Cowboys lose in overtime!
I suppose the Cowboys are doomed to play close games until the seasons end and Thanksgiving Day was no exception. The Cowboys lost a heart breaker in Overtime to one of the AFC's Top teams. For that, I suppose we shouldn't be so disappointed.
The game started out bad for the Cowboys and Bledsoe and ended bad for the Cowboys and their defense. The Broncos Champ Bailey returned an errant Bledsoe pass in the 1st quarter 65 yards for the games first score. The Cowboys and Bledsoe quickly responded with a 71 yard drive and touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Keyshawn Johnson to tie the game at 7.
The Cowboys and Broncos traded touchdowns in the 2nd quarter. The Broncos Rod Smith got Aaron Glenn turned around and caught a 20 yard touchdown pass from Jake Plummer. The Cowboys quickly answered with a 69 yard drive for a touchdown with a 1 yard touchdown sneak on 4th and goal by Bledsoe. This touchdown was setup when Terrance Newman intercepted a Jake Plummer pass.
Denver scored the only touchdown in the 3rd quarter with a 90 yard drive culminating with a 16 yard Ron Dayne touchdown run. The Cowboys answered the Broncos third quarter touchdown with an early 4th quarter score setup by a Bronco fumble on the Cowboys 10 yard line. A few plays later, Bledsoe hit Jason Witten for a tying score.
The Broncos final 3 possessions of the 4th quarter were 3 and outs while the Cowboys moved the ball fairly successfully. On the Cowboys next possession after the tying touchdown, they drove 40 yards only to have Billy Cundiff miss a relatively easy 34 yard field goal. Again the Cowboys had a chance to go ahead but a 40 yard drive stalled at mid field forcing the Cowboys to punt. The Cowboys final possession of the game brought back some earlier game Seattle memories for me. Parcells must have had the same feelings because after a incomplete pass and a play for no gain, the Cowboys ran out the clock and hoped for the best in overtime.
It was not to be. The Broncos won the coin toss in overtime and on the 2nd play from scrimmage in overtime, Broncos RB Ron Dayne ran through a gaping hole on the left side of the line, bounced to the outside and raced 55 yards before Terrance Newman could run him down. The Broncos wasted no time and sent out Jason Elam to end the game, which he did with a 24 yard field goal.
Tough loss for sure but hopefully one the Cowboys will learn from.
Injuries; Al Johnson (center) knee.
Player of the Game; Jason Witten had a season high 9 catches and a touchdown grab.
Other players who deserve props; Roy Williams had a very solid game with 7 tackles and 1 forced fumble.
Terrance Newman played very well and had an interception that led to a Cowboys touchdown.
Just when you thought someone other than Greg Ellis would lead the Cowboys in sacks for a season, Ellis picks up another doubling up the rest of the field with 8 for the year so far.
Grades:
Offense - C+. The Cowboys controlled the ball for nearly 36 minutes compared to the Broncos 24, but they were only able to score 21 points. The 2 interceptions were crucial to the loss along with the Cowboys inability to run the ball as evidenced by their 2.7 yards per rush and 85 total yards on the ground.
Defense - B. The defense was solid as usual. They only gave up 14 points in 4 quarters. They limited the Broncos offense to 293 yards and only 13 first downs. The only big Bronco played came at the worst time for the Cowboys defense, a 55 yard run by Broncos Ron Dayne in OT sealed the Cowboys fate.
Special teams - B. Some would argue that the missed field goal cost the Cowboys the game. I don't think it did but we will never know. Other than that one miss, special teams were very solid. No long returns for either team.
|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
OT |
Final |
|
|
7 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
21 |
|
7 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
24 |
|
Scoring Summary |
1st Quarter |
|
TD |
Champ Bailey, 65 Yd interception return (Jason Elam kick is good), 8:10. |
|
TD |
Keyshawn Johnson, 14 Yd pass from Drew Bledsoe (Billy Cundiff kick is good), 3:46. Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards in 4:24. |
2nd Quarter |
|
FG |
Rod Smith, 20 Yd pass from Jake Plummer (Jason Elam kick is good), 14:17. Drive: 7 plays, 84 yards in 4:29. |
|
TD |
Drew Bledsoe, 1 Yd run (Billy Cundiff kick is good), 2:53. Drive: 10 plays, 69 yards in 5:28. |
3rd Quarter |
|
TD |
Ron Dayne, 16 Yd run (Jason Elam kick is good), 5:47. Drive: 11 plays, 90 yards in 6:20. |
4th Quarter |
|
TD |
Jason Witten, 4 Yd pass from Drew Bledsoe (Billy Cundiff kick is good), 13:36. Drive: 3 plays, 10 yards in 1:18. |
Overtime |
|
FG |
Jason Elam 24 Yd, 13:39. Drive: 3 plays, 62 yards in 1:21. |
|
Passing |
|
CP/AT |
YDS |
TD |
INT |
D. Bledsoe |
29/44 |
232 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Rushing |
|
ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
J. Jones |
20 |
55 |
0 |
11 |
M. Barber |
9 |
28 |
0 |
6 |
D. Bledsoe |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Receiving |
|
REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
J. Witten |
9 |
82 |
1 |
18 |
K. Johnson |
6 |
59 |
1 |
14 |
T. Glenn |
4 |
56 |
0 |
39 |
P. Price |
2 |
15 |
0 |
8 |
J. Jones |
5 |
9 |
0 |
6 |
L. Polite |
1 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
T. Copper |
1 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
M. Barber |
1 |
-2 |
0 |
-2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Fumbles |
|
FUM |
LOST |
REC |
YDS |
T. Newman |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kicking |
|
FG |
LG |
XP |
PTS |
B. Cundiff |
0/1 |
0 |
3/3 |
3 |
Punting |
|
NO |
AVG |
I20 |
LG |
M. McBriar |
5 |
47.6 |
2 |
55 |
Kickoff Returns |
|
NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
T. Thompson |
3 |
27.0 |
0 |
33 |
D. Campbell |
1 |
14.0 |
0 |
14 |
Punt Returns |
|
NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
T. Newman |
2 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
P. Price |
2 |
5.0 |
0 |
8 |
Defense |
|
T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FF |
R. Williams |
6-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
1 |
A. Glenn |
4-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Newman |
4-0 |
0.0 |
1 |
0 |
D. Ware |
4-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
G. Ellis |
3-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
C. Canty |
2-2 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
K. Davis |
2-3 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
R. Fowler |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
B. James |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Copper |
1-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
S. Fujita |
1-2 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Glenn |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
N. Jones |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
W. Pile |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
J. Reeves |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
M. Spears |
0-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Next game; Sunday December 4th, 1:00 PM in New York against the division rival Giants for first Place in the NFC East. The winner of this game will have the inside track for the NFC East division.
|
