DALLAS — Before we examine what problems lie ahead for a Cowboys’ team that suddenly has issues with all four focal points of the game — run defense, pass defense, passing attack, running game — we need to clear things up for the head coach one more time.
Been through this before. I’m sure we will go through it again, and not just with Mike McCarthy. It drives me crazy when coaches or coordinators or fans or (especially) opinion-based columnists say it because it’s one of the real misunderstandings of the decision-making process.
I’m talking about the Cowboys throwing on third-and-10 late Sunday, an incompletion that allowed Jacksonville to pocket a timeout for Trevor Lawrence and the offense — exactly what they had to have, as it turned out — for the field goal that led to overtime. The run game had failed, netting zero yards in two plays to create the third and 10. None of that matters. You have to run the ball or throw a screen or a shovel pass to CeeDee Lamb running behind the line of scrimmage — anything to practically guarantee the clock keeps running — and force the Jaguars to spend their final timeout.
