This season, the Dallas Cowboys’ road record has been an ugly wart that was brutally exposed on Sunday at Highmark Stadium as the Buffalo Bills humiliated “America’s Team” 31-10.
Indeed, the leaders of the locker room and the coaching staff are admitting that they are unsure about how to address the issues that exist in at least two areas.
Mike McCarthy, the head coach, has acknowledged the “gap” in performance between home and away. Is quarterback Dak Prescott referring to the need for “problem-solvers”? And Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator, the architect of a team that was physically intimidated?
Quinn expressed his disappointment with “our tackling and our ball-hawking” during Sunday’s loss to the Bills on Monday at The Star.
He referred to those two areas of success as “our secret sauce,” and he correctly saw that his defense lacked both in this particular game.
But he added two other debatable points. …
First, he claimed that “home vs. away” or “turf vs. grass” had no bearing on the matter at hand.
Two, he dedicated some time to commending defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, recently signed veteran defensive lineman Carl Smith, and rookie first-round pick Mazi Smith.
Quinn maintained that Mazi “played strong and square inside.”
There, we will come to an end. Did he not? Did they not? “Standard and square”? As the initial wall of a bunch that let Buffalo’s James Cook, who caught two receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown and ran for 179 yards and a touchdown on 25 rushes, seem like Walter Payton?
“Strong and square”?
After a rough start to the season, the Bills had regained some form, but Dallas had been playing well of late. The Cowboys had the opportunity to defeat a quality AFC club on the road and further solidify their Super Bowl credentials in a game designed to test their credentials.
That said, not a single shot was fired by Dallas, hence none of the aforementioned happened. The offensive lacked flow and was awkward.Regarding the defense, we would like to yield to DQ. However, we question whether he’s using a pat on the butt rather than a solid kick to control people’s personalities.
We mean … “strong and square”?!
It is therefore assumed that the Cowboys coaches are aware in secret that this defense was everything from “strong and square.” “weak and round,” perhaps? – How can this be fixed?
Micah Parsons of Dallas stated, “To be honest, I don’t know what happened.” “To be honest, it’s just not acceptable anymore. I don’t know why we’re not collaborating on the road and why we’re not playing well. We must examine it and make improvements because we will be returning to the road the following week.”
It’s shocking to see how Dallas performs differently at home and away from home. The Cowboys score 39.9 points per game on average at AT&T Stadium, but only 18.2 points per game away from home.
The Cowboys are a very different club when they play away from home, and the way the season is going—Dallas will be playing on the road during the playoffs—may cause supporters to have nightmares. Coach Mike McCarthy is aware of this.
McCarthy remarked, “We have to get better. We play so well at home, and there’s just too big of a gap in our road games.”
The Cowboys’ inability to play reliable football away from home against a top opponent and their long-standing concerns with run defense were both made clear by the defeat. All of which culminate in an astounding thrashing that raises doubts about the Cowboys’ capacity to turn things around in time for the playoffs.
McCarthy’s candid assessment of those players up front, who, in our opinion, were pushed around, will also be our choice. What do you think about the D-line, Big Mike?
“There won’t be any gameballs distributed,” McCarthy declared categorically.
