5 major takeaways from the Cowboys heartbreaking loss against the Packers

This one hurts. The Dallas Cowboys were road favorites in Lambeau Field for the first time in who knows how long, and against an unimpressive Green Bay Packers squad, they fell victim to an Aaron Rodgers-led game-winning drive yet again.

There is a lot to unpack here. The offense arguably scored enough points to where it should have been a win, however, they took their foot off the gas and let the Packers back in it. This somehow stings more than the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this season.

It’s time to go over what we learned in this game. While it’s not all fun, there is some good to take away from this game. There certainly is some bad, however. Let’s get some of the bad out of the way first so we can end the article on a bit of a higher note.

5 takeaways from the Cowboys’ heartbreaking loss against the Packers

1. Penalties reared their ugly head yet again

There’s just no stopping it. This team will always shoot themselves in the foot at some point, and it happened time and time again on Sunday. Nine penalties for 83 yards was the damage against the Packers, and they showed up at the worst possible times.

The two most crucial penalties came in overtime. The first came when a big run by Tony Pollard that would’ve gone for a first down to the Green Bay 37-yard line was called back because rookie wideout Jalen Tolbert was called offsides. The next came a few plays later when Malik Davis broke free up the middle for a 16-yard gain until it was called back due to a questionable holding call on Connor McGovern.

After the hold, Dak Prescott connected with Dalton Schultz on a 16-yard gain to make it 3rd-and-3. However, on the next play, Prescott failed to connect with CeeDee Lamb with Jaire Alexander making a lot of contact on the play. An incomplete pass later, the ball was back in the hands of the Packer offense, and the rest is history.

2. Teams are starting to figure out the Dallas defense

The Cowboys have a good defense, and right now, nothing more than that. The truth of the matter is that with how the scheme is in place, the coaching staff is okay with letting teams run the ball on them, and teams are now not only figuring that out, but they’re even exploiting it.

The Chicago Bears scored more than they should have due to the inability to stop the run, and the Packers won because of the running game. Three touchdowns came through the air, but the run set all of that up.

After allowing 5.3 yards per carry and over 200 rushing yards total on Sunday, the Cowboys now reside eighth in the NFL in most yards per carry allowed (4.8). This has been an issue all season, but now it is causing games to be lost that shouldn’t be lost.

One of the biggest keys to being a good coach is learning how to adapt. While Dan Quinn deserves his props and praises for being the head of one of the better defenses in the NFL, he is sacrificing the ability to stop the run by having one of the highest stunt usages in the league, which has been key in getting to the quarterback.

These stunts and blitzes have led to a league-leading 35 sacks, but they come at a cost. Now it has cost a game. It’s time to adjust and adapt because good teams will exploit this issue. Here you go, Dan Quinn. Prove your worth.

3. More Sam Williams, please

For some reason, the staff doesn’t want to unleash Sam Williams. The second-round pick has three sacks in 18 pass-rushing snaps over the past two games. On Sunday, he recorded one sack and two run stops in just 17 snaps.

He’s a game wrecker. One of the biggest “issues” with Williams’ game coming out of college was his inability to contain runs. He has made immense strides in fixing that part of his game and sets a great edge. Why is he not getting more snaps?

It’s time to unleash the Ole Miss product. He put up huge numbers in college and has done the same in his limited snaps. Even if it cuts into some of Dante Fowler’s and even Dorance Armstrong’s snaps, it will be worth it to see what he looks like with an increased workload.

The team needs more help stopping the run, and if his pass-rushing numbers don’t show up, his run-stopping ability will. The improvement in that aspect should garner more snaps, and with how this past week went, the staff shouldn’t be shy with him.

4. CeeDee Lamb looked like who the fans want him to be

Wow, what a peak into the future that was on Sunday. Or maybe, what is to come from here on out? CeeDee Lamb looked like a player possessed against the Packers, and completely torched a respectable secondary led by Jaire Alexander.

No. 88 racked up a whopping 150 yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches and was Prescott’s favorite target. Lamb led the team with 15 targets, seven more than the next highest (Dalton Schultz).

He wasn’t perfect, as a miscue midway through the game led to an interception in the endzone, but we saw just how unstoppable Lamb could be. Most of his production came against Alexander, where he gained 55 yards and a touchdown on four catches and six targets against the elite corner.

This was the breakout Lamb needed. He’s been really solid all year, but he had yet to have a 100-yard game this season until Sunday. Hopefully, this continues throughout the rest of the season because Prescott is at his best when he can have a reliable target in the middle of the field.

5. The staff needs to start Tony Pollard, and we’ve known this

How many times do we need to go over this? I’ve made articles in the past, even before this season, calling for Tony Pollard to get the bulk of the carries, but apparently either nobody in the front office reads my articles or they just don’t agree with me.

We all know the reason: money talks. Ezekiel Elliott is making the most money, so he should be used the most, according to Jerry Jones. This logic is flawed, as most of us know, and another strong performance by No. 20 makes this that much more obvious.

On Sunday, TP carried the rock 22 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. He would’ve had even more if it weren’t for a couple of runs getting called back. Despite that, 5.2 yards per carry isn’t too bad. However, it did (somehow) bring down his average to “just” 6 yards per carry on the year.

You’re in denial if you believe Zeke should continue getting most of the carries. This offense is so much more explosive with Pollard touching the ball. However, I will not be in the group that believes Zeke should be completely phased out of the offense, because this team could’ve really used him in some short-yardage situations on Sunday.

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