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sport / alt.sports.football.pro.dallas-cowboys / Cowboys @ Bucs - 2nd Half

Cowboys 29 @ Bucs 31

A controversial offensive pass interference non-call yielded a Bucs
win on a field goal, the Cowboys having the ball at the 25 yard line
with 2 seconds left, Pollard tries a desperation play but unable to
get anywhere near to breaking a long one.

GREAT GAME by the Cowboys, Dak playing great, the game plan
almost pulled out a win, McGovern played well in taking Zack Mar-
tin's place, Amari Cooper & CeeDee Lamb had huge impacts, Gal-
lup injured late in the game prevented his contribution from being
larger, the defense much-improved but not improved enough to
pull off what almost was a huge upset.

~~~

Cowboys Offense

1st drive - from 25 yard line, highlighted with 2 long 1st down passes
to Cooper & 1 short 1st down pass to Cooper after long down-the-middle
pass interference call by Bucs, from 8 yard line got it down to the 2 yard
line but had to kick a 21 yard field goal, Cowboys 19 @ Bucs 21

2nd drive - CeeDee Lamb punt return from 13 to 25 yard line, Prescott
unwisely tries a deep pass into traffic, intercepted & runback to Cowboys
25 yard line, but Bucs penalized back to Cowboys 35 yard line.

3rd drive - Cowboys from 25, 13 yard run by Zeke for 1st down, 7 yard
pass to Jarwin, 3 yard run by Pollard for 1st down at 48, 10 yard pass
to Schultz for 1st down at Bucs 42 yard line, 9 yard pass to CeeDee at
Bucs 33 yard line, 6 yard pass to Schultz for 1st down at Bucs 27 yard,
Dak avoids pass rush to run for 2 yard gain, 4 yard run by Zeke to 21
yard line, 21 yard TD pass to Amari Cooper, Cowboys 26 @ Bucs 28,
33 seconds left in 3rd quarter

Sidenote: Thus far, Connor McGovern's play, as sited by broadcasters,
has been exemplary.

4th drive - CeeDee Lamb fair catch at 5 yard line, 2 yard pass to Cooper,
pass to Cooper off target,

Sidenote: Gallup out of the game, is questionable with left ankle injury

3rd & 8, ball overthrown to well-covered Cooper, punt

5th drive - Zeke 1/2 yard run, Schultz catch to 14 yard line, 3rd & 6
neutral zone infraction by Bucs, 3rd & 1 6 yard pass to 25 yard line
for 1st down, 3:02 left in game 1st down pass to Cooper before 1st
down marker but run up 3-4 yards for 1st down at 36 yard line, Dak
hit as he passes on 1st down incomplete as ball goes somewhere
out of camera range, long pass for 1st down to CeeDee Lamb but ...

.... Tyron Smith called for offensive holding which happened due to
Pierre-Paul almost getting to Dak, 2nd down & 20 from Cowboys
26 yard line - 9 yard pass to Cedrick Wilson, 3rd & 11 at 35 yard
line - 2 minutes left in the game, caught by CeeDee Lamb at 41
yard line - cuts it outside & runs it to Bucs 34 yard line - Cowboys ...

.... call a timeout with 1:51 left in the game, miscommunication on
1st down pass incomplete, Zeke 4 yard run to Bucs 30 yard line,
Bucs call a timeout with 1:42 left in the game, 3rd & 6 short pass
but Connor Williams called for holding to prevent a sack, 10 yard
penalty - 3rd & 16 at 40 yard line, 10 yard pass to Cooper - 4th
& 6 - Cowboys choose to risk a strugglin Zuerlein making a 48
yard field goal & risk Tom Brady moving the Bucs into scoring ...

.... territory with slightly less that 1:29 left in the game, kick is
good with 1:24 left for Brady to get the Bucs into field goal ter-
ritory - not looking good for the Cowboys right now, leading 29
to 28

~~~

Cowboys Defense

Bucs 1st drive - long runback to Bucs 33 yard line followed by 3 and
out highlighted by Cowboys pressure on Brady on 3rd & 10, a play
they would've been penalized for holding but Cowboys declined that
penalty. 5 yard neutral zone infraction on Cowboys. Still 4th down,
punt

Bucs 2nd drive - starts at Cowboys 35 yard line after interception,
catch by Gronkowski beating Keanu Neal for 1st down at 15 yard
line, Gronkowski beats Lawrence for a TD as Cowboys unable to
pressure Brady on a blitz & Lawrence unable to cover Gronkowski,
Cowboys 19 @ Bucs 28

Bucs 3rd drive - From 25 yard line, Fournette 10 yard pass for 1st
down, Fournette stopped for a loss by Vander Esch but Cowboys
got 5 yard penalty for hands to face far away from the play, giving
Bucs a 1st down at Bucs 40 yard line at the end of the 3rd quarter,
1st play of 4th quarter, 7 yard run by Fournette on 1st down, 1 yard
pass to Fournette, 5 yard pass to Evans for 1st down at Cowboys ...

.... 48 yard line, 1 yard run by Fournette, pass under no pressure
by Brady to wide open Evans who barely tipped the ball causing
an incompletion, Brady under pressure but pass to Godwin should
have been caught but was dropped as receiver had to turn his
head to try to catch the ball, punt

Bucs 4th drive - After 62 yard punt to Bucs 30 yard line, returned
8 yards to Bucs 38 yard line, Brady unpressured short pass to
Gronkowski at 44 yard line, short pass to Godwin sneaks thru
for 1st down at Cowboys 47 yard line, end around 6 yard run by
Antonio Brown, Brady throws while under pressure - looks like
a desperation pass but caught by Fournette for a 1st down at ...

.... Cowboys 34 yard line, false start by Bucs on 1st down, ball
moved back to 39 yard line, 9 yard pass to Evans, short pass
for 1st down at 23 yard line, 3 yard pass to Brown, Fornette 6
yard run, 3rd & 1 run by Fournette for 1st down at 13 yard line,
short toss to Godwin but avoids tacklers & when tackled by
Damontae Kazee he fumbles into the end zone - recoverd by
Jourdan Lewis & run out to Cowboys 10 yard line, 4:52 left in
the game
Bucs 5th drive - 1:24 left in the game, Bernard 8 yard pass
out of bounds with 1:18 left, pass to Evans incomplete due
to being knocked out of reach by Trevon Diggs, with 1:13
left, short pass complete for a 1st down at 37 yard line as
clock runs down to 55 seconds, Bucs called for a false start,
moves ball back to 32 yard line, 6 yard pass to Gronkowski ...

.... at 38 yard line, 2nd & 9 -20- yard pass to Gronkowski
down to Cowboys 42 yard line for a 1st down with 29 sec-
onds left, Brady tosses a long incompletion to stop the
clock with 24 seconds left, Godwin pushes Jourdan Lewis
down & catches the ball & goes out of bounds at the Cow-
boys 18 yard line with 18 seconds left, in my opinion ...

.... offensive pass interference *clearly* should've been
called, Brady throws it away with 14 seconds left, an
official in the broadcast booth confirmed it was a push-
off & should've been called as offensive pass interference,
an outrageous mistake by the officials, Brady tosses ano-
ther incompletion with 10 seconds left, another ...

.... incompletion leaves 7 seconds, the kicker attempts a
36 yard game-winning field goal & makes it to give the
Bucs a controversial offensive pass interference non-
call win of 31 to 29. 2 seconds left.

--- --- ---

Follow-up:

During the live game broadcast, one of the
commentators blamed Dak for his sole inter-
ception during the night, saying he threw the
ball into traffic. I didn't see any slow motion
replay of that, and upon reviewing the follow-
ing video of that interception at 1/4 speed, ...

.... I cannot discern if the ball was right in
CeeDee's hands (I read an article that says
it was). It appears from the slo-mo video it
may have been catchable with CeeDee err-
ing on the missed catch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWG3KPOwPqM

Hard to tell. In any case, CeeDee & Amari
being almost at the same spot led to triple
coverage so a combination of CeeDee not
catching it + Dak throwing into traffic + 2
receivers being in the same area leading to
3 defenders being around the ball combined ...

.... to cause the interception, arguably Cee-
Dee mostly to blame, with Amari being near-
by and Dak throwing into traffic also impli-
cated. After the game, CeeDee took blame
for dropping 3-4 passes, but didn't specific-
ally mention the drop that was intercepted.

Another sidenote, New Orleans succeeded
in running the ball against the Bucs defense,
the Cowboys failed to do so, & it's debatable
whether Zack Martin's absence was so dele-
terious that not trying to run much was the
best move what with the Bucs having had
one of the best rush defenses in 2020.

On Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 11:47:02 PM UTC-5, observer wrote:

..> Cowboys 29 @ Bucs 31
..>
..> A controversial offensive pass interference non-call yielded a Bucs
..> win on a field goal, the Cowboys having the ball at the 25 yard line
..> with 2 seconds left, Pollard tries a desperation play but unable to
..> get anywhere near to breaking a long one.
..>
..> GREAT GAME by the Cowboys, Dak playing great, the game plan
..> almost pulled out a win, McGovern played well in taking Zack Mar-
..> tin's place, Amari Cooper & CeeDee Lamb had huge impacts, Gal-
..> lup injured late in the game prevented his contribution from being
..> larger, the defense much-improved but not improved enough to
..> pull off what almost was a huge upset.
..>
..> ~~~
..>
..> Cowboys Offense
..>
..> 1st drive - from 25 yard line, highlighted with 2 long 1st down passes
..> to Cooper & 1 short 1st down pass to Cooper after long down-the-middle
..> pass interference call by Bucs, from 8 yard line got it down to the 2 yard
..> line but had to kick a 21 yard field goal, Cowboys 19 @ Bucs 21
..>
..> 2nd drive - CeeDee Lamb punt return from 13 to 25 yard line, Prescott
..> unwisely tries a deep pass into traffic, intercepted & runback to Cowboys
..> 25 yard line, but Bucs penalized back to Cowboys 35 yard line.

See above, arguably Amari being in the same vicinity caused
3 defenders to be around CeeDee & CeeDee should've caught
the ball as it hit him in the hands (I think, hard to tell for sure
from slo-mo on the video).

..>
..> 3rd drive - Cowboys from 25, 13 yard run by Zeke for 1st down, 7 yard
..> pass to Jarwin, 3 yard run by Pollard for 1st down at 48, 10 yard pass
..> to Schultz for 1st down at Bucs 42 yard line, 9 yard pass to CeeDee at
..> Bucs 33 yard line, 6 yard pass to Schultz for 1st down at Bucs 27 yard,
..> Dak avoids pass rush to run for 2 yard gain, 4 yard run by Zeke to 21
..> yard line, 21 yard TD pass to Amari Cooper, Cowboys 26 @ Bucs 28,
..> 33 seconds left in 3rd quarter
..>
..> Sidenote: Thus far, Connor McGovern's play, as sited by broadcasters,
..> has been exemplary.
..>
..> 4th drive - CeeDee Lamb fair catch at 5 yard line, 2 yard pass to Cooper,
..> pass to Cooper off target,
..>
..> Sidenote: Gallup out of the game, is questionable with left ankle injury
..>
..> 3rd & 8, ball overthrown to well-covered Cooper, punt
..>
..> 5th drive - Zeke 1/2 yard run, Schultz catch to 14 yard line, 3rd & 6
..> neutral zone infraction by Bucs, 3rd & 1 6 yard pass to 25 yard line
..> for 1st down, 3:02 left in game 1st down pass to Cooper before 1st
..> down marker but run up 3-4 yards for 1st down at 36 yard line, Dak
..> hit as he passes on 1st down incomplete as ball goes somewhere
..> out of camera range, long pass for 1st down to CeeDee Lamb but ...
..>
..> ... Tyron Smith called for offensive holding which happened due to
..> Pierre-Paul almost getting to Dak, 2nd down & 20 from Cowboys
..> 26 yard line - 9 yard pass to Cedrick Wilson, 3rd & 11 at 35 yard
..> line - 2 minutes left in the game, caught by CeeDee Lamb at 41
..> yard line - cuts it outside & runs it to Bucs 34 yard line - Cowboys ...
..>
..> ... call a timeout with 1:51 left in the game, miscommunication on
..> 1st down pass incomplete, Zeke 4 yard run to Bucs 30 yard line,
..> Bucs call a timeout with 1:42 left in the game, 3rd & 6 short pass
..> but Connor Williams called for holding to prevent a sack, 10 yard
..> penalty - 3rd & 16 at 40 yard line, 10 yard pass to Cooper - 4th
..> & 6 - Cowboys choose to risk a strugglin Zuerlein making a 48
..> yard field goal & risk Tom Brady moving the Bucs into scoring ...
..>
..> ... territory with slightly less that 1:29 left in the game, kick is
..> good with 1:24 left for Brady to get the Bucs into field goal ter-
..> ritory - not looking good for the Cowboys right now, leading 29
..> to 28
..>
..> ~~~
..>
..> Cowboys Defense
..>
..> Bucs 1st drive - long runback to Bucs 33 yard line followed by 3 and
..> out highlighted by Cowboys pressure on Brady on 3rd & 10, a play
..> they would've been penalized for holding but Cowboys declined that
..> penalty. 5 yard neutral zone infraction on Cowboys. Still 4th down,
..> punt
..>
..> Bucs 2nd drive - starts at Cowboys 35 yard line after interception,
..> catch by Gronkowski beating Keanu Neal for 1st down at 15 yard
..> line, Gronkowski beats Lawrence for a TD as Cowboys unable to
..> pressure Brady on a blitz & Lawrence unable to cover Gronkowski,
..> Cowboys 19 @ Bucs 28
..>
..> Bucs 3rd drive - From 25 yard line, Fournette 10 yard pass for 1st
..> down, Fournette stopped for a loss by Vander Esch but Cowboys
..> got 5 yard penalty for hands to face far away from the play, giving
..> Bucs a 1st down at Bucs 40 yard line at the end of the 3rd quarter,
..> 1st play of 4th quarter, 7 yard run by Fournette on 1st down, 1 yard
..> pass to Fournette, 5 yard pass to Evans for 1st down at Cowboys ...
..>
..> ... 48 yard line, 1 yard run by Fournette, pass under no pressure
..> by Brady to wide open Evans who barely tipped the ball causing
..> an incompletion, Brady under pressure but pass to Godwin should
..> have been caught but was dropped as receiver had to turn his
..> head to try to catch the ball, punt
..>
..> Bucs 4th drive - After 62 yard punt to Bucs 30 yard line, returned
..> 8 yards to Bucs 38 yard line, Brady unpressured short pass to
..> Gronkowski at 44 yard line, short pass to Godwin sneaks thru
..> for 1st down at Cowboys 47 yard line, end around 6 yard run by
..> Antonio Brown, Brady throws while under pressure - looks like
..> a desperation pass but caught by Fournette for a 1st down at ...
..>
..> ... Cowboys 34 yard line, false start by Bucs on 1st down, ball
..> moved back to 39 yard line, 9 yard pass to Evans, short pass
..> for 1st down at 23 yard line, 3 yard pass to Brown, Fornette 6
..> yard run, 3rd & 1 run by Fournette for 1st down at 13 yard line,
..> short toss to Godwin but avoids tacklers & when tackled by
..> Damontae Kazee he fumbles into the end zone - recoverd by
..> Jourdan Lewis & run out to Cowboys 10 yard line, 4:52 left in
..> the game
..>
..> Bucs 5th drive - 1:24 left in the game, Bernard 8 yard pass
..> out of bounds with 1:18 left, pass to Evans incomplete due
..> to being knocked out of reach by Trevon Diggs, with 1:13
..> left, short pass complete for a 1st down at 37 yard line as
..> clock runs down to 55 seconds, Bucs called for a false start,
..> moves ball back to 32 yard line, 6 yard pass to Gronkowski ...
..>
..> ... at 38 yard line, 2nd & 9 -20- yard pass to Gronkowski
..> down to Cowboys 42 yard line for a 1st down with 29 sec-
..> onds left, Brady tosses a long incompletion to stop the
..> clock with 24 seconds left, Godwin pushes Jourdan Lewis
..> down & catches the ball & goes out of bounds at the Cow-
..> boys 18 yard line with 18 seconds left, in my opinion ...
..>
..> ... offensive pass interference *clearly* should've been
..> called, Brady throws it away with 14 seconds left, an
..> official in the broadcast booth confirmed it was a push-
..> off & should've been called as offensive pass interference,
..> an outrageous mistake by the officials, Brady tosses ano-
..> ther incompletion with 10 seconds left, another ...
..>
..> ... incompletion leaves 7 seconds, the kicker attempts a
..> 36 yard game-winning field goal & makes it to give the
..> Bucs a controversial offensive pass interference non-
..> call win of 31 to 29. 2 seconds left.
..>
..> --- --- ---

Click here to read the complete article

Follow-up 2:

I saw a great slow-mo replay on Sportscenter today,
it shows the ball at the very edge of CeeDee's reach
after CeeDee jumped up & extended for the reach,
arguably beyond being catchable so in my opinion,
the blame for that one is on Dak's shoulders, not
CeeDee's.

On Friday, September 10, 2021 at 1:50:39 PM UTC-5, observer wrote:

..> Follow-up:
..>
..> During the live game broadcast, one of the
..> commentators blamed Dak for his sole inter-
..> ception during the night, saying he threw the
..> ball into traffic. I didn't see any slow motion
..> replay of that, and upon reviewing the follow-
..> ing video of that interception at 1/4 speed, ...
..>
..> ... I cannot discern if the ball was right in
..> CeeDee's hands (I read an article that says
..> it was). It appears from the slo-mo video it
..> may have been catchable with CeeDee err-
..> ing on the missed catch:
..> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWG3KPOwPqM
..>
..> Hard to tell. In any case, CeeDee & Amari
..> being almost at the same spot led to triple
..> coverage so a combination of CeeDee not
..> catching it + Dak throwing into traffic + 2
..> receivers being in the same area leading to
..> 3 defenders being around the ball combined ...
..>
..> ... to cause the interception, arguably Cee-
..> Dee mostly to blame, with Amari being near-
..> by and Dak throwing into traffic also impli-
..> cated. After the game, CeeDee took blame
..> for dropping 3-4 passes, but didn't specific-
..> ally mention the drop that was intercepted.
..>
..> Another sidenote, New Orleans succeeded
..> in running the ball against the Bucs defense,
..> the Cowboys failed to do so, & it's debatable
..> whether Zack Martin's absence was so dele-
..> terious that not trying to run much was the
..> best move what with the Bucs having had
..> one of the best rush defenses in 2020.
--- --- ---

Subject	Author
Cowboys @ Bucs - 2nd Half	observer
Re: Cowboys @ Bucs - 2nd Half	observer
Re: Cowboys @ Bucs - 2nd Half	observer
Re: Cowboys @ Bucs - 2nd Half	Eddie Grove