ATLANTA – In a game that had a lot of wild twists and turns, the outcome was more of the same for the Cowboys, who fell to 3-5 after the loss here to the Falcons.
Most games have those plays that could be forgotten but still could've changed the outcome. Here are a few to remember:
Falcons snuff out screen pass – The Cowboys came out firing to open the game and looked to be in position to get their first touchdown of the season on their opening drive. But on second-and-8 from Atlanta's 19-yard line, Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss stopped a screen pass to Rico Dowdle for a 4-yard loss. That stalled the drive and led to just a field goal by Brandon Aubrey. A touchdown there could've given the offense a much-needed confidence boost, but once again they were stopped in the red zone.
Two failed runs to get a yard – The Cowboys just got a huge turnover from the defense and moved into Atlanta territory. On second-down, Jake Ferguson slipped and stumbled to get what looked like a first-down conversion on a screen pass. Instead, on third-and-1 Rico Dowdle was stopped by an arm tackle and couldn't get a yard. Then on fourth-down, Dallas tried a reverse to CeeDee Lamb, who was also grabbed by defenders and stopped short of the line to gain, the Falcons getting the ball back at midfield. Moments later, they scored on a fourth-down pass to Darnell Mooney, who was wide open after Atlanta executed a pick-play to zone off the defenders.
McCloud recovers his own fumble on third down – Two parts to this play. First, the Cowboys had just scored and had some momentum, trailing 14-10 before the half. On third-and-8, they had a chance to get a stop and get off the field, but the Falcons found Ray-Ray McCloud for a reception. However, Eric Kendricks knocked the ball loose for a fumble, only to have it recovered by McCloud for a first down at the two-minute warning. The Falcons eventually had to punt, but left the Cowboys with little time and pinned back in their own zone to go score before the half.
Not spiking the ball before half – The Cowboys had some questionable clock management before the half when they were trying to get into field-goal range. After a catch by Lamb with 44 seconds left, Dallas didn't hurry to the line to spike the ball, instead just running the next play with 24 seconds on the clock. It was a short pass to Ferguson, who was tackled inbounds. Then the Cowboys spiked the ball with only eight seconds left at their own 43-yard line. There was no time from there to get in position for a kick. If they had spiked it with about 35 seconds left, it could've given them plenty of chances to get at least 10 more yards.
Ferguson short of the sticks – To start the third quarter, the Cowboys had second-and-5 at their 35-yard line, but completed a no-gain pass to Lamb, followed by a pass to Ferguson that had to be rushed because of a heavy pass-rush. Ferguson looked to have enough room to get the first down, but the throw was hurried and knocked him back to just a 3-yard gain. That set up fourth-and-2, and the Cowboys tried a fake punt that was an incomplete pass from Bryan Anger to C.J. Goodwin. The Falcons capitalized on the possession and scored a touchdown just a few plays later for a 21-10 lead.
Costly holding by Guyton for multiple reasons – Late in the third quarter, the Cowboys trailed, 21-10, and Dak Prescott had a 7-yard run to the Falcons' 33 wiped out because of a holding call on Tyler Guyton. Not only did that push the Cowboys back to first-and-20, but on the next play, Prescott scrambled for no gain and was hit. That's when he got up slowly and started to favor the hamstring. He finished the drive, which ended with a field goal, but that penalty led to an even a bigger play that could hurt the team beyond this game.
