It was the third week of the regular season and the Dallas Cowboys were carrying a 2-0 record into the Sunday afternoon game against the undefeated Atlanta Falcons who also had a record of 2-0.
One thing for certain, someone were to have a blemish on their record by late afternoon. This contest would be the first one for the Cowboys to play without both quterback Tony Romo (broken left clavicle) and wide receiver Dez Byrant (broken metatarsal in right foot).
The sold-out crowd packed the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas primed to witness the battle of the undefeated. The Cowboys were seeking to advance their regular season winning streak to six games against the Falcons. The Cowboys opened the game like “cattle rustlers” and “bronco busters” in the way that they rushed down the playing field.
On the Cowboys first play from scrimmage, Demarco Murray’s replacement, Joseph Randle burst down field with a 28 yards run. On his second carry he took-off for a 37 yards run for the Cowboys’ first touchdown of the game. Which gave the Cowboys a 7-0 lead. On their next possession the Cowboys marched 77 yards down the field, with 56 of the yards coming on pass plays from back-up quarterback Brandon Weeden. The drive was capped off with a 1 yard run by Randle for his second touchdown of the game, giving the Cowboys a 14-0 lead advantage over the Falcons, with only half of the first quarter over.
It was not much longer before the Cowboys hit pay-dirt again. The off season acquisition Darren McFadden, cashed in on a short touchdown run to give the Cowboys a 21-7 lead in the second quarter. After a score by the Falcons, the Cowboys zoomed down the field covering 80 yards in only 98 seconds as Randle rushed into the end zone for his third first half touchdown, which helped Dallas go into halftime holding a 28-17 lead.
The Dallas Cowboys controlled the first half of the game. They dominated the line of scrimmage on offense by giving Weeden adequate time to throw passes and opened up running lanes for the running backs to rush successfully. From the start of the second half until the sound of the final horn, it appeared as if the Cowboys had switched sides or changed uniforms. Basically, the second half of the game belonged to the Falcons, especially two of their players, wide receiver Julio Jones and running back Devonta Freeman.
The High Flying Falcon Julio Jones had 164 yards, 12 catches, and 2 touchdowns. While the Unstoppable Freeman had 141 yards and 3 touchdowns. The normally stout Dallas run defense had no answer to stopping the running attack of the Falcons. Also, with Dallas’ linebacker Sean Lee missing a portion of the second half due to a mouth injury, did not help to control the Falcons offensive attack. While Lee was out, the Falcons took advantage of his absence, with Julio Jones breaking free on Atlanta’s in the second half for a 45 yard touchdown strike. Followed with a two point conversion to tight end Levin Toilolo to pull within 28-25.
The Atlanta Falcons poured it on to the amount of 22 unanswered points for the last half of the game, while the Cowboys could not even put a field goal on the board. Although Dallas fought hard, they just did not have enough energy to pull off a victory.
The final tally was Dallas 28, Atlanta 39. Statically speaking, Dallas tight end Jason Witten who played with two sprained ankles and a sprain knee had 6 catches for 65 yards. Running back Lance Dunbar caught 10 passes for 100 yards. And Terrance Williams only had 2 passes thrown to him and both was incomplete. It was obvious that he was frustrated, but he still maintains there were no excuses for his dropped passes. Next up the Cowboys will be traveling to New Orleans to take on the 0-3 New Orleans Saints, who are also faces a few challenges of their own. We will just have to wait and see how this match up plays out in primetime.
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