Dallas Cowboys Team Grades: Cowboys' Season Ends Despite Furious Comeback
By Shawn Lealos
The Dallas Cowboys finished the regular NFL season with the best record in the NFC and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. However, despite such a promising year behind their rookie quarterback and running back, it wasn’t enough once the playoffs started. The Cowboys fell to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional playoffs, 34-31, to end their season early. Here is a look at the Dallas Cowboys team grades for their disappointing loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Offense: A-
The only bad thing that can be said about the Dallas Cowboys offense is that they took too long to really get started and they had too many penalties. Green Bay was beating Dallas 28-13 when the fourth quarter started, but that's when the Cowboys offense roared back to life. In the first half, Dallas did score a touchdown on a 40-yard pass from Dak Prescott to Dez Bryant, and they might have scored another one after a great Terrance Williams catch if not for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty before the play.
However, the Cowboys offense proved up to the task when they scored two touchdowns to tie the game up in the fourth quarter and then hit a field goal to tie it up again after that. On the day, rookie Dak Prescott had a great first playoff game of his career with 302 passing yards and three touchdowns, while throwing only one interception and running for a two-point conversion. Two of his touchdowns were to Dez Bryant, who finished with nine catches for 132 yards, and the other was to Jason Witten, who finished with six catches for 59 yards.
Ezekiel Elliott also had a great game, with 125 rushing yards on 22 carries. This offense did everything it needed to do to win the game, or at the least send it into overtime. However, the defense let them down.
Defense: C+
The best thing to say about the defense was that they buckled down after halftime. On the first three drives of the game, the Cowboys defense couldn’t stop Aaron Rodgers. He put three touchdowns on the board before the Packers ever had to punt the ball once. The first drive was a five-play, 75-yard drive; the second was a 13-play, 90-yard drive; and the third was a nine play, 80-yard drive. It looked like Rodgers was going to run all over Dallas.
After that third touchdown, Dallas finally started to stop Rodgers. They forced Green Bay to punt the ball three times, and even intercepted Aaron Rodgers - the first time that has happened in six weeks. There was a second interception that could have won the game for Dallas, but an unnecessary pass interference penalty nullified it. Then the end came: On a third-and-long, Dallas let Rodgers complete a 35-yard pass to set them up for the game-winning field goal with time running out. It was the one play the Cowboys defense needed to hold Green Bay on - and they failed, ending the Cowboys season.
Special Teams: A
During the first 58 minutes of the game, the special teams meant nothing to the game. There was a total of five punts in the game and no major returns. However, in the final two minutes of the game, the Packers' Mason Crosby hit a 56-yard field goal to give Green Bay the lead. With 58 seconds remaining, the Cowboys' Dan Bailey hit a 52-yard field goal to tie it up. That should have sent the game into overtime if not for the Mason Crosby 51-yard field goal with time running out. The special teams did what was asked of them.
Coaching: B+
Jason Garrett did not give up on Dak Prescott, despite the Cowboys falling behind 28-10. That was hugely important. Prescott led the Cowboys back to tie the game up twice in the fourth quarter, and Dallas could have won if not for a couple of bad penalties and blown coverage at the end. However, the defensive lapses show Dallas where they must improve in 2017. The good news is that the Cowboys trusted Prescott, and that will pay dividends in the future.
The Dallas Cowboys' season has ended. In what looked like their best chance to return to the Super Bowl in years, the Cowboys fell short to the Green Bay Packers once again. The future looks bright for the Cowboys.—they have one of the best young offenses in the NFL, and they just need to add pieces to their defense in 2017 to make it back to the playoffs once again.
