Staff Writer Haley Aguayo
The Dallas Cowboys suffered a devastating loss at AT&T Stadium after their face off against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 7.
Dak Prescott was back in the game against the Broncos. Immediately following the kickoff, running back Tony Pollard carried the ball from his own end zone all the way past the 50-yard line. . It was a tremendous start for the Cowboys at home, but that type of energy just wasn’t repeated by Dallas until the last quarter.
Denver quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and his offensive line consistently overpowered the once steady Cowboys defense during the first quarter. Prescott struggled to rise to the same performance level on his end, as the Dallas offense neglected to find holes in Denver’s defense.
As the Broncos progressed to the end zone in the last two minutes of the first quarter, Bridgewater stealthily handed the ball to running back Melvin Gordon III on the 7-yard line, who sneaked through Dallas’ defense to score the Broncos first touchdown. A triumphant start for a team with a 4-4 record, followed by a missed extra point from kicker Brandon McManus, ending the first quarter with a score of 6-0.
The Broncos took the ball in the second quarter, backed by a great offense, and Bridgewater was able to take his time and float footballs past the Cowboys defensive line as he made completions to his teammates. One of those completions included a 44-yard throw to wide receiver Tim Patrick, a player who had been a bust in the past, cut by two previous teams, but boomed on that Sunday afternoon as the Broncos finished the second quarter with a 13-0 lead against the Cowboys.
Linebacker Micah Parsons and running back Ezekiel Elliott pushed through the Broncos defense for notable first downs but it wasn’t enough as Denver got the ball back. Dallas’ defense stepped up their game and didn’t allow for another TD but Bronco kicker McManus returned to boot a 53-yard kick through the upper left side of the goal post and his team lead 16-0 as the first half ended.
The Cowboys returned for the second half with a clear goal of putting pressure on Bridgewater as Parsons got his second sack against the Broncos QB.
Broncos’ punter Sam Martin was blocked by Dallas’ Malik Turner. The ball was juggled and thought to possibly belong to the Cowboys but was ruled a recovery by Denver linebacker Jonas Griffith as the Broncos advanced.
Attempts to put the heat on Bridgewater didn’t faze him as he handed the ball to Javonte Williams who broke through not one, not two, but three Cowboy linebackers to run the ball 25 yards to midfield as fourth linebacker and safety Jayron Kearse finally stepped in to take Williams down. “Defensively, the Cowboys were gashed by running backs Williams and Melvin Gordon III in a showing that looked a lot like last year’s run defense,” ESPN staff writer Todd Archer wrote. It showed incredible athleticism for Williams to just stay on his feet.
McManus stepped in for another three points as the Broncos continued scoring against a seemingly defenseless Cowboys team with a 19-0 lead. Fans and cameras looked to the sidelines as a healthy Prescott seemed eager to get back on the field to prove that the Cowboys previous six-game winning streak was more than a fluke.
Fans expected the Cowboys to win but, as Orange Site expert for the Broncos team Travis Wakeman wrote for Predominantly Orange, “The Cowboys have not beaten the Broncos since they had the triplets on the roster,” referencing the famed Cowboys Holy Trinity of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin, who beat the Broncos in 1995.
Pressure put on Prescott continued to result in zero scores, a sad sight for Cowboy fans following the ’boys win against Minnesota last week.
With 11 minutes and 21 seconds left, Bridgewater ran the ball in himself, reaching over a pile of Cowboys to get the TD, scoring another six points for his team. Rather than bring McManus back in for a kick, the team decided they would embarrass the Cowboys even more by going for a 2-point conversion. Despite struggling to find an open man, Bridgewater found wide receiver Courtland Sutton for an extra two points, making it 27-0.
Once again, Prescott was left to maneuver through his own teammates as Denver’s smothering defense swept in on Cowboys wide receiver Ceedee Lamb as safety Caden Sterns intercepted the ball and Denver kicker McManus was brought in one last time for another field goal.
Could the Cowboys come back from 30-0 deficit with only 6 minutes and 32 seconds left? Cowboys fans got to witness some offense during the last four minutes as Prescott fired long balls left and right. He found Pollard at the 37-yard line who ran the ball down to the 4-yard line as the Cowboys scrambled to get some points on the board, which is exactly what they did, as Prescott threw the ball to Turner for their first score of the game. Dallas’ offense also opted for a 2-point conversion, a move with a lower than 66% success rate for the Cowboys in the past, but Elliott got the ball and made the score 30-8, avoiding the shutout.
When the Cowboys got the ball back, Prescott lobbed the ball to tight end Dalton Schultz for a 31- yard completion. After being knocked down all day by Denver’s defense, Prescott once again found Turner for a touchdown. With that, Prescott ran the ball in himself for another two-point conversion, finishing the game with a 30-16 loss.
“Wasn’t our best performance by any means, obviously our worst of the year, and credit to those guys,” Prescott said in his press meeting after the game when referencing the Broncos win.
With little evidence that the Broncos could come in and dominate the No. 1 offense in the country, they managed to explode as a team and hand the Cowboys a sound defeat. Could it be low probability calls made by head coach Mike McCarthy or an absent left tackle, Tyron Smith, that made Prescott so vulnerable? Only time would tell if the Cowboys would recover as they prepared to play the Atlanta Falcons Nov. 14.
