No excuses, just not good enough

KANSAS CTTY, Mo. If you had told me that the Cowboys defense would keep the Kansas City Chiefs at 19 points on Sunday afternoon, I would have sworn the Cowboys would have won.

If you had told me the Cowboys would limit the Chiefs to just two touchdowns, I would have told you the Cowboys would have been 8-2 today, the second best record in the NFL for only the 9-2 Arizona Cardinals.

If you’d told me the Cowboys would hold Patrick Mahomes to 260 yards, no touchdowns, intercept him once, fire him three times, and finish with a 71.9 QB rating, I would have told you that the Cowboys had defeated the Chiefs.

And if you’d told me quarterback Dak Prescott would throw just 216 yards, complete less than 60 percent of his passes, and finish with a QB score of 57.9, or else the Cowboys wouldn’t be able to make it to first. time in 27 games to score a touchdown here on Sunday I would have said you lost your marbles.

Not the NFL’s No. 1 offense. Not the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense. Not the team that left us after nine games with the announcement: ‘In Offense We Trust’.

Say it isn’t, the Chiefs only 19, the Cowboys an anemic 9, the Preston Road Trophy going back to the Hunts.

And this was no fluke, not just one of those things that will inevitably happen, like the loss to Denver two weeks ago.

No, this just wasn’t stamped GOOD ENOUGH, certainly not good enough for 73,494 at Arrowhead Stadium and a national TV audience to witness. Not on this Sunday before Thanksgiving.

The Cowboys really didn’t know what to say.

“We’re not discouraged, but we didn’t win the game,” said Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy.

“Our violation didn’t keep us up to date,” Zack Martin said, somewhat annoyed.

“Angry. Angry if I don’t play well, the team doesn’t play well,” said QB 1 Dak.

But maybe we’ll need Chiefs veteran head coach Andy Reid to explain this at the end of the NFL season, where common sense takes a beating and results are slathered with the consistency of expired mayonnaise from week to week.

“Every week is crazy in this league so I’m not sure if there are any statements,” said Reid after his team moved to 7-4 and to first place in the AFC West. “There’s not a lot of consistency in the NFL here right now. Every week is a big challenge. I’m talking about wins and losses that haven’t been consistent. There’s these ups and downs, and teams are preferred and then they get beaten .

How well the Cowboys know that they have now lost two of their last three games after that six-game winning streak, narrowed them to 7-3 and their NFC East lead now just 2.5 games over Philly.

But that said, let’s be real. This next man of bravado only goes so far. Face it, there’s a reason these backups are next. That’s because they’re not the man.

So offensively, the Cowboys were without their main receiver Amari Cooper, and they didn’t find out until Friday morning when he tested positive for COVID-19.

Just before halftime, CeeDee Lamb suffered a concussion when he hit his head on the turf and did not return to the game. Now the Cowboys were without their two main receivers, and possibly for the Thanksgiving Day game against the Raiders.

On Saturday, the Cowboys decided that starting left tackle Tyron Smith was still not ready to play with those pesky ankle bone spurs, as he had to rely again on the inexperienced Terence Steele for the left tackle. And that compounded the inexperience on the left after he decided earlier in the week to start Connor McGovern instead of Connor Williams on the left hat for the first time.

Plus, Ezekiel Elliott kept trying to play with a sprained knee, meaning they relied more on Tony Pollard, who had one carry for 31 yards and then six carries for 19 yards.

No wonder Dak was fired five times, hit eight times and defended nine passes.

Even Martin felt guilty, saying: “I don’t think we did the right thing to give Dak the time and feel comfortable. It’s up to us.”

That’s what happens when you don’t run the ball right, get yourself into too many second-and-longs, third-and-longs, and invite a bevy of Chiefs blitzes. And that’s a no-no, knowing you’d still be dealing with versatile D-lineman Chris Jones, who ended up with an AFC Defensive Player of the Week performance with five tackles, 3.5 sacks, two tackles for losses, three QB hits, a pass defended, a force fumble and a fumble recovery.

Though all quite predictable with the Cowboys offensive line littered with inexperience.

Then there were missed opportunities. Check this out:

On the game’s very first game of scrimmage from the 25-yard line, widespread Michael Gallup Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward smoked. But Dak shot past him badly, missing a 75-yard touchdown.

Then on third possession of the Cowboys, already trailing 9-0, they were first and 10 on the KC 15-yard line. The Cowboys finished with a Greg Zuerlein 33-yard field goal, meaning they didn’t move the ball an inch.

Then Dak went for it, first and ten on the Kansas City 28-yard line with 21 seconds left in the top half. Short of his pass to Lamb, Ward intercepted in the end zone and Lamb landed with his head on the ground, leaving his standings for Thursday’s game against the Raiders somewhat questionable.

First-and-10 at Kansas City 17, 10:06 left in the third, just 16-3 behind and a touchdown away from a one-score game. But no, having to settle for a 30-yard Zuerlein field goal out of 12.

Then, in the first game of the fourth quarter, now trailing 19-6, the Cowboys were first and ten on the KC 21-yard line. They went 9 yards back to 30, this time Zuerlein struck from 48 yards.

And if all that wasn’t enough, with 1:07 to play and one touchdown away from a one-score game, at first-and-10 on the Chiefs’ 20-yard line, Dak is intercepted again, this time. trying to hit receiver Malik Turner on an oblique route that cornerback L’Jarius Sneed picked out.

And though the Cowboys conceded just 19 points, the fourth time in six games, not more than 20, and though Micah Parsons, forced to play defensively, finished with two sacks, two tackles for losses, three QB hits and a forced fumble. , which was not close enough to make up for their offensive shortcomings.

And to think of the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys were still without defensive ends Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence and defensive tackle Neville Gallimore. And with Parsons defending well, they missed him badly at linebacker, the Chiefs’ speed overwhelmed the Cowboys.

“Again, our foul didn’t keep us up to date,” said Martin. “I think if you had told us that our defense kept them at 19 points, we would have felt pretty damn good about that.”