'No Respect!' Dallas Cowboys' Early 4th-Down Attempts 'Disrespectful' to Broncos?
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are good. Real good. And with that comes confidence. The Cowboys entered the game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday at AT&T Stadium riding a six-game winning streak, an explosive offense, and a debilitating defense.
The Broncos, on the other hand, came into the game almost the polar opposite of all of those. Questions at quarterback, a recently ended three-game losing streak with a questionable win over the Washington Football Team, and a head coach who has been criticized all season long for his on-the-field decisions.
With confidence comes aggressiveness. And the Cowboys started the game aggressively by attempting two fourth-down plays on their first two drives while on Denver's side of the field. The Broncos' defense stuffed Dallas both times, and that set the stage early for what would become a 30-16 shellacking of the Cowboys that was worse than the scoreboard indicated.
"Disrespectful," Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick said. "That s--- disrespectful. They trying us. And that's what happens when you try us."
On its first drive, after a fine Tony Pollard 54-yard kickoff return, Dallas' four-play, eight-yard drive seemingly stalled at the Denver 38, Dallas coach Mike McCarthy passed on a 55-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal try to attempt a fourth-and-one, but back Ezekiel Elliott was met in the backfield by Broncos safety Justin Simmons for a loss, turning the ball over to Denver with good field position.
Denver would then go three-and-out, as the Cowboys defense held. On Dallas' next possession, the Cowboys' offense drove to the Denver 20-yard line after a nine-play, 58-yard drive. Rather than attempting a Zuerlein field goal, this time of 37 yards, the Cowboys called on Dak Prescott's arm with a short pass to the right flat for Cedrick Wilson that fell at Wilson's feet incomplete.
That turnover on downs resulted in an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that seemingly had already put the game out of Dallas' reach in the first quarter.
Both of those unsuccessful fourth-down plays fired up the Broncos' defense.
Patrick aided the Broncos' impressive offensive performance with his own big plays on Sunday with 85 yards on four catches, with all four catches resulting in either a score or a first down.
The Broncos' defense forced the Cowboys' offense into something it hasn't been all season, inefficient. Dallas converted just five third downs in 13 tries and forced the Cowboys to go 0-4 on fourth down.
McCarthy said the early fourth-down calls were bad execution, not bad decision-making, even if they changed the tone early and gave Denver momentum.
"We talk about momentum swings all the time," he said. "I think it's important to respond to all the momentum swings. Especially if you have it, what do you do with it, and when the opponent has it, how do you respond to it?
"I'm fine with the decisions. The execution, particularly the first one, they had better defense than we had play called.''
Aggressiveness is fun when your team can execute, which the Cowboys have done in seven out of eight games this season. When your team can't execute, the result can be 'disrespectful' ... in more ways than one.
