Cowboys choke, Bears smoke (Dallas): The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By Richard Ball
A few observations from the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Chicago Bears. There was some good, some bad and some downright ugly play.
The Dallas Cowboys lost their seventh game of the year on Thursday to the Chicago Bears to fall below 0.500 for the first time this season. For the second week in a row, the Cowboys started with an opening drive touchdown and then went into hibernation.
The Week Fourteen contest against the Bears was like most football games with plays you loved and plays you would love to forget. Below we’ll breakdown the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of the Cowboys’ seventh loss of the season.
The Good
You could not have asked for a better start to the game for the Cowboys. Yet, the team found a way to spoil a great offensive and defensive start.
For the second week in a row, the offense was able to drive the field on the opening possession and score a touchdown. Unfortunately for Dallas, that drive was basically it for the offense until garbage time in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys even were able to get nine yards on their first second and ten of the game after quarterback Dak Prescott‘s first down incompletion. In what seems like the biggest tell in the NFL, the Cowboys almost always run the ball on second down after a first down incompletion.
With most teams knowing this trend, they typically stuff the run. Amazingly, running back Ezekiel Elliott was able to run behind tackle Tyron Smith and guard Xavier Su’a-Filo and plow forward for nine yards.
On the Bears first possession, corner Jourdan Lewis intercepted a Mitch Trubisky pass in the red zone. Dallas coach Jason Garrett even had to win a challenge to make the interception count.
It was the first turnover for the Dallas defense since the Week Nine win over the lowly New York Giants. Unfortunately, Dallas allowed the Bears to drive the field with the interception occurring at the Dallas six-inch line.
In a game where the score failed to indicate the disparity between the two teams, there was not much good for the Cowboys. Maybe another smidge of good for Dallas was the offensive line held up well against the Bears allowing two sacks with the first sack a gimme when quarterback Dak Prescott ran out-of-bounds without throwing the ball away for a one yard loss.