The Cowboys fooled us all into thinking they were good

Despite holding the New England Patriots to just 13 points, the Dallas Cowboys found a way to lose a game they should have easily won.

There may not be a frustrating thing to NFL fans outside of the New England area than to see a team absolutely squander an opportunity to topple the Patriots. The Dallas Cowboys found a way to do that this week, out-gaining the Patriots in terms of yardage but lost to a team missing multiple key receivers on offense.

There is no question that the New England defense was great again, holding Amari Cooper without a catch and limiting Ezekiel Elliott to 86 yards on 21 carries while Dak Prescott completed just 19-of-33 passes for 212 yards with an interception. The key play in this game on special teams, when Patriots’ special team ace Matthew Slater blocked a punt to set up the only touchdown of this game, a 10-yard strike from Tom Brady to rookie N’Keal Harry.

Dallas simply couldn’t convert on their opportunities, settling for three Brett Maher field goals, which isn’t good enough when against elite teams. The last kick was particularly troubling since the Cowboys were facing a 4th and 7 from the New England 11-yard line with just over six minutes to go, with Dallas coach Jason Garrett opting to send in the kicking unit instead of aggressively going for the end zone.

That would be as close as the Cowboys got to the end zone again, leaving them with yet another loss against an elite team. Dallas’ six wins this season have come against the Giants (twice), Redskins, Dolphins, Lions (without Matthew Stafford), and Eagles, with the latter win the only reason the Cowboys are still in first place in the NFC East at this point.

The schedule is about to get much harder for the Cowboys, who host the 8-3 Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving and still have showdowns with the Los Angeles Rams and Eagles (in Philadelphia) awaiting them down the stretch. Despite having the most talented roster in the division, there is a realistic chance that the Cowboys could find themselves sitting at home in January if the Eagles get revenge in a few weeks.

It certainly looks as if the Cowboys are paper tigers who haven’t demonstrated the capability to beat a truly elite team, which is more an indictment of Garrett’s coaching at this point. If Dallas does end up missing the playoffs, one would have to think that Jerry Jones’ eternal patience with Garrett may finally run out.