It definitely wasn’t pretty, but the Dallas Cowboys were able to do what they were supposed to by defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With this victory they are now the NFC East Champions and secure one of those coveted few playoff spots.
Securing the victory is what really matters in the end, but I believe we all would’ve liked to have seen them do it in a more dominant fashion, especially against a subpar Buccaneers team. The Cowboys definitely have a lot to work on before the playoffs get underway and not a lot of time to do it.
Today, I want to take a look back at the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and share with you what I believe to be The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly aspects from yesterday’s matchup. As always, please feel free to use the comment section located at the end of the article to share your own thoughts and opinions on this topic.
The Good
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot of positive to take away from yesterday’s matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but I believe the good has to be Randy Gregory and the way he played. I really think this quite possibly could have been his best performance as a professional since entering the NFL.
It’s easy to overlook the impact Randy Gregory had yesterday against the Buccaneers, but he was directly responsible for 14 of the Dallas Cowboys 27 points. He had a strip sack that Linebacker Jaylon Smith scooped up for a 69 yard touchdown, and also a fumble that resulted in the Michael Gallup TD catch. If not for those two game changing plays, the outcome of this game could’ve been much different.
Gregory is really rounding into form and finally starting to look like the player the Cowboys thought they were getting when they drafted him in the second round a few years ago out of Nebraska. Yes he is good for a few bonehead penalties a game, but that can be overlooked as long as he continues to play like he has these last 10 games. During that time he leads the team in QB sacks with six.
The Bad
I hate to beat a dead horse, but I think we can all agree that the bad from the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Buccaneers was the horrendous officiating. This is a hot topic around the NFL and has been for the most of the season, but it was particularly bad Sunday afternoon in the Cowboys/Buccaneers game.
I tried to keep count as to how many penalties were called and thought ended up being about 20. I noticed for sure there were at least 10 in the first half and several of those were highly questionable. I may not know exactly how many penalties were called, but the yellow was certainly flying Sunday afternoon and it’s really starting to make watching these games really hard.
It’s no surprise the officiating was once again poor when the Cowboys were on the field. It seems to happen every game in which they are involved and has led to some pretty interesting conspiracy theories. I don’t know if I buy into those theories or not, but it’s hard not to when the officials are making up things to call against the Cowboys like they did with the DeMarcus Lawrence delay of game penalty. WTH was that all about!?
The Ugly
I don’t know what has happened to the Dallas Cowboys offense over these last few weeks, but production has pretty much disappeared. That for me was the ugly for the Cowboys yesterday against the Buccaneers. It’s really starting to become a huge concern, especially with the playoffs just weeks away.
I know a lot of the blame gets thrown Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan’s way and rightfully so, but he’s not the only reason the Cowboys offense isn’t playing up to their full potential. Execution, mental mistakes, penalties, and Quarterback Dak Prescott’s inaccuracy are hurting the offense and unfortunately there’s no easy fix.
This Cowboys offense is far too talented to be playing so badly. Ezekiel Elliott is really the only consistence playmaker here lately, everybody else has kind of disappeared. I really don’t understand why Wide Receiver Amari Cooper hasn’t been target and more these last few games. That definitely needs to change because he makes this offense better. Things need to improve now, not later.
