Cowboys choke, Bears smoke (Dallas): The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Bad

If you look at the box score without knowing the final score, you would think that Dallas would have won this game. While the Bears had close to 400 yards in offense, the Cowboys had more than 400 yards of offense.

Dak Prescott, the league leader in passing yards, threw for more than 300 yards for the sixth time this year. Ezekiel Elliott eclipsed the 80 yards rushing mark. The offense would appear to be functioning well.

But if you watched the game, you would know that all is not well with Dallas. Many of Prescott’s passing yards came in the fourth quarter when the Bears were playing prevent defense. Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones reflected on the state of his team after the game (via the New York Post):

"“We did all of the things that you can do that cause you to lose football games.”"

Yet somehow, the Cowboys did not turn the ball over once and the Bears had two turnovers. In an absolute rarity in the NFL, the Cowboys won the turnover margin and somehow managed to lose the game.

From 1950 through 2016, the team that wins the turnover margin has about a 78 percent chance to win the game. There lies the problem. The 2019 Dallas Cowboys are not good enough to win even when the odds are stacked in their favor.

The Cowboys have a 6-1 record against teams with a 0.500 record or worse. Simple math reveals Dallas is 0-6 against teams with better than a 0.500 winning percentage.

The core of this team is unchanged from the division champions from 2018. That team even won a playoff game. The 2019 Dallas Cowboys can only be characterized as a bad football team incapable of rising up to a challenge.