Todd Archer

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IRVING – Imagine where the Dallas Cowboys could be if they could just get out of their own way.

The Cowboys put up 449 yards against Carolina on Monday. For the first time since 1979 when Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett was running the ball, they have posted back-to-back rushing games of more than 200 yards with 212 against the Panthers. They averaged 6.7 yards per play.

But they only scored one offensive touchdown.

Why?

Seven of the Cowboys' nine penalties were on the offense. Many led to third-and-long situations and some super long-and-forevers. Seven times the Cowboys faced 3rd-and-10 or more against the Panthers and converted twice. They were 3-of-6 when it was 3rd-and-9 or less.

“We get driving down there, then we have a bonehead mistake and we end up punting,” wide receiver Roy Williams said in the locker room after the 21-7 victory. “The last game [against New York], it was turnovers. This game it was penalties. You can’t have them. Those two things will kill your offense. We showed the country that turnovers will kill your offense.”

Teams have to have a sense when the game is there for the taking. In the last two weeks, the Cowboys have let it slip both times.

Leading 24-20 late in the third quarter against the New York Giants, the Cowboys had a chance to put a choke-hold on the game by pounding the ball. Instead on 1st-and-10 from the New York 46, Tony Romo is intercepted by Kenny Phillips, and the Giants eventually take a 27-24 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter Monday, the Cowboys were three feet from the end zone and a possible 17-7 lead. With how the defense was controlling the Panthers, a two-score advantage would have made the final 12 minutes bearable.

But back-to-back lob passes to Roy Williams and Martellus Bennett fell incomplete, and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal with 12:02 left in the game.

They were one fluky play away from trailing a game they could have iced. But the defense did what it could not do vs. the Giants – come up with a play, namely Terence Newman’s interception return for a touchdown.

“Not getting it in the end zone from the 1? You can’t do that,” wide receiver Patrick Crayton said. “You’ve got to get it in there. You can’t get just 3 points. They’re still points but they’re a disappointment.”

Had Williams or Bennett come down with either catch or Romo made more accurate throws, the play-calling of assistant head coach Jason Garrett would have been called brilliant, because the Panthers were looking for the run.

Had Romo not looked for Sam Hurd on that deep ball Phillips intercepted against the Giants, then Garrett’s aggressiveness would have been praised, because the Cowboys were showing a killer instinct.

“I think everybody in the stadium, including Carolina, probably thought that you’d take three runs at it and get it in,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said in a radio interview on The Fan on Tuesday morning. “I know the first one didn’t bother me at all, but the second one … I think we all would’ve liked that one back.”

But it’s all about time and place, and the Cowboys are still trying to figure that out.

“We put ourselves in terrible positions, 1st-and-25s, and the penalties at the worst time,” tight end Jason Witten said. “And anytime you get inside the 5, you’ve got to be able to score. There are areas we need to get better.”