Taking an ass whooping can is a part of life. Whether getting physically dominated or simply enduring a hard loss, that moment is eventually almost unavoidable for most people. The Dallas Cowboys got their ass kicked in a physical sense all throughout their Week 15 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
Josh Allen has a habit of turning over the ball , but he also makes a plethora of huge plays that keep opposing defenses off balance. His big arm and body, along with his speed, make him one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. None of that was necessary during the Bills’ 31-10 domination of the Cowboys.
Allen is the Bills second-leading rusher on the season and accounted for only 24 of the team’s 266 total yards on the ground. The Cowboys entered Highmark Stadium having won their last five games. During that span the Bills went 2-3.
The game was a disaster for Dallas, but that does not mean it is time for Prescott and Co. to put their star helmets in a box. Perhaps an ass whooping of this magnitude might steady the Cowboys as they attempt to make a real championship run.
It was well known that the Cowboys had a talented roster entering this season. Bringing in players like Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks made it clear the organization had championship aspirations. Since a Week 5, 42-10 loss on the road against the San Francisco 49ers, the ‘Boys had been on a roll. Their only loss since then was a narrow defeat on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles that was avenged at home, 33-13, in Week 14.
At no point were the Cowboys competitive during their featured late-window matchup against the Bills on Sunday. They were down 14-0 early, before an 11-play drive ended in a field goal. The Bills responded with another touchdown drive and went into halftime up 21-3. At that point, Allen had only completed five of 11 passes for 71 yards.
In the second half, the Bills continued to run the ball down the Cowboys’ throat and finished the game with 266 yards rushing. Dallas gained only 89 yards on the day. With his team trailing throughout the game, Prescott managed to throw for only 134 yards on 3.9 yards per attempt. He was hit seven times and sacked three.
Desperation is impossible to simulate. In pro sports, the best athletes in the world compete at the highest levels of strength, speed and agility. When people physically go against each other with those skill sets, the side with the most to lose has the best chance at clawing its way to victory. That is how teams in the NBA playoffs win games against better opposition. There is no way to replicate the urgency of being down 0-2.
Getting literally run over by a team not known for success on the ground should be shaming for the Cowboys, but it can also serve as a wakeup call. That is playoff intensity. The Bills have no choice but to approach the rest of the season with a one-and-done energy since they have already lost six games.
Coming face-to-face with that energy, on the road, should be beneficial to the Cowboys as long as they acknowledge their ass whooping and absorb the subsequent lesson. While they weren’t able to meet the energy in Week 15, they felt it for an entire game.
With only a few weeks until the start of the playoffs, the Cowboys played against a team already in that mode. They got stomped, but they also got some early reps against the level of competition and urgency that they will have to handle in order to win a championship.
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