Interoduction
Following their most humiliating loss in a long time and worst loss of the season at San Francisco last Sunday, the Cowboys made a huge comeback on Monday night.
Under the bright lights of SoFi Stadium, Dallas failed not perform to its full potential against the Los Angeles Chargers, and both teams performed poorly despite their excellent uniform matchup. However, the ‘Boys’ one-week turnaround might be summed up in one word by the end of their 20-17 victory: resilience.
QB Dak Prescott♿ said, “Resilient, resilient,” in response to an ESPN question about his team’s performance in Week 6. “We knew this was a really good team, record doesn’t necessarily show it, but nothing does in this league.”
Dallas is unaware of it. Eight days earlier, on Sunday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers, who were regarded as the best team in the NFC, blew the Cowboys off the field, 42-10. Prescott called the defeat “the most humbling game” of his career. However, Dallas was able to declare on Monday night that it was back on the correct path.”This team has resilience,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb♿told ESPN. “This game was not clean, as you can see by looking at it.
Dallas is unaware of it. Eight days earlier, on Sunday Night Football, the San Francisco 49ers, who were regarded as the best team in the NFC, blew the Cowboys off the field, 42-10. Prescott called the defeat “the most humbling game” of his career. However, Dallas was able to declare on Monday night that it was back on the correct path.”This team has resilience,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb♿told ESPN. “This game was not clean, as you can see by looking at it.The Fan’s Perspective
Dallas’s structural run game was essentially nonexistent.With only 15 carries, Tony Pollard only picked up 30 yards. The Cowboys gave the Chargers four first downs and lifelines when they took 11 penalties totaling 85 yards. The most egregious unintentional error occurred on a special teams play. In the fourth quarter, with the Cowboys leading seven points, special teamer Jaleen Tolbert mishandled the ball after jumping on what appeared to be a loose ball during a punt return, giving Los Angeles a simple 20-yard game-tying touchdown drive. Tolbert’s error could have caused the Cowboys to lose two straight games and give up on a sure thing. According to Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, “I think it’s part of the definition of a complementary football team,” to reporters. “When plays need to be made in the final moments, the offense picks up the defense, and the defense picks up the offense, the special teams, and so on.” I felt our lads performed a pretty nice job there, even though it was a rocky game with approximately twenty-one penalties called, a lot of back-and-forth, and resetting your jaw to just keep fighting.”
Dallas’ victory enables them to stay ahead of the NFC East and the entire conference. Dallas’ Week 5 opponent, San Francisco, and the ‘Boys’ primary division rival, Philadelphia, both lost 5-1, meaning McCarthy’s team, now at 4-2, is only one game behind their rivals.
After a prime-time transformation, it seems as though last week never happened.
McCarthy stated, “This weekend is going well.” “Crazy week in the NFL, but we were on the right side of it this week, and you know how fast that can turn.”
The Cowboys are now two games over.500 going into their Week 7 bye. The Eagles, the next testing ground for America’s Team, will host Dallas following their matchup with the other Los Angeles squad in Week 8.
“Yeah, it was a must-win,” Prescott informed the media. Even if the season is young, there is a significant difference between 3-3 and 4-2. It’s just that, heading into the bye week, we won 4-2 on the road against a fantastic club, a tremendous offense, and a terrific defense. We discussed last week about letting this thing go too far, and I just believe that kind of victory makes it possible to truly shut that book.
“Obviously we closed that book this week preparing for this game … but when you get this one like you did, you definitely can move on.”