How the Dallas Cowboys win a no-win situation in New York
By Tyrone Starr
After two straight losses, the Dallas Cowboys look to get back in the win column. Here’s how Dallas can get something from a no-win situation.
When you lose two straight games, the best way to fix whatever ails you is earning a victory in your next game. For the Dallas Cowboys, the opportunity to stop the bleeding of two straight disappointing weeks comes this Sunday in New York.
Unfortunately, no matter what the outcome is, the narrative will not change. Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys take to MetLife Stadium to face the New York Jets. The Jets still looking for the first win in a fifth effort. Throwing out their first attempt, none of their games have been close. That is almost solely due to an anemic offense.
Only the Miami Dolphins have scored fewer points in 2019. They have the worst passing offense in all of football (although there is a huge reason for that we’ll address in a bit). Their rushing offense is the third-worst in the NFL, despite dispatching running back Le’Veon Bell on their opponents.
One would think the Jets are exactly what the doctor ordered for a Dallas Cowboys defense in desperate need of a pick me up. Of course, after some of the worst quarterback play this league has seen in decades, New York is getting their gunslinger back this week. Quarterback Sam Darnold reappears after missing almost an entire month due to a bout with mononucleosis.
The return of the third overall pick from last year’s draft will undoubtedly boost the Jets offense. Whether or not it makes the type of difference the Jets are hoping for, however, is unknown but unlikely.
This is a game that the Dallas Cowboys should win. They, in fact, must win this game, as the road ahead gets quite difficult. If they do what everyone expects them to do, all you will hear is that it does not mean a thing because it is just another win over a bad team. If, however, the Cowboys fail to come away victorious, the sports world will burn down the walls of the Star in Frisco, Texas all week.
This all sets Sunday up as a truly no-win situation for the Dallas Cowboys. So, how do the Cowboys get anything positive from this road trip?
The first thing Dallas needs to do is continue to frustrate Bell. Last week, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones put up 100+ yards and four touchdowns. If their rushing defense does not improve, it’s going to be a long day.
Dallas did a good job of keeping Saints running back Alvin Kamara in check the week prior. Giants running back Saquon Barkley hit them for 120 yards, although half of that came from one run in Week 1. Aside from that, neither Redskins rusher Adrian Peterson nor Dolphins back Kenyon Drake did anything against this defense.
The Cowboys must get back on track and hold Bell to less than 60 yards with no touchdowns. Doing so will go a long way towards earning a comfortable victory.
Secondly, the Cowboys need to stop beating themselves. Last week, they were moving the ball at will against Green Bay and then the turnovers hit. Receiver Amari Cooper dropped an easy catch and would-be touchdown that turned into an interception. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw two more interceptions that killed potentially good drives and that was that.
The week prior, the Cowboys turned the ball over three times in a game that they lost 12-10. That’s six turnovers in two weeks. The previous three weeks, all wins, by the way, Dallas had two turnovers total.
Very good teams will have a difficult time winning giving away the ball six times in two games. We don’t know if Dallas is very good yet or not, so it should not come as a shock that this issue has crippled their success.
Lastly, the Cowboys need to not care what anyone outside of the locker room thinks about this team. The narrative out there is that the Cowboys can’t beat good teams. Technically, that’s false due to the fact that they are a good team and they have beat themselves twice in a row. Give credit to the Saints and Packers for doing enough to win the games. They played well and deserved to prosper.
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Let’s stop trying to sell this simplistic notion that Dallas is losing just because these teams are “good” however. The Jets are not good. Dallas will likely win. They will also beat a “good” team as soon as they stop giving the ball away and start shutting down other team’s rushing attacks. The former will have to wait a week but the latter we’ll find out this afternoon.