Editor's Note: The Cowboys suffered their worst season in 25 years, winning just four games. As the team looks to improve in 2016, the writers of DallasCowboys.com will go through each of the 16 games in 2015, picking out both a positive and negative occurrence from each week of the season as the Cowboys try to build for the future. Today, we look at the Cowboys' losses against the Packers and Jets.
Game 13: Packers 28, Cowboys 7
The first game back to Lambeau since the controversial playoff loss, the Cowboys once again stuck with the Packers for a while, but not as long this time. Green Bay pulled away in the second half with a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the game look a little more one-sided than the actual contest.
Encouraging: With the Cowboys expected to have Darren McFadden back in the mix again in 2015, he showed he has some juice left in those legs, especially 13 games into the season. For the first time since 1994, the Cowboys had a running back with two runs of at least 45 yards in the same game. The offense couldn't get going consistently for the entire game, but McFadden at least showed the ability to have game-breaking runs.
Discouraging: With so much hype surrounding Dez Bryant's return to the place that caused so much controversy this offseason, the wide receiver didn't seem to handle the situation as well this time around. Afterwards, he even admitted he was trying to press and do more than he should have, just trying to put on a good show. As a result, he only had one catch for six yards. He nearly made another remarkable catch but once again, the play was overruled by the replay booth. With the magnitude of this game so high, the Cowboys certainly would've hoped for better results from their star receiver.
Game 14: Jets 19, Cowboys 16
The Cowboys finally made the switch at quarterback, pulling Matt Cassel in the second quarter for Kellen Moore, who had a touchdown drive but also threw three costly picks. Eliminated from the playoffs, the Cowboys still showed some fight, but it wasn't enough against a Jets squad that was very much in the AFC playoff picture.
Encouraging: Signed to the roster earlier in the week, cornerback Terrance Mitchell showed he might have a future here in Dallas, something the Cowboys thought all along when they drafted him in the seventh round back in 2014. But after bouncing around with a few teams already, Mitchell re-joined the Cowboys and quickly made an impression in his Dallas debut, picking off a pass in the third quarter. Mitchell's pick was the first interception by a Cowboys' corner of the season. [embeddedad0]
Discouraging: If there was some uncertainty surrounding Byron Jones' best position, it might have been cleared up in the fourth quarter against the Jets. Playing on the left side, Jones allowed a 43-yard pass down the sideline that set up the Jets' game-winning field goal. There might have been some miscommunication with Jones and the safety but it should signal that the rookie needs to be in one spot. Safety seems to be more natural for him, which can be a positive. But his versatility of playing and excelling at two spots might not be as great as the Cowboys initially thought.
