Cowboys Flake, Jets Awake: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Ugly

With 0:54 left in the game and the Cowboys trailing by eight, they had a third and one from the Jets eight yard line. Quarterback Dak Prescott completed a pass to Ezekiel Elliott at the Jets four yard line for a first down.

The play was blown dead with 48 seconds left. The Cowboys chose to use their first timeout of the second half to stop the clock with 47 seconds left.

It is easy to play Monday Morning Quarterback when the outcome doesn’t turn out favorably. While the decision to use the timeout was not the primary reason the Cowboys lost, it certainly took away a last chance to try to salvage a win. Dallas could have easily have clocked the ball on first down to leave 40 seconds on the clock and three downs to score a touchdown.

Why does this matter? The Cowboys were down by eight and needed a touchdown and a two-point conversion.

When Dallas failed to convert the two-point conversion, they were forced to try an onside kick. Since new kickoff rules went into place for the 2018 season, the onside kick success rate has dropped from over twenty percent to less than eight percent.

With such low odds for a successful onside kick recovery, the Cowboys needed all three timeouts to stop the clock and force the Jets to punt. Without the third timeout, the game was over when the Jets recovered the kick.

This falls on head coach Jason Garrett and his game management skills. This isn’t the first time Garrett’s use of timeouts has been questioned. If you are looking for something a little more current, Cowboys fans remember the loss to the Redskins last year when the ‘Boys went too conservative and then missed a game tying field goal or when they didn’t call a timeout against Atlanta to try a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half.

While the season is not doomed with the loss to the Jets, the Cowboys certainly missed an opportunity to win a game they should have won. With games against the Eagles, Patriots, Rams and three more stout NFC North opponents, the margin for error just got slimmer.

As always, the Cowboys, whether they win or lose, need to quickly compartmentalize this game and move on to the next. A first place showdown looms next Sunday when the Eagles visit the Metroplex.