The Dallas Cowboys fell in embarrassing fashion to the winless Chicago Bears, 31-14, dropping their record to 1-2 on the season. Despite a rough start and injury to star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys were in the game until a rough stretch cost them the contest.
Four possessions, that’s all it took to ruin the day for the Cowboys. When pressed to make plays and keep up with the Bears, Brian Schottenheimer’s team came up woefully short on both sides of the ball in the game’s crucial moments.
The Cowboys overcame a fumble deep in Bears territory on their first series, then fought through Lamb’s injury that cost him the rest of the game on their second possession and were down 14-3 through the first quarter. Quarterback Dak Prescott helped lead a quick comeback that saw the team tie it at 14-14 and the Cowboys seemed to turn the momentum.
That wasn’t the case. The Bears were leading 17-14 late in the second quarter when the game went off the rails for Dallas. Chicago got the ball with just over two minutes to play in the first half when they went 71 yards in seven plays to score just before halftime. Giving up the score was rough, but Bears QB Caleb Williams found tight end Cole Kmet wide open for the 10-yard score.
Leaving receivers wide open was a theme for the Cowboys’ defense in this one.
The score gave the Bears a 10-point lead, but the Cowboys would get the ball back with 18 seconds left in the half, almost the same amount of time it took the offense to kick the game-tying field goal last week. Different week, different results; the Cowboys couldn’t move the ball with its limited time and went into halftime down 24-14.
All was not lost, the Cowboys got the ball to start the second half, but they could only muster one first down before punting. The game felt like it was in the balance, and the defense needed a stop to give the team a chance to keep the contest close.
Instead of stepping up, Matt Eberflus’ unit allowed a 19 play, 76-yard touchdown drive that featured 11 straight runs! The Cowboys were bullied on defense, but they looked like they had finally earned a stop to force a fourth-and-goal. However, Bears head coach Ben Johnson decided to go for it from the four-yard line, and it paid off; another wide open touchdown, this time to WR D.J. Moore.
The Cowboys were already on the ropes; this score broke their back.
Four possessions, two Cowboys punts and two easy Bears touchdowns were the turning points of the game. Those were the key moments where Schottenheimer’s group couldn’t answer the bell. The Cowboys climbed back into it once, they weren’t good enough to do it a second time.
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