RAIDERS ROPED BY COWBOYS 31-24

       Vs.

By Scary Barry Rodriguez          November 28, 2013


Arlington , TX - The second half blues continued for the Oakland Raiders against the Dallas Cowboys , whose defensive unit is one the worst in the NFL. In the big open wasteland that is AT&T stadium , Oakland took it to the Cowboys right from the start. Unfortunately , they once again can't seem to play sixty minutes of good football.

K. Burnett

Greg Jenkins

Matt McGloin 

 

 

 

 

When K. Burnett of the Cowboys fumbled the game's open kickoff , Greg Jenkins made the recovery and rumbled 23 yards into the end zone for a quick Raider touchdown. Still in the first quarter the Raiders returned the favor when Matt McGloin mishandled a snap close to the Oakland end zone. The fumble was attributed to center Stephan Wisniewski but a statistic doesn't always tell the truth. Dallas immediately capitalized on this error and scored on a 2 yard run by DeMarco Murray !

Rashad Jennings

 

Stephan Wisniewski

DeMarco Murray

In the second quarter the Oakland Raiders went on one of their best drives of the 2013 season. Matt McGloin directed a 12 play 80 yard drive which culminated in a 2 yard touchdown run by Rashad Jennings. During this drive the Raider's Antonio Holmes , a former Dallas Cowboy , surrounded by defenders made some great receptions. The Raider defense was making life difficult for Tony Romo. 

Antonio Holmes

 

Tony Romo

The Raider offense during the second quarter was converting on third down. They scored again on another Rashad Jennings 1 yard touchdown run. This put the score at 21-7 in favor of the Raiders. Up to this point in the game Oakland had dominated on both sides of the ball. The defense kept Romo in check until late in the second quarter when Dallas scored on 4 yard DeMarco Murray run putting the score at 21-14 in favor of Oakland at the half.

Jason Witten

Miles Austin

The second half of this game  represents the mysterious mojo of the Oakland Raiders , whereby the aliens kidnap the team at halftime and a group of imposters take over. It not a really obvious thing but when the smoke clears the Raiders always lose ! Its not the game officials this season. Its the aliens ruining the 2013 season !   

Dez Bryant

On the offensive side of the ball the Dallas Cowboys have major talent and this came to the fore in the second half. DeMarco Murray and Lance Dunbar ran through the Raider defense. Jason Witten , Miles Austin and Dez Bryant caught enough balls to allow the Cowboys to dominate the game clock. Romo directed a drive in the third quarter that resulted in a 4 yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant that tied the score at 21-21. The Raider's offense was shut down in the quarter.

Dan Bailey

 

Jocoby Ford

In the fourth quarter the Dallas Cowboys scored twice. Demarco Murray had a 7 yard touchdown run and Dan Bailey booted a 19 yard field goal. They took the lead and the Raiders couldn't muster up enough offense to challenge them. One serious drive was ended when a McGloin pass intended for Jocoby Ford in the end zone, was intercepted by a much larger defender , who just had muscled in front for the grab. It was an ill advised pass to say the least.

Sebastian Janikowski

 

Darren McFadden

Sebastian Janikowski booted a 45 yard field goal but Oakland fell short to the Cowboys 31-24. Another game where the Raiders looked like Kings for one half and then ended up looking like paupers ! The ten penalties assessed to the Raiders didn't help ! Many of them came at crucial points in the game. The one star for Oakland in this game was Antonio Holmes , who caught 7 balls for 136 yards , with defenders hanging on him like a cheap suit. The running game was shut down. Darren McFadden played but only had a few carries. 

Lance Dunbar

For Dallas the key to the game was the second half success of their running backs DeMarco Murray and Lance Dunbar , who had a 45 yard run on one touchdown drive. They amassed 144 yards on ground against the Raider defense. Murray scored three rushing touchdowns. Tony Romo didn't throw any picks and deftly directed the offense. The Cowboys had three fumbles yet won the game. Against most teams this would have been a death blow but not against the Raiders. 

The takeaway from this game for the Oakland Raiders is, that they just can't put sixty minutes of good football together yet ! They may have discovered a hidden diamond in Antonio Holmes . Matt McGloin was steady and only as good as an undrafted rookie should be. Darren McFadden , gets far to much acclaim for the rare times he is able to play an entire game. The Raider radio game commentators hyped him up in comparison to Rashad Jennings. For the defensive unit its back to the drawing board. The Dallas offensive line handled them in the second half in a big way !

This article is dedicated to all the loyal Oakland Raider fans who have not yet been abducted by the aliens and do their best to not think about the Raiders going back to Los Angeles in the near future ! Scary Barry salutes you !

BarryRodriguez (c) 2013. All Rights Reserved.

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