ARLINGTON, Texas – The Cowboys' 2015 season ended Sunday with a 34-23 loss to the Washington Redskins at AT&T Stadium that dropped Dallas to 4-12.
On Saturday, the staff writers gave their gut feeling for the season finale. Check out the instant reactions from the DallasCowboys.com staff.
Bryan Broaddus: The game played out the way I thought it might with the Redskins resting some of their starters before half. What I didn't count on was the terrible start by the Cowboys and the way they allowed the Redskins to build the type of lead they had. There were so many missed opportunities in this game from costly turnovers, to dropped passes, to questionable coaching decisions in the end. Jason Garrett said it the best in his post game comments - everyone in this organization has to be held accountable for the results of this season. There were more issues on this team than just the quarterback missing games.
Nick Eatman: Ok, well I went down swinging again! I said the Cowboys would win by 11, and they lost by 11. I really thought they'd play better and I guess if you could take away the turnovers in the first quarter, it would've been more competitive. But you can't take those away, they are a part of this game, and season. It's what the Cowboys do. I said Darren McFadden would rush for 137 yards and he went for 92 with a costly fumble at the 1. I had Butler getting a touchdown, but it was Cole Beasley with two and Witten getting one. I had them sacking the Redskins five times and it was just once. If it matters, I had the Cowboys going 11-5 this year and so I was off by seven games. See you in Mobile.
David Helman: Well, I pretty much nailed it. This game had all of the familiar hallmarks of this season. Darren McFadden reached his 1,000 yards and looked pretty good doing it – though that end zone fumble is a sour way to end it. Kellen Moore had a solid day and even found Jason Witten for a touchdown, which I predicted. But ultimately his inability to take care of the football hamstrung the Dallas offense. On the other side of the field, the Dallas defense had several solid shots at forcing a takeaway, and they couldn't do it. Along with the loss of Tony Romo, that problem with the turnover margin has been one of the biggest stories of the season. The Redskins' offense looks like a well-oiled machine as they prepare to start their playoff campaign, and the fact that they pulled Kirk Cousins in the first half is a testament to that. As always, give credit to the Cowboys for refusing to go away, fighting back from a 24-0 deficit to make it interesting. But along that same line, they didn't do enough to get a win. I've repeated that line a lot this season, and that's why the Cowboys are finishing their season at 4-12.
Rob Phillips: I thought Kellen Moore would have his best game as a starter, and the offense did finally open up. The Cowboys' 23 points was their highest total since Romo's final complete start Nov. 22 at Miami (a 24-14 win). Moore's 435 passing yards were easily the most by one of the team's four starting quarterbacks this season, and his three touchdowns tied a single-game season high. But he committed three more turnovers, two of which led to Redskins touchdowns, bringing his total to seven in three games. Terrance Williams, not Brice Butler, was Moore's top receiving target with a career-high 173 yards. Defensively the Cowboys allowed too many big pass plays that led to or resulted in touchdowns, and Darren McFadden -- a true bright spot on this team -- had an unfortunate touchdown-turned-fumble that sort of encapsulated the season in one play. The effort was there for 16 games, but nothing seemed to go right for the majority of them.
For the initial gut feeling predictions of the staff writers posted Saturday, click here:
