Not only did the Cowboys kick off an era that looked a little too familiar Sunday in a 20-17 dud against the Rams, Mike McCarthy also lost the following:
A middle linebacker.
A tight end.
A honeymoon.
Any grace period McCarthy could have expected because of his status as the new guy in town _ not to mention one with a Lombardi Trophy in his luggage _ has officially been exhausted only one game into the marriage.
Probably not fair that frustrations with sins of the old regime have already been visited upon the new one, but then again, what's fair got to do with football?
A bogus offensive interference call on Michael Gallup that negated what could have been a game-changing play?
How about a helmet-turning slap to Jared Goff's head that resulted in Chidobe Awuzie's interception, and not a flag in sight?
Frankly, weird stuff happens in the midst of all the chaos. Doesn't mean you have to excuse it, but at least it's understandable. Even if swanky SoFi Stadium was empty Sunday, football isn't played in a vacuum. Players make mistakes under duress. CeeDee Lamb ran a drag route too shallow. Dak Prescott further complicated matters by throwing a little short, a common problem Sunday.
But the bigger problem on that fourth-and-3 at the Rams' 11 with a little less than 12 minutes left in the game was the notion of running a play at all. Kick the field goal. Tie the game. Take the points in front of you and live to make another run.
Or else you risk drawing comparisons to what got the last guy fired.
Jason Garrett is no longer Jerry Jones' Tom Landry because of a history of game-management problems and under-performing talent. The last thing anyone expected in McCarthy's debut was more of the same, but here we are.
On the pivotal fourth-down call, McCarthy passed on the "conservative play" _ as he called a potential field goal attempt _ even if it's what he's done his entire career. He apparently learned a few new metrics during his hiatus. The numbers said to go for it. He liked how Dak Prescott was moving the ball. A first down and, presumably, a touchdown would have been a "huge momentum play."
First game out of the box, the new head coach said he was trying to set a tone.
"I want our guys," he said, "to play wide open."
Can't really argue with the concept, anyway. Except the offense looked anything but wide open Sunday. On the third-and-6 before the short pass to Lamb, the Cowboys, with supposedly more options at their disposal this year than at any time in their storied history, dialed up a run for Ezekiel Elliott. Granted, Zeke was the Cowboys' best offensive player Sunday. But six yards was a lot to ask of a running back in the red zone. Made you think McCarthy and Kellen Moore had already decided it was four-down territory.
Neither McCarthy nor Moore covered himself in glory Sunday. Only a couple of times did Dak challenge the Rams deep, and one of those was called back. Dak averaged 6.8 yards per completion instead.
Meanwhile, just as he did in the ancient Coliseum a couple years ago, Sean McVay out-coached the Cowboys. Came up with a scheme that bamboozled the defense. Didn't think that would happen with McCarthy at the wheel. Turns out only the venue changed.
On one hand, there's no need to panic, right? No shame in losing to a good team on the road. Nobody was picking the Cowboys to go undefeated or even 15-1.
On the other hand, Leighton Vander Esch is out a good six weeks with a broken collarbone. The Cowboys were already light at linebacker as is. Now they're missing their best one for more than a third of the season.
The defensive results under Mike Nolan didn't look much different from what we were used to with Rod Marinelli in charge. The Cowboys looked lost on defense most of the night, yet still managed to hold the Rams to 20 points, mostly on the spectacular play of Aldon Smith. Playing his first game in five years, Smith made 11 tackles and came up with the Cowboys' only sack. And at a pivotal point in the game, no less.
On the other side of the defense, DeMarcus Lawrence, coming off a disappointing season, registered one tackle. Oh, and a tipped pass.
And the secondary didn't do anything that should make Jerry glad he didn't sign Earl Thomas.
Maybe Jerry needs to spend some capital on a tight end now that Blake Jarwin's out with a knee injury. Let's just say Dalton Schultz doesn't appear up to the challenge.
What it means is that it's more imperative than ever for the new coach to make a difference, and the sooner the better. His debut wasn't particularly promising. Even worse, we're all out of patience.
