After Cowboys left tackle Chaz Green had given up yet another sack to Adrian Clayborn -- who knows which one it was as he surrendered five -- Fox analyst Troy Aikman didn’t mince words.
“That’s a pretty embarrassing play,” said Aikman, a former Cowboys quarterback. “That’s about as bad as I’ve seen someone get beat in all my years watching football.”
The criticism of Green continued long after the Cowboys’ 27-7 loss to the Falcons. Green expected it and accepts it.
“I feel like this is on my shoulders,” Green said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “I let the team down.”
The Cowboys played without All-Pro Tyron Smith, who stayed in Dallas with a groin injury. With 8:18 remaining in the game, the team finally -- mercifully -- replaced Green with Byron Bell, though he wasn’t much better in allowing two sacks.
Clayborn’s six sacks were the second most in an NFL game since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Only Chiefs’ Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas ever had more, making seven against the Seahawks in 1990.
It triggered a $250,000 incentive bonus for Clayborn, which he gets for reaching six sacks this season if he finishes the year on the 53-player roster. He entered with two sacks in eight games.
The Cowboys obviously didn’t see this coming or they would have planned for more help for Green. Green started for Smith twice last season and allowed only one sack.
“No excuses,” Green said. “I’ve just got to get better.”
