.

This exit wasn’t heartbreaking like 2016, a screw job like 2014, a punking like 2009 or a stunner like 2007. No, this loss was a realization that unless key players show up in big games and this offense reaches the next level, this is the Dallas Cowboys ceiling.