5 things that went wrong for the Cowboys against the Broncos

Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott were a formidable one-two punch for the Cowboys as rookies in 2016. On Sunday, they couldn’t get anything going on offense as the Broncos delivered Dallas a 42-17 beatdown.

Dallas has enjoyed a balanced offense since the start of the Dak and Zeke era. But they didn’t against the Broncos. Elliott rushed for just 8 yards on seven carries, and Prescott completed 60 percent of his passes for 238 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

The Cowboys barely resembled the team that beat the Giants in Week 1. Elliott had 24 carries for 104 yards, Prescott took just one sack and didn’t turn the ball over, and the defense held New York to just a field goal.

Dallas was consistently good last season and in Week 1, and this performance could just be a bump in the road for the Cowboys. But defensive injuries and the way the Broncos’ coaching staff cracked the code to slowing the Cowboys offense down may have more lasting implications.

Here are the five things that went wrong for Dallas against the Broncos.

Jason Garrett wasn’t happy, and blamed the poor performance on Prescott’s inability to make plays in the passing game.

“When they play that style of defense, you have to be able to consistently attack with the passing game,” Garrett said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “At different times today, I thought we were able to do that, and at other times we weren’t. We didn’t make the plays, for whatever reason.

“We really needed to have [consistent] success throwing the ball. We were not able to do that.”

Prescott agreed, saying there was “no excuse” for his play.

“I feel if I would have made some of those plays on the outside, I probably would have forced them to get in a zone more than their man coverage that they were in the majority of the night,” Prescott said. “Usually, that’s when our run game hits.

“If I made more plays, we give ourselves a chance in that game. I just simply didn’t make the plays.”

Dallas has the best offensive line in the league. They were the unsung heroes of Prescott and Elliott’s spectacular rookie season. But they didn’t look the part on Sunday.

That aggressive Broncos 3-4 front sacked Prescott twice and hit him seven times. And the stifling defense wouldn’t give the Cowboys’ run game any breathing room. Denver allowed the Cowboys to convert just three of 14 third-down attempts, and two of five fourth downs.

The Cowboys’ inability to sustain drives and keep up with the Broncos was bigger than just the offensive line, though. It also led to Prescott being forced to pass more. He threw the ball 50 times, completing just 30 passes.

It impacted Garrett’s play calling as well. He chose go for it on a couple of fourth downs in Broncos territory out of desperation to narrow the gap in the score, and the attempts were unsuccessful.

It was an anomaly for a unit that’s been consistently great.

How did linebacker Sean Lee describe the Cowboys’ defensive effort against the Broncos?

”We were bad,” Lee said, via ESPN’s Todd Archer.

Time of possession was a problem for the Cowboys. The Broncos controlled the clock, racking up 178 yards on the ground and holding onto the ball for nearly 34 minutes of the game.

And while the offense couldn’t sustain drives, the defense couldn’t get Trevor Siemian and the Broncos offense off the field.

Siemian threw for 231 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception. Demarcus Lawrence managed to sack him twice, but it didn’t slow the Broncos down, especially in terms of scoring.

It was even more disappointing in the context of how successful the defense was against the Giants in Week 1. The Cowboys sacked Eli Manning three times, kept the Giants out of the end zone entirely, and limited New York to just 35 total yards on the ground.

Injuries did have an impact, especially in the Dallas secondary. Orlando Scandrick was out with a broken hand, and injuries to cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and safety Nolan Carroll during the game forced them to shuffle things around.

Still, execution was the biggest concern.

“We didn’t play up to our expectations,” Lawrence said. “I felt like we left our offense out to dry.”

Why did the Cowboys offense have such a rough day? Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall has some thoughts.

New Broncos head coach Vance Joseph and defensive coordinator Joe Woods had the Cowboys figured out.

“Our plan was to clog every gap,” Joseph said, via ESPN’s Jeff Legwold. “[Defensive coordinator] Joe [Woods] had a great plan to make them throw the football; no one’s played them that way. It was definitely a surprise to them in my opinion.”

It was a surprise to the Cowboys. When was the last time Elliott was held to fewer than 10 yards on the ground?

Taking away the run and forcing Dallas to attack through the air opened things up for what the No Fly Zone does best. They had seven pass breakups, and both Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib came away with interceptions. Talib returned his for a touchdown.

Much of the scrutiny from this lopsided game is falling on Dallas, and understandably so. But Denver’s stout defense deserves credit for scheming to shut down the Cowboys’ offensive attack — and succeeding.