From an ugly loss on a pretty Sunday afternoon in Green Bay come some telling statistics, explaining, at least in part, how and why the Dallas Cowboys defeat at the hands of the Packers was such a painful one. At the risk of reopening fresh wounds, here's the ugliest of the ugly from a woeful performance on Sunday:
*Dallas ended the first half with 111 yards of offense. They ended the third quarter with 114; sadly, this is not a typo. The Cowboys' offense could muster only three yards of offense over 15 minutes of the second half. Marion Barber, who ran the ball four times for 27 yards in the first quarter, opened the second half with a run for a loss. This would be his last carry of the game.
*Tony Romo was sacked five times in what was an awful day for Dallas's offensive line no matter how you look at it. Flozell Adams once again had difficulty with the speed rush, as he managed to get a finger or two on rookie Clay Matthews before he burned the veteran, wrapping up Romo and tossing him to the ground. Injuries to Marc Colombo and Adams didn't help matters, as Dallas, for a time, featured an offensive line consisting of Leonard Davis at left tackle, Cory Proctor at right guard and Doug Free at right tackle. For those keeping score at home, that is two backups and a former Pro Bowler playing out of position.
*Roy Williams will once again face the heat of local fans and media, as he turned in the ugliest and, statistically, best performance of his career. Williams caught five passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, which came with the game out of reach. But when it mattered, Williams dropped a ball that would have meant a first down, after it hit him in the facemask, and fumbled after a 42-yard catch-and-run, ending what looked to be a promising drive.
*Miles Austin dropped what looked to be a certain touchdown pass in the first half, as he mistimed his jump and couldn't get his hands around Romo's high-by-design pass. The team had a total of three drops on the day, at least two of which came in crucial spots.
*Turnovers, they say, can kill a team's chances, and the Cowboys had three of those. Aside from Williams' fumble, Romo was picked off by Charles Woodson at the goal line, and fumbled, as he was hit by Woodson from the blindside early in the fourth quarter.
*In a battle of the two most penalized teams in the league, the Packers and Cowboys did not disappoint; which, I suppose in this regard, means they did disappoint quite a bit. Dallas had ten penalties for 67 yards. Green Bay had 12 for 100 yards. High-level NFL football it wasn't.
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*Dallas had the fewest three-and-outs of any team in the league coming into Green Bay, with 11. On Sunday, out of 11 total possessions, five resulted in three-and-outs. This means a tired defense and a hard-to-watch game, for Dallas and their fans.
