Dallas Cowboys

Here's everyone I blame for the Dallas Cowboys first loss of 2016

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:24 p.m. ET

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A look back at the Dallas Cowboys season opener against the New York Giants, the contributing factors to the loss and who to blame for it.

If you would have been told before the game that the Dallas Cowboys defense would hold the New York Giants to 20 points in the 2016 season opener, I bet you would have felt extremely confident that the Cowboys were destined for victory.

If you were to look into a crystal ball and see that the Cowboys would gain more yards of total offense (328 to 316), possess the ball for 13 minutes more than the Giants, would win the turnover battle (one turnover to zero), would gain more first downs (24 to 18), would give up zero sacks while registering two sacks of their own, and Dan Bailey would make all of his kicks on the day- including two from 54 yards or further, I would bet my mortgage that you would have said the Cowboys win the game.

Well, slam that crystal ball into the ground and smash it into pieces. Sweep it up into a dustpan but don’t throw it all away yet, because you can collect those tiny pieces and give them out to everyone who is deserving of blame for this tough 20-19 loss to a division rival.

A lot of fans will look at the stat sheet or national headlines and instantly gravitate to certain players for not doing their part, and that may be somewhat accurate. You might try and place a hog’s share of the blame on one receiver who decided not to go out of bounds in the final seconds of the game. However, you need to look at the bigger picture before chalking up the loss to a player or two.

Let’s delve a little bit deeper into this, starting with who I personally blame the most, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan is the person that I place a good amount of blame on for why the Cowboys lost the season opener against the Giants.

In the preseason, Dak Prescott looked like he was confident and capable of leading the Cowboys to be an explosive offense if he were to be forced into the starting job from a Romo injury, which happened in the third game of the preseason.

He was throwing the ball all over the field against opposing teams’ starting defenses. Why was he capable of doing that? Scott Linehan was dialing up aggressive play calls for the offense.

What we saw from Linehan’s game plan on Sunday afternoon against the Giants looked far from aggressive; it actually looked eerily similar to the play calling that we witnessed in Romo’s absence throughout the 2015 when Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel were at the helm.

Hear me out.

Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott dropped back to pass a whopping 45 times in his NFL debut, completing 25 passes for only 227 yards. He threw zero touchdowns along with zero interceptions, averaging only five yards per pass attempt and he finished the game with a 69.4 passer rating.

Of those 45 passing attempts, 26 of them went to the combination of tight end and security blanket Jason Witten and shifty slot receiver Cole Beasley. Between the two of them, they caught 17 of those passes for 131 yards- only 7.7 yards per catch on average. In simplified terms, they were mostly dump offs with no potential for big gains. We saw plenty of that last season with Weeden and Cassel at quarterback.

The longest play from scrimmage on the day was a 21 yard pass to second string tight end Geoff Swaim. That is a solid indicator that the offensive game plan showed a lack of trust in Dak’s ability to attack the defense vertically.

Here is my biggest issue with Scott Linehan’s game plan from week one- superstar wide receiver Dez Bryant was only targeted five times throughout the entire game. Out of those five targets, he was able to secure one catch for eight yards. Granted, Dez had what seemed to be a touchdown catch in the left corner of the end zone that was reversed due to what appears to be a consistent inability to maintain possession through the ground (we will get into blaming Dez for his part in the loss a bit later).

The other three targets to Bryant were all deep heaves, two of them being arguably catchable but were far from well placed by Dak Prescott and the third being thrown out of bounds. You cannot expect Dez to make a highlight play every single time you throw a vertical route down the field to him, especially if that is the only time you target him all game.

Sep 11, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (21) dives in for a touchdown against New York Giants free safety Nat Berhe (29) at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

When you have receiver like Dez at your offense’s disposal, I expect an offensive coordinator to be able to scheme up some creative ways to get the star player some targets while involving him heavily in the offense throughout a game.

There is no excuse for Linehan not moving Dez around the formation more often and letting him run crossing routes, slants, curls, even quick screen passes to give one of the most dangerous receivers in the NFL an opportunity to break a play open. The more Dez is involved, the more points the offense will score.

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I blame Linehan for that poor scheming and inability to be creative. If you are asking Dak Prescott to be overly cautious as a quarterback and check the ball down without giving him the green light to use your offense’s most proven explosive weapon, you might as well have kept Brandon Weeden as the backup quarterback.

Moving on to the running game.

Linehan was bound and determined to find success running up the gut against the Giants defense on early downs. As we all came to discover, the combination of defensive tackles Johnathon Hankins and Damon “snacks” Harrison was simply too much weight and power for the interior of the offensive line to handle. Hankins and Harrison were wreaking havoc on the run game all day long, especially inside runs.

Ezekiel Elliott ran the ball 20 times for 51 yards, a pedestrian 2.5 yards per carry average. His two longest runs of the day, including his eight yard touchdown run, both came on plays where he was able to break outside.

Despite the lack of success running up the middle, Linehan proceeded to call up inside runs time and time again which put rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense in poor down and distance situations. Poor down and distance makes you predictable as an offense. Being predictable is never a good thing in the NFL.

One last bone to pick with Linehan before moving on- if you are going to call a screen play to stay safe on third and 10 or further, at least dial up a screen to a player that is explosive and at least has potential to outrun defenders or make someone miss.

I love Jason Witten, but calling a tight end screen on third and 18 is the most ludicrous idea that an offensive coordinator can possibly draw up. You might as well punt it on third down.

Sep 11, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; New York Giants running back Rashad Jennings (23) runs the ball in the fourth quarter against Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Sean Lee (50) at AT&T Stadium. New York won 20-19. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys defense looked very strong to start out the game, especially against the run. On the Giants first two possessions of the game, the longest run allowed by the defense was for two yards. Defenders kept integrity to their gap assignments and made the tackle when the runner came to them.

In fact, the Dallas Cowboys didn’t allow a single run over 10 yards when the Giants were in a run-oriented offensive formation.

Where the Giants were able to exploit the Cowboys run defense and pick up the vast majority of their 113 rushing yards was on inside runs out of the shotgun formation.

The first of these big runs came on the third offensive possession for the Giants, where running back Rashad Jennings was able to burst right up the middle for 17 yards on the first play of the drive. He followed that up with another run out of shotgun for 7 yards, right up the middle on the next play.

Those big runs set up the Giants’ second consecutive touchdown drive to end the first half.

After a Cowboys punt while trailing 20-19 with three minutes and 57 seconds left in the game, the Cowboys needed a quick defensive stop to get the ball back into the hands of the offense.

The Giants, needing to grind out a few first downs to chew up clock, went back to what had worked for them throughout the game on the ground- running out of shotgun.

On the first play of the possession, Jennings took a handoff out of shotgun right up the middle for seven yards. On second down, they ran it out of shotgun yet again for 12 yards and a first down. At this point, there is three minutes and five seconds left in the game and the Cowboys decide to call their first timeout of the second half.

You will never believe what the Giants did next. How defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and the defensive players did not adjust to the runs out of shotgun is beyond me. But low and behold, The Cowboys allowed two consecutive runs out of shotgun totaling 12 yards and giving the Giants another first down while forcing the Cowboys to use their final two time outs.

With two minutes and 54 seconds remaining, the Giants go back to a run oriented formation for first and second down. Those two runs combined for negative two yards, which led to the two minute warning and the Cowboys last opportunity to stop the clock.

On third and 12, with the Giants not wanting to stop the clock by risking a pass, they still come out in a shotgun formation. I wonder what they could be doing?

You guessed it. A run up the middle. It was a miracle that safety JJ Wilcox made the tackle after an 11 yard gain, making it fourth and one yard to go with one minute and 12 seconds remaining in the game.

If the Cowboys defense would have recognized that the Giants were going to run the ball out of shotgun, which is what was successful for them all game, and stayed true to their gap assignments, the offense would have had a lot more time to work with and quite possibly multiple time outs which would have proven to come in handy while attempting to move into scoring position to win the game.

Sep 11, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrance Williams (83) is tackled by New York Giants free safety Landon Collins (21) and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (41) on the last play of the game at AT&T Stadium. New York won 20-19. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Terrance Williams, Wide Receiver

Williams is easily the scapegoat that the media has gravitated to when blaming someone for this loss. As you likely know by now, Terrance Williams caught a short pass toward the right sideline on the final play of the game near the Giants’ 47 yard line.

Instead of going out of bounds with about seven seconds left on the clock, Williams decides to turn up field and get extra yardage while getting tackled at the 40 yard line.

Had he gone out of bounds, the Cowboys could have either tried one more quick pass to the sideline to get a bit closer for Dan Bailey or they could have brought Bailey out to attempt what would have been a NFL record field goal of around 65 yards.

Mind you, Bailey had already made field goals of 54 and 56 yards during the game. 65 is quite the tall order for any kicker and there is a reason that the record stands at 62 yards.

It was still a poor decision by Williams and had he decided to go for a few more yards and then get out of bounds, we could be talking about him as the hero instead of being the one to blame for a tough loss.

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The Cowboys Offensive Line

Simple and plain, what is supposed to be the best offensive line in the NFL did not look the part on Sunday. The Giants defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage in the running game, often fighting off blocks and making contact with Ezekiel Elliott before he was able to make a move.

Starting right guard La’el Collins committed multiple penalties that backed the offense up into terrible down and distance situation which led to punts.

Right tackle Doug Free struggled to block Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul all game, whether it was pass blocking or run blocking.

The fact that the Cowboys only averaged 3.4 yards per carry, more than a full yard below their average yards per rushing attempt for the past two seasons, is clearly indicative of a poor game by the unit as a whole.

This offensive line should be embarrassed by their performance and need to clean it up and be motivated to do better moving forward.

Sep 11, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) cannot catch a pass while defended by New York Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (41) in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium. New York won 20-19. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Dez Bryant, Wide Receiver

Dez had an uncharacteristically quiet game, only making one catch for eight yards on the first pass play of the game for the Cowboys.

He was only targeted four more times on the day, including a play that was initially ruled a touchdown catch but was overturned after the ball clearly moves when Dez went to the ground after securing the catch.

That overturned call made a major impact on the game, settling for a field goal on that drive in the red zone ended up being a four point swing that made a difference between winning and losing.

Bryant needs to focus on protecting the ball when he goes to ground following a catch, as this is not the first time a play has been reversed in a crucial situation.

I don’t blame Dez for only being targeted five times as I put that on the shoulders of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan for not calling up plays that put him in a position to be targeted and make plays throughout the game.

If the Cowboys are going to be a high powered offense and score enough points to win games, Dez needs to be a focal point.

Cole Beasley, Wide Receiver

While Beasley made plenty of plays throughout the game to keep the team alive, there is a drop that stands out which could have also been the difference between winning and losing.

The Cowboys were at the Giants 10 yard line on the opening drive when Beasley was wide open out of the slot on a drag route. Prescott’s pass was a bit high but it still hit Beasley in the hands at the two yard line when he dropped it. If Beasley were able to secure the catch he likely scores a touchdown and if not, the Cowboys are in great position on second down to try and punch it in the end zone.

Sep 11, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws against the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium. Giants 20, Cowboys 19. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Dak Prescott, Quarterback

While Prescott didn’t make any crucial mistakes to lose the game, he also didn’t do enough to get the ball in the end zone to help win the game.

When big play opportunities presented themselves throughout the game, albeit there weren’t many, Prescott’s passes were often placed in a less than optimal spot for a receiver to be able to make the catch. There were also several times where players were open downfield but Prescott opted to take the safe route and checked down to Witten or Beasley.

Prescott will watch the film of this game and recognize these mistakes and I fully expect him to grow a lot from his first NFL start.

Ezekiel Elliott, Running Back

Elliott had a rough start to his NFL career. While the line did little to provide openings for the rookie running back, Elliott seemed a bit too anxious to try and hit a home run instead of getting the handful of yards that were there.

On multiple occasions he took the handoff and blasted ahead at full speed without taking the time to let a hole develop which is out of character for a back as talented as Zeke.

I am chalking up his performance to being overly anxious as well as just not having a lot of room to work with due to no push up front.

Elliott should find much more success running the ball and should be more involved in the passing game moving forward.

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