I don't believe that teams make huge adjustments at halftime. As many coaches have said, there's just not enough time. But with that mind, why are the Cowboys so bad in the third quarter? They've being outscored 82-22. It just seems like they're unprepared coming out of the break. – Kevin Allen/Austin, TX
Patrik: My view of it is that I'm not seeing enough real-time adaptation over the course of that quarter. It's one thing to play well for the first two sessions but, inevitably, teams will make halftime adjustments to prevent you from continuing to do in the second half the things that were successful in the first half. When that happens, it's paramount the Cowboys counter the counter, so to speak, and change their plan of attack, quickly, to force opposing teams back onto their heels. Not doing so gets you where you are right now, sitting at 3-6, and largely due to being wildly outscored/overmatched in a single quarter of nearly every contest thus far. I'm of the mindset that teams should have a Plan B and a Plan C for post-halftime (as determined before the game gets underway) in anticipation of what might stop working over the course of a game, while also remaining flexible to organically adapting. Whatever it might be, there's definitely something seriously lacking there for the Cowboys.
Tommy: I think it's honestly just as mind boggling to the Cowboys as it is to the rest of us that they've struggled so much in the third quarter. If I had to guess what the biggest reason for it is, I would point to the offense not really giving the defense a lot of time to catch their breath throughout the course of the game. The Eagles game is a great example, Dallas' offensive drives in the second half went as follows: Punt, punt, fumble, fumble, interception, punt. None of their drives lasted longer than three minutes and four seconds, and that was the last drive of the game when everything was decided. Look at how well they played in the first half, and then look at how quickly they were asked to go back out onto the field and do it again. That obviously isn't the only reason why the Cowboys have struggled defensively, but I think it definitely contributes to it.
