Dallas Cowboys studs and duds Week 17: Dak Prescott struggles mightily in loss
By Randy Gurzi
Dallas Cowboys Dud: Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore
Entering this game, the Dallas Cowboys were in contention for the No. 1 seed. You would have never known it by how they came out and performed though.
Despite Arizona being short-handed on defense, the Cowboys’ offense was anemic. They looked like a team that took their foot off the gas pedal after winning the NFC East last week. They appeared unmotivated, sloppy, and undisciplined.
Dallas was hit with several penalties on both sides of the ball but none were worse than the continual holding calls that resulted in short drives and overturned first-downs.
McCarthy has yet to prove he has this team ready to compete against the top teams in the NFL and Sunday was another example of that. He also continues to struggle with time management as he called his timeouts far too early in this one, which didn’t allow him to challenge a possible fumble on the final drive for Arizona.
As for Kellen Moore, the young man who is on many head coaching radars didn’t do enough to get Dak Prescott and the offense in rhythm. Sure, Dak was off with his throws but Moore failed to make any adjustments to make life easier on his team.
They did finally get something going in desperation time but by then, it was too little, too late.
Dallas Cowboys Stud: Cedrick Wilson
When Michael Gallup was hurt, things seemed bleak for Dallas. But then, Cedrick Wilson stepped up. First, he converted a fourth and goal reception as he hauled in a pass for a touchdown to keep the Cowboys’ hopes alive.
Then, he took over as they were trailing 25-14. First, Wilson hauled in another fourth-down reception, to keep their drive alive. He followed that up with a trick play as he completed a great pass downfield to Tony Pollard on the play right after he converted his key fourth-down.
If that wasn’t enough, Wilson then caught a contested pass on the two-point conversion to make it a 25-22 game. Like Gallup, Wilson will be a free agent in the offseason and Dallas would surely love to have him back as he’s proven to be a spark plug all season. That was true in this one as well.