"What we can pinpoint though is the point of no return that the Cowboys faced on the day. It was here. It was when Brian Schottenheimer chose to trust his defense, the one that's reputation preceded itself before the game, during the game, and at this moment that you are reading these words. Who would trust them? Why would anyone do so? What argument could be made for it?"
"To be clear, Schottenheimer seemed to understand this on the Cowboys' previous possession. Circumstances were a bit different as Dallas was facing 4th-and-3 from the Denver 27-yard line, but he went for that when they were in easy field goal range. He turned down points in the name of more points. He understood, seemingly, the stakes and how precious points were given the deficit and state of the defense."
Facing a 30-17 deficit late in the third quarter, Dallas confronted 4th-and-5 at their own 44 and elected to punt. Earlier, the Cowboys had gone for it on 4th-and-3 from Denver's 27, foregoing a field goal to seek more points. The punt decision reversed that aggressive posture and relied on a defense that had struggled and lacked credibility. Denver responded by driving and scoring a touchdown, then added another, effectively sealing the game. The choice to punt read as either a surrender or a misjudgment of defensive reliability and accelerated the collapse.
Read at Blogging The Boys
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