Defeating a quality opponent, or any team in the NFL for that matter, is always a tough task. Battling against yourself doesn't make it any easier.
In losing 27-21 to the Atlanta Falcons, the Dallas Cowboys were too often their own worst enemy. Untimely penalties, failures on third-and-fourth down and communication lapses led to another disappointing defeat.
And adding injury to the insult, quarterback Dak Prescott left the game in the fourth quarter due to a hamstring injury. Prior to his departure, Prescott had a relatively efficient afternoon, completing 75 percent of his passes for 133 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a 101.6 passer rating. In his place, Cooper Rush finished out the game with 115 yards off of 18 of 24 passing and a touchdown for a 77.9 mark.
In a worst case scenario, Prescott's injury was soon followed by CeeDee Lamb having to leave for a period of time in the final quarter with a right shoulder injury. Clearly in pain, he returned late in the game and finished with eight catches for 47 yards, including a two-point conversion after coming back in the final minutes. Tight end Jake Ferguson led the Cowboys with 71 receiving yards.
On the ground, Dallas showed some life as Rico Dowdle rushed 12 times for 75 yards with Prescott finally using his legs some as well, totaling 30 yards on three runs. Overall, the team posted an impressive 6.5 yards per carry average.
However, the Cowboys had seven pre-snap penalties on offense, including two on fourth down, and converted only 3 of 13 third-down attempts and 1 of 5 fourth-down tries. They finished with 378 total yards to the Falcons' 310 and barely won the time of possession, 30:40 to 29:20. Still, the mistakes proved costly.
The Dallas defense fared better in stopping its opponent's rushing attack. Running back Bijan Robinson recorded 145 yards from scrimmage, including 86 yards carrying the ball, although as a whole, Atlanta averaged just 3.3 yards per run.
Kirk Cousins proved to be the real problem, though. The quarterback started the day with 13 consecutive completions, and completed 79.2 percent of his passes for the game for 222 yards and three touchdowns for a 144.8 rating.
First Quarter
For the first time this season, the Cowboys did not allow their opponent to pick up points on their opening drive. Nice start.
Even better, Dallas came right back and put three points on the scoreboard on its first possession. The first three plays of the series saw Prescott connect with Ferguson for 27 yards, Dowdle for 12 and then back to Ferguson for another 15. The drive eventually came to an end at the Atlanta 16-yards line, but Brandon Aubrey, fresh off jury duty, was good on his 34-yard field-goal try.
But before the quarter was done, the Cowboys would find themselves trailing. The Falcons stitched together a seven play, 78-yard possession that produced gains of 22, 16 and 18 yards. The score came when Cousins lofted a pass to Drake London on the left side of the end zone, the wideout making a leaping grab for a 10-3 Atlanta lead.
Second Quarter
The next 15 minutes got off to a promising start when the second snap of the frame saw defensive end Carl Lawson come off the right side for a strip-sack of Cousins. The bouncing ball was pounced on by safety Donovan Wilson, the Cowboys now with possession.
Unfortunately, they couldn't take advantage of the gift. Head coach Mike McCarthy decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Falcons' 44-yard line, only to have Lamb's attempted end-around get stuffed for a 3-yard loss.
That led to an easy Atlanta score. The Falcons went for it themselves on fourth-and-3 at the Dallas 36-yard line, but confusion lining up in the Dallas secondary led to Darnell Mooney breaking wide-open down the right sideline, an easy pitch-and-catch for the walk-in touchdown.
And then the Cowboys answered with one of the craziest touchdowns you'll ever see. Thanks to three runs of 15-plus yards – one each by Lamb, Prescott and Dowdle – Dallas found itself on second-and-goal at the Falcons' 3-yard line. That's when Prescott, scrambling back and avoiding defensemen all around him, tossed a pass to Dowdle in the end zone. The running back then jumped, bobbled the catch, hit the ball up once on his way down and finally caught the prize while on his back for the improbable score. That closed the gap to just four points, 14-10, at the half.
Third Quarter
Dallas opened the second half with a false start penalty, which soon resulted in the special teams unit coming out for a punt. But punter Bryan Anger instead went for the fake, attempting a pass to gunner C.J. Goodwin, the ball falling incomplete.
That gave the Falcons possession at the Cowboys' 38-yard line and five plays later they were across the goal line. The first four those plays were Robinson runs for a combined 27 yards, but the last was an 11-yard pass from Cousin to wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud for the touchdown.
Penalties continued to plague the Cowboys. First there was another false-start penalty, and when the offense then lined up for a fourth-and-1 try at the Atlanta 49-yard line, Dallas was flagged for too many men on the field. With that, out came the punt unit.
Finally, the Cowboys were able to add to their point total. Taking over at their own 39-yard line, they managed to reach the Falcons' 39 before stalling. But Aubrey was on hand to kick another field goal for the final snap of the third quarter, this one from 57 yards to keep Dallas within striking distance, 21-13.
Fourth Quarter
With the Cowboys defense starting to wear down, Atlanta's offense went heavy on its ground game. The Falcons opened the final quarter with a seven-play, 66-yard drive that saw two Cousins passes for 40 yards followed by five straight rushes for the final 26. The last was a 6-yard bull-rush up the middle by Tyler Allgeier for the touchdown. A bad snap led to Atlanta missing the extra-point.
However, on the previous drive, Prescott injured his hamstring and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. That left the quarterbacking duties to Rush in his first meaningful snaps of the 2024 season.
The two sides traded punts, but when returner KaVontae Turpin corralled Atlanta's punt at his own 28-yard line, he turned the right corner and had an open field in front of him. But he was unable to control his momentum, and despite desperately trying to stay in-bounds, he stepped on the white line, a potential touchdown quashed.
The Cowboys still threatened, reaching the Falcons' 31-yard line, but when Lamb was unable to make a diving catch in the end zone on third down and Turpin failed to haul in a fourth-down pass, Dallas turned the ball over on downs. Lamb, already in pain from a right shoulder injury, would be forced to leave the game for a series.
Dallas was now down by two touchdowns with just over five minutes remaining, but Rush got the Cowboys back in the end zone on a 14-play, 86-yard drive, which included a 22-yard completion to Turpin on fourth-and-5, as well as a third-and-1 run by Rush for 7 yards. He then found Jalen Tolbert in the back of the end zone for the score. Lamb, who came back late in the drive, was open for the two-point conversion, Dallas now down just 27-21 with 1:32 left on the clock.
But Aubrey's on-side kick would be recovered by the Falcons, the Cowboys' hopes for a comeback coming up short.
