Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys were humbled by the Chicago Bears on Sunday. As a result of their loss they are now 1-2 to start the season. It was a frustrating game in many ways and a difficult one to glean any positives from. Sometimes that is the way that things go.
While the game was bad, it may not have been as bad as you think in certain ways. Similarly, it may be even worse than you thought in others. In order to properly contextualize where Sunday ranks within all of Dallas Cowboys history we have to utilize the fantastic tools from Stathead and Pro Football Reference to do so. Some weeks that is more enjoyable than others.
This is not one of those weeks.
As noted the Cowboys are now 1-2 to start the season. That is some pretty not good news.
This is the 18th time in franchise history that Dallas has lost at least two of their first three games (obviously sometimes they lost all three). Only four of those seasons resulted in playoff appearances for the team.
Through the first three games of this season the Cowboys defense has been worked in just about every way. In those 12 quarters (13 technically, counting overtime against the New York Giants) they have allowed over 1,100 yards and 90 points.
This year’s team is only the second in franchise history to reach these marks through the first three games of a season. Their only company in that regard is the 2020 group that was led by Mike Nolan at defensive coordinator.
A particular twist of the knife here is that these are literally the two defenses which border Micah Parsons’ time with the Cowboys.
This is worded this way for a reason. Prior to Sunday in Chicago, the Cowboys only had two turnovers on the season. Averaging one a game is certainly more than you want, but it is clearly not terrible.
As a team the Cowboys had four turnovers against the Bears. There was Javonte Williams’ fumble, the tipped ball off of George Pickens’ hands that got picked, and then Dak Prescott and Joe Milton each had an interception (making two total for Dak) when the game was basically out of reach.
This puts the Cowboys at six turnovers on the season. It is the first time since 2020 that they have that many through the first three games of a season.
Does the context of Sunday matter relative to the bigger picture? Maybe a bit. But this is twice now where this season has been likened to the 2020 campaign. That doesn’t feel good.
The Cowboys have said a lot about wanting to improve their run defense. That was admirable given, um, literally all evidence to this point.
While...
