NFL Thanksgiving day: Dallas Cowboys 14 Carolina Panthers 33 recap and analysis

The Panthers haven't even put the offense on field yet when they scored 7 points because it happened on a Coleman's pick 6 on a well read of the Witten's crossing route, Romo's poor awareness on that pass  cost his team the first TD of the game. Carolina regain the possession of the ball and thanks to a precise Newton they have been able to reach the FG range and extend their lead to 10 points. Before the end of the first quarter Romo's first well played drive of the game should produce a way more than the 3 points that it produced due to 2 clear penalties that would extend their drive in the redzone,  in this drive Beasley made an outstanding route running job and also his elusive movements after the  catch produced good yardage. Cowboys' offensive struggle continued due to a poor decision taking by Romo and a good coverage by the Panthers' secondary, this let the visitors score 13 unanswered points that should be even more if it wouldn't be for the good job that Cowboys defense made, the only thing that they struggled to do has been the zone coverage that has been beaten too often especially on 3rd downs and for medium/long passes. The biggest difference make in the first half has been the Panther defense who scored 2 TDs, in fact tafter the Coleman's one Kuechly intercepted Romo undercut a deep pass intended to Witten and brought it right to the end zone.

The second half saw the Cowboys trying to involve Bryant a way more in their offense and they made it right in the first drive but they fell short of the end zone so Bailey made his second FG of the day. Dallas defense continue to play good but once again their 3rd down defense struggled so much and nullified what they did in earlier downs and when they have been able to stop Newton & Co a silly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a FG try gave the Panthers  a first down and later on that drive Newton scored their first offensive TD of the game on a QB draw. Cowboys chance to comeback ended when Romo got injured again on his collarbone and has been forced to leave the game at the start of the fourth quarter.

This has been the loss that ended the Cowboys hope to reach playoffs, in fact they not only played awful offensive football but they lost Romo for the rest of the seeason and even if their defense played very good on 1st 2 downs on 3rd ones it has been disastrous giving up long completions that killed them, the offense has been inconsistent all game long in every department with a Bryant more occupied to talk to Noorman that get free from him. The Panthers shown once again that they are there for real especially thanks to a super defense lead by MLB Kuechly who is making all the difference along with the veteran LOLB Davis Sr. On offense they needs to be more consistent with the RBs because they are crucial in read option's situations and play actions (keys to Newton's game and success)

MVP: Kuechly