Cowboys Burned On The Beach

The Cowboys (10-5) went to the beach and got burned by kicker Jason Sanders and the Miami (11-4) defense in a 22-20 Dolphins victory on Christmas Eve afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Cowboys, who lost for the second straight week, were let down by their offensive line as they let another solid performance from their defense go to waste.

LAMB HITS CENTURY MARK

After lighting up the Dolphins defense in the first quarter, Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb didn’t touch the ball again until early in the fourth quarter.

Lamb finished with another 100-plus yard receiving game, with 119 yards on six catches.

He also hauled in a long touchdown pass, his seventh straight game with a rushing or receiving score – the longest active streak in the NFL. He became just the third Cowboys receiver to record a touchdown in seven straight games, joining Dez Bryant (2012) and Terrell Owens (2007).

On Sunday, it started early on for Lamb, hauling in four of five targets for 93 yards in the first quarter, including a 49-yard touchdown on a 12-yard crossing route that he turned up field and beat the Dolphins secondary to the end zone.

It is the seventh most receiving yards in the first quarter in Cowboys history. The last Cowboys player with more yards in the opening quarter was Dez Bryant, when he went for 94 yards against Washington in December of 2014.

Lamb had 26 yards in the second half, including an 11-yard catch and run on fourth and two on the drive in the fourth quarter that put the Cowboys up 20-19.

NO-SHOW RUN DEFENSE

With Johnathan Hankins still out with an ankle sprain, the Cowboys run defense continued to struggle.

They didn’t give up big yards, but when the game was on the line late, they could not stop the Dolphins from running the ball with ease.

Behind just 46 yards by running back Raheem Mostert, the Dolphins rushed for just 91 yards on 26 carries. They averaged 3.5 yards per carry but overpowered the group of Dallas defensive tackles – Osa Odighizuwa, Mazi Smith, Neville Gallimore and Carl Davis, with runs of eight, 15 and six yards in the final drive to set up the game-winning field goal.

RED ZONE DEFENSE COMES UP BIG

When they had to, the Cowboys defense rose to the occasion on Sunday in Miami.

On nine possessions in the game, the Dolphins drove the ball four times into the red zone and only came away with 13 points – one touchdown and two field goals, including the game winner as time expired.

Coming into the game, the Cowboys were one of the worst team in the NFL in allowing touchdowns when teams drove into the red zone. Opponents were scoring touchdowns on almost 61-percent of the time they got inside the Dallas 20, which was 22nd in the NFL coming into Sunday’s game.

On the Dolphins second possession, they drove down to the Cowboys 5 before turning the ball over on downs. After a touchdown on their next trip inside the Dallas 20, after a controversial roughing the passer call on Micah Parsons, the Cowboys held Miami to a field goal on their seventh drive of the game, and third trip inside the red zone.

On the night, the Dolphins scored on five of nine drives, but only one touchdown.

O-LINE DISMANTLED IN MIAMI

The Cowboys offensive line, minus starting left tackle Tyron Smith, continues to struggle – making multiple mistakes on Sunday afternoon.

After the opening drives of the game, where Dallas drove the length of the field twice and scored one touchdown, the offensive line fell apart.

Even with right guard Zack Martin in the lineup after not practicing all week with a bruised quad, the line gave up four sacks, committed four penalties, led the running game to a miserable 97 yards and their play had quarterback Dak Prescott running for his life, as Miami racked up another 12 quarterback hits.

After gaining 148 yards in the first quarter, the Cowboys only gained 191 the rest of the game – with 100 of that coming in the fourth quarter. Behind the failed blocking of left tackle Chuma Edoga, left guard Tyler Smith and center Tyler Biadasz, the Cowboys managed just 3.0 yards per carry by their two main running backs – Tony Pollard, who finished with 38 yards on 12 carries, and Rico Dowdle, who had four yards on two totes.

PENALTIES HAUNT COWBOYS

The Cowboys continues to rack up penalties after being called for six on Sunday afternoon in Miami.

The Cowboys offense was called for four penalties, while the defense was flagged two times.

On offense, the Cowboys were doomed by several pre-snap penalties, three called against their tight ends – false starts on Sean McKeon and Jake Ferguson, while Ferguson and CeeDee Lamb were flagged for illegal motion on a play that picked up a first down deep in Miami territory.

Defensively, both penalties made a negative impact in the game.

Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons was called for a controversial roughing the passer penalty that extended a first-half drive for Miami that ended in a touchdown and the Dolphins first lead of the game.

The second came on the final drive of the game and the Dolphins trailing 20-19. Dallas linebacker Damone Clark was called for a personal foul – facemask, that set the Miami offense up with a new set of downs from their own 46-yard line. The Dolphins drove another 43 yards and then watched kicker Jason Sanders boot a 29-yard game-winning field goal.

The Cowboys have been called for 108 penalties this season, and 48 of those coming in the last six weeks.

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BIG HUGE GIANT MONSTER Play of the Game

With the Cowboys trailing 19-13, quarterback Dak Prescott led the offense on one of the most impressive drives of the season. It included a fourth and two from the 43, where Prescott rolled out to his right and hit CeeDee Lamb for the first time in the second half. Lamb got the first down and dragged his defender for 11 yards. It took Dallas 10 more plays, but they paid it off with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Brandin Cooks. Cooks went up over two defenders to pull in the grab as he got both feet down. The score gave Dallas a 1-point lead with 3:27 to play in the game.

UNSUNG Play of the Game

Cowboys edge Micah Parsons was called for a roughing the passer penalty late in the first half that resulted in points for the Dolphins and caused a lead change. On second and one from the Cowboys nine, Parsons beat Miami left tackle Terron Armstead and hit quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with a forearm to the back. Tagovailoa had just thrown an incomplete pass to Cedric Wilson, but the flag came out and the Dolphins were set up with a first and goal from the Dallas four. Miami scored a touchdown on the next play when Tagovailoa hit running back Raheem Mostert on a simple flat route that he walked untouched into the end zone with 0:17 to play in the second quarter. The Touchdown game Miami a 13-7 lead at the half.