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By Bob Sturm Dec 10, 2018
Easy is not an option. Let’s get that out of the way right here at the top.
If you think rising up from 3-5 and a closed casket on the entire Jason Garrett era to virtually locking down the NFC East title in 35 days was going to also come with the ease of fourth-quarter laughers, perhaps that’s a sign that you have lost the ability to be happy when consuming Cowboys football.
I will try not to blame you; an entire generation has never felt relevant in the NFL power structure after their predecessors enjoyed multiple parades.
But once you get past the baggage that surely weighs on Dallas-Fort Worth football hearts, you should try to enjoy this young team of fighters the Cowboys have assembled in 2018. Because these guys go toe-to-toe in the middle of the ring with their opponents every week bearing all the fresh enthusiasm of a fighter who doesn’t know he can be beaten. This group of Cowboys are resilient and courageous, and they look capable of finishing most fights.
Are they invincible and earmarked for February football? Of course not. This was the same group of guys (largely) that lost every road game until November 11th in Philadelphia. But something has clicked, and their rise in self-belief and willingness to battle for three-and-a-half hours to grab another win has been more impressive by the week. That first road win in Philadelphia might have saved the season, but surely, they couldn’t do it twice. They did. What about Thanksgiving? Done. Well, surely the Saints would put an end to this. Negative. Yes, but you know how the Eagles respond to adversity! They will show you the heart of a champion.
Once again, acting like any of us foresaw a five-game winning streak in this mess at the bye week or the Monday night failure against Tennessee would be a mighty large lie. But Sunday’s demonstration, surviving an unforgettable affair with the Eagles, should tell you a little something about this group of Cowboys and their resistance to defeat.
That was an absolute battle. At times, the Cowboys were their own biggest enemy, with three giveaways that allowed the Eagles to remain in a game where only Fletcher Cox and Michael Bennett appeared to be winning their battles. Otherwise, across the board, the Cowboys were winning skirmishes left and right. The defense was not troubled in the slightest by the Eagles offense that set the bar so high in 2017. They have had their own offensive line regression, young QB trials and tribulations, and the issues with teams starting to learn what they can and can’t do successfully. This is a very difficult league, and seeing the Eagles float back down the power stream to 6-7 demonstrates exactly that.
Credit is surely due to the Dallas defense, which went almost went the entire game without allowing the Eagles a substantive drive.
Almost.
In fact, for all of the first half and most of the third quarter, the Cowboys were in the driver’s seat on both sides of the ball. They were limiting the Eagles to nothing but punts and a fumble. The Eagles never came terribly close to putting points on the board during their first six drives. And just like in the Saints game, six possessions represents most of the game because when the Cowboys get the ball, they now take between four and eight minutes off the clock over and over. This is a result of Ezekiel Elliott continuing to punish and be punished with his ridiculous and violent style that fights for every inch of real estate. But to his credit, Elliott offers this effort in just about every game he plays — many of which Dallas was losing earlier in the year.
What has changed?
The Cowboys have now figured out the third-down offense, undergoing such a dramatic shift that I can hardly believe it. Amari Cooper is a special player and hopefully, you read my coverage of the trade and my optimism for what it might develop into for the Cowboys in the very near future. But I certainly wasn’t expecting this.
Cooper has produced two of the three biggest games of his career in the last few weeks and in both cases, basically won games by himself. Is he worth a first-round pick? You had better believe that the focal point of a five-game winning streak is worth a first-round pick. Heck, if I ever see a stretch of Cowboys football where I think Taco Charlton has won a game by himself, let alone several games, that will really be a feat. Cooper is better than we could have imagined.
The improved third-down offense is a product of having Cooper to off-set the threat of Elliott. The Cowboys have converted more third downs than anyone in the sport since Cooper’s arrival and that margin over the entire NFL is actually growing. They have 43 third-down conversions over the last six games (since the trade) and nobody else in the NFL is over 36. They also have the second highest conversion rate. They have bounced from 29th to second. That is not a misprint! For the season, the Cowboys have jumped all the way to 12th in this category with only one month of competent third-down play. And to convince you even more of the corner being turned, here is the real convincing number: since the bye week, no team has converted more third downs through the air than Dak Prescott and the Cowboys, who have 30. So, yes, take your Saints, Chiefs, Rams, Patriots, or whichever team’s passing attack makes you jealous — since the trade, the Cowboys have moved the chains with their passing game more capably than anyone.
Without that, Zeke’s efforts go wasted because there is no fresh set of downs to keep the defense on the field and wear them down. Last week, the Saints spent 37 minutes on the field. Jacksonville was out there for 39. Yesterday, the Eagles had to play defense for over 45 minutes. I don’t care how good any of these defenses are; they aren’t dealing with the ground and pound for that many rounds. They won’t survive the zone running game and Elliott’s ferocity very often. Since getting Zeke in the 2016 draft, the Cowboys are 18-3 when they hold the ball for 32 minutes or more. Among their three losses, they had three giveaways on two occasions.
Which brings us to the three giveaways that just about gave the division away yesterday. We cannot gloss over that near-catastrophe merely because the Cowboys survived it. The recipe for this style of football is pretty clear: Keep the ball, punish the opponent, keep the opposing offense off the field, win the turnover battle, and win the game. When they follow that recipe, the “21-4” Cowboys are incredibly proficient and difficult to beat.
On Sunday, they didn’t follow the recipe.
There was a poor interception in the early stages of the second quarter when Prescott was picked off by Rasul Douglas in a zone look on first down. It was Prescott’s first interception in 165 attempts and required a fine play by Douglas, but the pass was on an over-route to the corner and it needs to be leading Cooper to the back of the end zone to keep Douglas out of the play. Further, first-down interceptions are killers in any situation, especially on the edge of the red zone.
There was a worse interception with 6:19 to go in the third quarter. Prescott was standing on his own goal-line and saw a wide-open Gallup on a dig route at the sticks on 2nd and 15. He stepped into the throw and sailed it several feet high and right into the waiting arms of Corey Graham. This pick had nothing to do with the decision; it was just a badly-missed throw in a spot in the field where that will often get you beat. One play later, the Eagles cut a 9-0 lead down to 9-6 with a one-play, two-yard touchdown drive.
If that served as the ignitor to the Eagles offense, things would get even worse on the next Cowboys possession. On a 3rd and 8 from the Eagles 44, Zack Martin got beaten for a sack — the second he allowed in two drives (which is about as many times as he is beaten in a normal year) and Michael Bennett knocked the ball away from Prescott. The Eagles recovered the fumble, recording their third giveaway — an impossible number to overcome in most cases. In fact, in Prescott’s 45 starts for the Cowboys, this has only happened five times before Sunday and all five times the offense has turned the ball over three times they have lost.
There is no question that Dak Prescott is every bit the lightning rod that Tony Romo was for all of those 8-8 seasons he presided over. Every Monday required a long discussion about why Romo’s teams seem to lose as much as they win and how much he should be blamed for it. The blame finally washed away in 2014 and based on how he is compared with Prescott, you would think he never lost a game. Cowboys fans have a new pinata.
The two quarterbacks share a few things in common. First, they both know that there is no pleasing a frustrated fan base unless you can produce big-time January wins someday soon. Romo never did that, but he will survive with his name in the Ring of Honor soon, more money than he can ever spend, and the type of adoration in this city that would normally be saved for Champions like Staubach, Aikman, and Nowitzki.
The other thing that he shares with Prescott, in my estimation, is the ability to keep fighting your tail off and to never get beat mentally. Some of Romo’s best moments were at the end of a lousy day. That is what you want your athletes to be about. Adversity can wreck some things, but the man who has a short memory and keeps fighting the fight until the game ends often salvages the ending.
There should be no doubting that today. The three giveaways were followed by three touchdown drives in the final quarter and overtime, which should demonstrate Prescott’s intestinal fortitude and mental strength. I don’t mean to suggest that he did it on his own, because he certainly did not. This victory hinged on Amari Cooper making plays of epic proportions. If not for that bold trade, Prescott surely cannot rescue this game.
Further, Elliott’s toughness was tested several times. The punishment he can sustain is incredible, but it is not an easy way to make a living and you hope he can continue to do it, because this whole team is built on his contributions. Zack Martin had a rough day go even worse when his knee seemed to give out again. Hopefully it is something that can recover over the holidays, but the organization is holding its breath.
Prescott made significant plays in that final quarter and overtime. The Eagles sent three blitzes at him and each time, he picked out the right target which was Cooper each time, and put the ball in a nice spot. The third time was the final play of the night, as Cooper attacked the slant with his physical style. Even though Douglas got his hand on the ball with a desperation swipe, it popped into the air and fortuitously landed in Cooper’s waiting arms for yet another memorable moment. Touchdown. Game over. And that seemed to seal with 90% certainty that there will be a new Super Bowl Champion in Atlanta in less than two months’ time.
2,000 words cannot cover all of yesterday’s moments. There were enough dubious officiating moments to fill a column this size. The Eagles will feel done in by them, but I assume being outgained by 300 yards and converting just one third down will quiet that noise.
The Cowboys were anything but perfect, too. The three giveaways, compounded by their atrocious performance in the red zone, allowed the Eagles a number of chances to steal that game. We’ll spend plenty of time discussing that all week.
But this team fights. Yes, Dak Prescott had a rough day at points. Zack Martin had a rough day. Even the near-perfect Bryon Jones and Leighton Vander Esch had poor moments. The Eagles are a fine team with awesome pieces, too. They knew what was at stake and they brought everything they had left in their tank.
Yet, through it all, the Cowboys kept fighting their tails off. Grit is often laughed at in today’s sporting world, but that was about as gritty a win as you will find. Two hated rivals squared off in the middle of the ring, and only one could leave with the win.
It isn’t easy. That isn’t how this sport works. But they’ve gone from 3-5 to 8-5 in just a little over a month.
Enjoy the journey, my friends. This 2018 Cowboys team has put themselves back in the mix with five consecutive wins. If they think some unthinkable things are now possible again, maybe you should, too.