Monday Night Football in Texas… where friends and family go out and enjoy a cool afternoon eating barbeque and a night filled with football. This past Monday, however, was anything but enjoyable when the Cowboys faced off against the Chicago Bears. To begin the night the hopes were high for many Dallas fans, coming off of a home win against Tampa Bay and their offensive line seeming to improve. Not to mention the Dallas Cowboys have recorded the most wins (43) in Monday Night Football history.
The first of the fans began to show up to the stadium as early as noon, setting up tailgating and ready to celebrate. As the seats slowly filled up, kickoff was soon to arrive. It was an interesting sight, as there was a sea of orange and blue Bears jerseys filling up the seats. Many found it odd, and honestly where did all the Bears fans in Texas come from? The game was underway and the first quarter went by uneventfully. As the second quarter rolled around, the Bears took the initiative and the lead, scoring a field goal and then a touchdown.
The Cowboys were down and they needed to get it together, and they did just that by coming back with a late second quarter touchdown. The Bears still managed to maintain a solid lead and then break away in the second quarter. The Cowboys defense looked very average, but didn’t give up big plays. The offense struggled mightily thanks to Romo’s career high of 5 interceptions. After his fourth interception, the Cowboys home crowd started chanting “Romo sucks.”
Ultimately, the Cowboys couldn’t overcome the turnover differential, and fell to the Bears 34-18. The Cowboys headed into the locker room awaiting the inevitable media questions on their poor performance. Cowboys’ wide receiver Dez Bryant was the last one to leave the locker room, and stated “I’m not mad, just disappointed.” This was a sign of improved maturity from the 23 year old wide receiver in a night when character building was the only upside the Cowboys could take away from the game.
The Cowboys head into a well-needed bye week, allowing time to reflect on how to improve and progress as a team. Things don’t get any easier, as the Cowboy face the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens after the bye, and that tough Ravens’ defense.
The Ravens defense is uncharacteristically giving up huge chunks of passing yards, as they are currently29th in the league against the pass, and Romo and the Cowboys offense will need to bounce back and capitalize on that if they are to keep pace with an emerging Baltimore offense. Baltimore’s offense is currently second in the NFL, and averaging over 30 points per game.
By Blake Novacek. Follow Blake on Twitter @Blake_PPI
