The Dallas Cowboys played a football game today. That is by far the most charitable way to describe their 31-14 loss to the Chicago Bears, and even that is a debatable description.
In case that didn’t get the point across, allow me to expound further: Joe Milton finished the game for the Cowboys, and Dak Prescott wasn't injured. The equivalent of a victory cigar, the backup quarterback, was deployed in defeat.
There are plenty of things to talk about, all of which we’ll hit on during the upcoming week. However, for tonight’s purposes, we’ll hit on the defense.
There’s an irony to that, as the Dallas defense didn't actually hit anyone. They did the worst possible thing on Sunday: made Caleb Williams look like the prince that was promised.
After he struggled mightily in the first two weeks, Williams eviscerated the Cowboys defense for 298 yards and two touchdowns. In a way, Dallas' defensive coordinator and former Bears head coach finally helped Chicago win a game.
Yes, of course, personnel is a limiting factor. Jadeveon Clowney was out and Trevon Diggs looked more like 2011 Nnamdi Asomugha than the 2021 version of himself.
But, at some point, the student's results are the result of a bad teacher. And after making Bears head coach Ben Johnson look like the McVay/Shanahan genius he was hyped to be, perhaps it’s time for a substitute teacher.
Of course, this doesn't all fall on the defense. Javonte Williams quite literally handed the ball to Chicago at the start of the game, setting the tone for what could best be described as a deep dish pile of disappointment from the Dallas offense.
CeeDee Lamb was knocked out of the game early after having his ankle rolled on a handoff (yes, a handoff) and George Pickens often looked like the version of himself that the Steelers were eager to get rid of more than the version that the Cowboys saw last week.
Jake Ferguson padded his stats with 13 catches, albeit for a measly 82 yards, equivalent to a 6.3 yards per catch average.
In the end, there’s nothing positive to take away aside from the fact that Dallas' Week 4 opponent, the Green Bay Packers, looked human in an inexplicable loss to the Cleveland Browns in their Week 3 matchup.
In the meantime, the Cowboys will have six days to figure out what the heck went wrong in Chicago today. And if they can’t, there very may well be some empty offices at The Star in Frisco come Week 5.