Dallas Cowboys: A disastrous start for America’s team

Dallas Cowboys: Where bad turns to worse

The most underrated part of having a successful team in the NFL is special teams. Dallas Cowboys fans know that well. You would think the team would ensure that group got better, but that’s not what we saw after one game.

Kicker Greg Zuerlein was dealing with back issues during the offseason. Maybe that contributed to him missing one field goal and an extra point attempt. You shouldn’t expect a kicker to make it from 60 yards out, so I’ll give him a pass for that.

Greg’s first attempt was from 31 yards out. That’s a kick that you can’t miss. The extra point is another can’t miss play, but it happens every so often. Overall, four points got left on the board for a game Dallas lost by two points.

While the kicking was very disappointing, so was the kickoff team. Jaydon Mickens of the Bucs averaged 30.7 yards per return. One of the three returns went for 41 yards and led to a touchdown.

Punting the ball wasn’t great but wasn’t terrible either. Mickens averaged 10.5 yards per punt return, with one going for 24 yards, before getting called back 10 yards for a penalty. You can point to the poor special teams as the main reason Dallas lost the game. It puts the group in an uncomfortable position moving forward. They aren’t valued much but have no room for error.

Dallas Cowboys: The aftermath

While the game was a disappointment, it eventually came to an end. The game was a lot closer than many expected, and the team played well overall. The torture was supposed to be over. No, the torture was not over yet. We would find out that wide receiver Michael Gallup strained his calf. It’s an injury that will have him out for three to five weeks.

That’s a significant loss in terms of talent, but the Cowboys’ loaded receiving corps can make up for it. One of the many other options can step up. Unfortunately for Dallas, they will be without their right tackle La’el Collins for the next five games. He supposedly missed drug tests and is in the process of appealing the suspension.

It seems as if things keep going wrong. Hopefully, Martin will return healthy, and the Dallas Cowboys can rebound against the Los Angelos Chargers next week. It has been a very stressful couple of months that has intensified the past few weeks. Regardless of all the terrible things that happened thus far, the Cowboys are still in line to compete as a playoff team. Let’s hope players start coming back healthy, and the special teams get cleaned up.