Seventy-seven days since the truncated Dallas Cowboys training camp held its first full practice in Frisco, 100 days until Super Bowl 55 in Tampa and just two days until the 7:20 start at Lincoln Financial Field for Sunday Night Football with the Philadelphia Eagles…Nobody wants to hear your excuses. Seriously, this is the NFL. Not one other team feels sorry for you.
https://theathletic.com/2170463/2020/10/30/cowboys-versus-eagles-offers-a-contrast-in-mentality-cowboys-riffing/
There have been weeks when the Cowboys defense has given up more points and yards than it did during the most recent trip to Washington, but I would put this performance right next to the rest of them. It’s hard to find a path that leads to optimism or good feelings. This is a very bad defense. Week after week, we see some of the opponents’ biggest plays resulting from attacks on what the Cowboys do worst.
https://theathletic.com/2165952/2020/10/28/how-the-cowboys-leaky-defense-allowed-washington-free-rein-the-nolan-report/
This has been an incredibly odd season, and all indications are we are not done with the oddities yet. But try to believe this one: Dallas has played about 1,000 games in its 61-season franchise history. And already, in this insane 2020, the Cowboys offense compiled two of the six highest offensive yardage days in its history — 570 against Atlanta and 566 versus Cleveland — and then the 10th-lowest a few weeks later with the 142 yards they put up in Washington on Sunday.
https://theathletic.com/2163576/2020/10/27/the-cowboys-ol-is-a-mess-but-how-much-is-their-fault-decoding-kellen-moore/
Today is Monday, October 26th. This has been a very poor month for the Dallas Cowboys. Thankfully, they will play no more games before this page on the calendar is flipped. I am going to assume November cannot be worse — at the very least, it features a bye week. But before we tackle a new low in Cowboys football 2020 from their trip to the nation’s capital, allow a brief review of a few previous Monday Mornings.
https://theathletic.com/2161277/2020/10/26/cowboys-look-helpless-as-they-reach-new-depths-in-washington-the-morning-after/
There comes a point when we start to think that they are running out of ideas. If you read my work on a regular basis, you know that I hesitate to blame coaches at the NFL level. Given how this league works and the compensation involved, I believe this level of football is far more a player’s league. While coaches surely and definitely affect the proceedings, it is, as Darrell Royal told us, “not the Xs and Os, but the Jimmys and Joes.” Well, the Cowboys’ Jimmys and Joes are not getting it done.
https://theathletic.com/2154389/2020/10/22/worst-cowboys-defense-ever-the-2020-team-has-a-shot-at-it-the-nolan-report/
Monday night highlighted the depressing realization that reality bites. Dak Prescott was not available to run out of the tunnel, lead the offense and put the team in a position to win as he has done so well for roughly 70 games as the QB1 of the Dallas Cowboys. There have been countless discussions and debates about his relative merits, but make no mistake, his value is getting boosted by his absence. That is what eventually turned most people into Tony Romo fans, too.
https://theathletic.com/2151802/2020/10/21/overwhelmed-cowboys-had-no-answers-for-cardinals-defense-decoding-kellen-moore/
We thought Cleveland was probably rock bottom. Then, last week, the Cowboys lost their best chance to survive with a broken ankle. And then last night happened, and we realized we have 10 more weeks of Cowboys football. The survival chances are diminishing at such a rapid rate that rock bottom may just be a coping mechanism more than anything. After all, rock bottom suggests things can get better very easily — that they can’t get worse.
https://theathletic.com/2149579/2020/10/20/cowboys-keep-finding-new-lows-when-we-think-they-cant-the-morning-after/
Sixty-six days since the truncated Dallas Cowboys training camp held its first full practice in Frisco, 111 days until Super Bowl 55 in Tampa and only a few hours until the 7:20 start at AT&T Stadium with the Arizona Cardinals…. This is a pivotal week for the Dallas Cowboys. But you knew that. Dallas could beat the Cardinals at home and the Washington Football away and sit at 4-3 in just seven days. They could split and be at 3-4 (which is certainly good enough for first place in the NFC East).
https://theathletic.com/2146013/2020/10/19/how-the-cowboys-can-defeat-metroplex-royalty-and-climb-to-500-monday-riffing/
There is no question that two things have been true about the 2020 Cowboys defense. One, they needed to try some new things and implement them post-haste. Two, they needed to try some new players and figure things out on the fly without a camp or an offseason providing the reps needed to put in a new system and new players.
https://theathletic.com/2137335/2020/10/14/cowboys-defense-flashes-bright-spots-and-a-new-approach-the-nolan-report/
Sunday was every franchise’s worst-case scenario. The man around whom the entire thing is built — and by “the entire thing,” we would say the gameplan, the team structure and yes, the future — has been injured to the extent that he cannot carry on with a week’s rest. QB1 has been completely shut down for the remainder of the year. 2020 has claimed yet another victim, creating the Dallas Cowboys’ worst nightmare.
https://theathletic.com/2134964/2020/10/13/andy-dalton-takes-center-stage-as-cowboys-move-on-without-qb1-decoding-kellen/
There will be quicker pieces written about each Cowboys game by others, but beating them to the punch was never my goal with The Morning After. The goal, instead, would be to think things through and to let some of the emotion die down before trying to summarize the events of the previous day. After a night’s sleep, the fresh feeling of a new day and a nice mug of coffee, I often feel my perspective is better. That’s worth allowing others to write their pieces long before I ever would even try.
https://theathletic.com/2132401/2020/10/12/reality-comes-crashing-down-on-dak-prescott-and-the-cowboys-the-morning-after/
Fifty-six days since the truncated Dallas Cowboys training camp held its first full practice in Frisco, 121 days until Super Bowl 55 in Tampa and only two days until the 3:25 start at AT&T Stadium with the New York (football) Giants…. Let’s be honest: Things could not have started worse for the new administration.
https://theathletic.com/2126902/2020/10/09/can-cowboys-course-correct-vs-giants-theyd-better-hope-so-friday-riffing/
I do not know how old most of our readers here are, but unless you are well over 65 years old, you have likely not seen all 981 Dallas Cowboys games played since 1960. There have been some incredible days that required parades. The glory this franchise has enjoyed is right up there with any immortalized organization in the sport. But even the best of the best had their share of incredibly lousy days, too.
https://theathletic.com/2121415/2020/10/07/the-nolan-report-after-historic-letdown-the-cowboys-defense-hits-rock-bottom/
There were 152 plays in Sundays game, and I would submit to you the entire contest changed on one snap that lasted about three or four seconds. It is the second quarter, with 11:23 left on the clock. The Cowboys look unstoppable on offense and the score is 14-14. The Browns have no idea how to defend Dallas, and the same is true in the other direction. So far, the game has been clean and precise, with Dallas already recording an 84-yard touchdown drive and an 88-yard touchdown drive.
https://theathletic.com/2118612/2020/10/06/decoding-kellen-moore-cowboys-going-nowhere-fast-until-they-fix-their-turnovers/
Seven Dallas Cowboys constitute roughly 63 percent of their total cap dollars. In today’s NFL, that is about the maximum number of players you can extend the lion’s share of your salary cap to cover.
https://theathletic.com/2115874/2020/10/05/morning-after-another-cowboys-self-sabotage-leads-to-questions-about-stars/
Forty-nine days since the truncated Dallas Cowboys training camp held its first full practice in Frisco, 128 days until Super Bowl 55 in Tampa and only two days until the noon start at AT&T Stadium with the Cleveland Browns…. There are very few teams that have all-time winning records versus the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, Dallas has a winning record against 26 of the other 31 teams populating the NFL. A 27th is the Raiders, against whom the Cowboys are 6-6 all-time.
https://theathletic.com/2109994/2020/10/02/friday-cowboys-riffing-dallas-opens-a-critical-month-with-a-challenging-test/
