State of the Cowboys: Defense falters as team falls to 4-4

As Week 8 comes to an end with the Monday Night Football matchup of Seattle at St. Louis, the 2013 Dallas Cowboys find themselves in an all too familiar place: Mediocrityville. The Cowboys failed to put away Detroit on Sunday and fell to 4-4 atop the dismal NFC East. From my vantage point of watching the game at home, I recognized three key factors to the team's late-game defeat.
First, the Cowboys did not cash in on all four Detroit turnovers. Generating only 10 points from four takeaways will not get the job done. You can't go three and out on two of the four possessions following a turnover and expect to win.
Second, poor clock management and crappy play calling by the coaching staff. Head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Bill Callahan failed to realize that Detroit did not have any timeouts left prior to the third down play. Garrett should have advised Tony Romo to take a knee on third down, which would allow the clock to keep running down to about 40 seconds or so before kicking the field goal. If this scenario occurred then it would have been unlikely for Matthew Stafford to drive 80 yards for the game-winning score. Most fans hated the fact that the team didn't run their regular offense to simply get a first down, which would have essentially ended Detroit's chances at a comeback. Garrett still struggles with clock management in late game situations. It cost the team wins at Baltimore last season and at Arizona in 2011.
Finally, the implosion on defense. Monte Kiffin's Tampa 2 AKA "Tampon 2" defense held Detroit to only seven points through three quarters. In the final frame alone, the defense gave up 24 points and 265 yards. It's rather difficult to win games when the offense gives you two ten point leads in the fourth quarter and you still fail to deliver. The defense is dead last in the NFL, giving up 422.5 yards a game. As of now, this unit is complete garbage. They aren't helping the team at all. Forcing turnovers is great but it's better to not allow Calvin Johnson to accumulate 329 yards receiving and only get one sack on Matthew Stafford. No one fears this defense. They lack a formidable pass rush, which is putting their secondary at a liability. Kiffin must tweak his scheme so that defense can flourish in these final eight games. The team can become better but they must go back to basics, fix the little things and escape from Mediocrityville.
The Cowboys return home to face the 1-6 Minnesota Vikings in their week 9 matchup.