In a critical Week 15 matchup, the Dallas Cowboys once again failed to come up with a key win, losing to the Minnesota Vikings in a 34-26 disappointment. This marks a pivotal point in the season, as the team’s playoff odds are now astronomically low.
This was a frustrating game on all fronts for the team; offensively, they struggled throughout to get into the end zone, while the defense and special teams were flat-out abysmal nearly the entire night.
Simply put, it was a failure on all fronts to come up with a win when it was needed most.
Here, we’ll recap the game in all three phases of it, if you can bear to relive what became one of the signature losses in a season to forget for Dallas.
The Offensive Issues: No Touchdowns? Good Luck, Boys
If you weren’t pulling your hair out watching the Cowboys’ offense tonight, I salute you, because that was as frustrating a performance as we have seen all season.
To start, the unit looked good. They capitalized on a second-play Quinnen Williams interception with a touchdown drive after a Brandon Aubrey fake field goal, and a relentless effort from Javonte Williams to get in the end zone.
They did punt on the next drive, but after that, they again scored 7, this time with Malik Davis.
At that point, it felt like the offense was good for at least a couple more touchdowns. That assumption could not have been more wrong.
After their second touchdown on their third drive, the Dallas offense kicked six field goals, making four and missing two, and turning it over on downs once.
In short, that just won’t get it down. Despite strong performances from Dak Prescott, Williams, and CeeDee Lamb, Brian Schottenheimer’s play-calling woes and an invisible game from George Pickens did the offense in.
Defensive Struggles Continue: Unit Flails Against Weak Offense Again
Similar to the offensive side, things looked bright for the defense to start this game. The aforementioned Williams interception looked like it set the tone, and a punt on the next drive cemented that belief.
Unfortunately, from there, all hell broke loose.
The Vikings offense scored on their next three drives; twice with touchdowns, and once with a field goal. They only punted once after that second-drive punt as well, scoring touchdowns on three of four offensive drives in the second half.
J.J. McCarthy, with all due respect, is not the kind of guy who throws for 250 passing yards in a game; he did that today with ease.
The pass rush was poor, and the run defense failed to come up when needed most. All three levels of the unit struggled at points in the game or throughout the entirety of it.
This was the side of the ball that put Dallas in an early-season hole, and it was the group that likely ended their playoff chances.
Special Teams Letdown: Surprising Mistakes Bury Cowboys’ Chances
Who could have predicted the special teams woes we saw tonight, especially after that masterful fake field goal was pulled off early in the game?
Aubrey missed two critical kicks, one from 51 yards out and one from 59 yards.
He kept the Dallas offense in the game with his four makes, and ultimately, his two misses wouldn’t have changed the final result, but from a momentum standpoint, the two mistakes were killers.
KaVontae Turpin had an improved night in the kick return game, but he still seemed uncomfortable on punts, making at least one key misread that led to Dallas being pinned deep.
All in all, if you are blaming this game on any one person, you are drastically underestimating how many factors played into it.
Dallas falls to 6-7-1 and will take on the 10-4 Los Angeles Chargers at home next Sunday.
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