Dak Prescott managed to do what he does best once again on Sunday, and I’m referring to the fact that he beat a Daniel Jones led team once again. Dallas waltzed into Indianapolis and ultimately came away the victors in a nail-biting game that really felt like it was going to come down to who made the last critical mistake.

The defense once again was anecdotally bad. I can say with supreme confidence that Daron Bland is the worst football player I have ever watched play in a Dallas Cowboys uniform. We thought Trevon Diggs last stint in Dallas was bad- Bland is 3x worse. He will undoubtedly be cut in the spring whenever his contract out comes in to place. The defense is missing Overshown- and Barham inexplicably only played three snaps on defense (via Marcus Mosher on Twitter). I fully believe that when Joey Porter Jr. can play consistently, at least some of the coverage issues can be assisted. Downs doesn’t naturally fit as a corner and needs to be used more frequently as a nickle or his natural position, safety. Also, shout-out Caleb on recording his first NFL interception with a game ending pick off of an errant Daniel Jones throw. The Cowboys are going to have to find a way to continue to patch this defense with edge rush and pass defense.

The offense was humming again. CeeDee had a monster game once again- even if he did have the boneheaded fumble that kept the Colts in the game towards the end of things. Dak looked great and had some incredible throws down the stretch where he put the ball right into the receiver’s hands 40 yards downfield. The running game is still iffy- it really feels like they cannot get consistent production out of Javonte and Goodson ended up having a quite solid game.

I am going to continue to harp on this, but Brian Schottenheimer must be fired at the end of this season barring a miraculous playoff run. His play calling is awful, this team is as undisciplined penalty wise as I’ve ever seen from a Cowboys team (which is saying A LOT), and the defense needs to have a better plan on how to try and keep improving. I don’t love Christian Parker’s tenure so far, but it feels unfair to judge him when taking into consideration the entirety of the situation. Mike McCarthy would be 7-2 with this team, and time is ticking for Schotty to figure it out.

Overall, this game was a lose-lose. The Cowboys continue to lurk in the race for the division versus a team that is actively starting Joe Milton, but it really feels like the penalties, lack of defense, and inconsistent offensive performance (mostly due to play calling) is going to hinder this team from making any sort of meaningful run in an NFL that truly feels week-to-week wide open on who is good and who isn’t. If Dallas pulls off some miraculous win versus San Fransisco this coming week I may be singing a different tune, but I hate watching this team and I really don’t know where the future leads for a Cowboys team who’s window with Dak Prescott is rapidly closing.

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J.A. Riley