My top 10 Whitty observations from the Cowboys’ debacle in the Meadowlands:
- Sing it with me, Elton … Buh-buh-buh Baddy and the Jets. This, my friends, is one of the signature losses of Jason Garrett’s now-teetering career. First time the Cowboys lost to a team 0-4 or worse since 1999. Said owner Jerry Jones, who turned 77 on Sunday, “It’s a bloody nose.”
- Difficult to remember when DeMarcus Lawrence was a trash-talkin’, play-making, disruptive force, isn’t it? These days – glaringly Sunday in New York – the formerly fierce defensive end was again just a No. 90 blocked into obscurity. The last two games he has three tackles and zero sacks. “Now,” said Lawrence, “it’s time to buckle down and go to work.” Maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t the leader of the “Hot Boyz” say that, like, every week?
- Remember last week in this space when we talked about missing Dan Bailey and not trusting Brett Maher. Yeah … Maher is the basketball player that drains half-court shots in warm-ups, then airballs a free throw with the game on the line. He hasn’t directly cost Dallas two wins, but certainly the opportunity to at least tie two games late. After three consecutive losses, the Cowboys can’t pretend anything is fixed. And they have to admit their kicker is broken.
- Still don’t understand the normally conservative Garrett’s decision to go for fourth-and-2 at the Jets’ 7 trailing only 7-3. Without road grader Tyron Smith, Dak Prescott ran left on a keeper but was smothered for a loss. Next play the Jets burned Chidobe Awuzie for a 92-yard touchdown pass. Game on.
- So much for Michael Gallup being a “game changer.” His speed is supposed to be an asset. On Sunday his hands were surely a liability.
- The offense was wounded by injuries to starting tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins and receivers Randall Cobb and Amari Cooper. Wobbly performance accepted, even expected. But the defense? It was all hands on deck, with Antwaun Woods back and even Sean Lee (for now) still healthy. Allowing 24 points to a Jets offense that had produced only two offensive touchdowns all season is just baffling. Tony Romo is right about a lot of things, but calling Sam Darnold “special” is comical. And wrong.
- The crumbling from 3-0 to Oh-and-3 is on Garrett. Truth be told, the Cowboys played horribly in beating the Dolphins to get to 3-0. And the last two weeks they’ve trailed 31-3 and 21-3. The slow starts are on the preparedness, and the lack of intensity. I mean, Sunday Garrett was outcoached by a guy (Adam Gase) who has mange-like patches in his beard and seemingly never looked up from working a crossword puzzle with a red Sharpie.
- Cowboys got plenty of help from the referees on their final scoring drive. But with a competent, correct call earlier in the game, they wouldn’t have needed it. They took the second half kickoff and marched 14 plays for a touchdown that pulled them within 21-13, until it didn’t. Negating a touchdown pass to Jason Witten, receiver Cedric Wilson was inexplicably called for offensive pass interference in the end zone. Horrible call. Headed on a post pattern to the back of the end zone, Wilson was clearly engaged by a Jets cornerback who initiated contact and shoved him into the safety covering Witten. The resulting three-man sandwich indeed freed Witten, but the collision was indisputably not Wilson’s doing. Erasing a touchdown and forcing a field goal, it was a four-point mistake by the refs. Dallas lost by two. I’m not real good at math, but …
- Just like that, the Cowboys are 3-3 with a loss to a one-win team, a win over a winless team and their three victories over opponents with a combined record of 3-14.
- No qualms with the two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game at 24-24. Considering Gallup’s numerous drops, without Cobb and Cooper, and with Dez Bryant’s athleticism on the fade route a distant memory, the Cowboys’ decision to throw to future Hall of Famer Witten one-on-one in the end zone against safety Marcus Maye makes perfect sense. The Jets sold out on a “zero” blitz. Dak recognized it, but too late. His hurried, off-balance, weak throw fell harmlessly at Witten’s left foot. Duress notwithstanding, Dak must deliver that ball on target and a beat sooner. The design was good; the execution horribly flawed.
