Decoding Wk 9, Four Drives in the Fourth Quarter

To win on the road against the NFC Champions, Dallas needed just one more play.

Each Tuesday we attempt to evaluate the offense independently of the entire fabric of the game. They can only take care of their business and if they do it well and the team loses, they can still be evaluated positively. On the other hand, you can win a game and still think the offense can do much better.

So, we don’t want to simply look at the scoreboard to write out the report card. That isn’t how this should work, because more than week-to-week success, we are attempting to witness a team build itself into a much greater version of itself by season end. Great theory on paper, but it is wonderful when you see a team evolve.

In this edition of Decoding McCarthy, I will submit that the Cowboys lost the battle on Sunday, but appear to be winning the war more often on offense.

First, the bad news.

Dallas had the ball four times in the fourth quarter inside the Eagles 30-yard line. At the time the quarter began, they trailed, 28-17. There certainly was no way to know that the Eagles would not score again, but they did not. The bitter pill to swallow, knowing that, would be that if the Cowboys just kicked a field goal each time, they would have conceivably won, 29-28.

Instead:

– Fourth quarter drive No. 1: Turned the ball over on downs at the goal-line after Luke Schoonmaker was touched down just short of the goal. 0/1

– Fourth quarter drive No. 2: Scored a touchdown but then failed on a 2-point conversion when Dak Prescott stepped on the sideline. 1/2

– Fourth quarter drive No. 3: Turned the ball over on downs on an incomplete pass to Jalen Tolbert. 1/3

– Fourth drive No. 4: Fumbled at the 2-yard line as CeeDee Lamb struggled for the end zone in desperation. 1/4