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By Bob Sturm Sep 16, 2019
Leaving the Week 1 game against the Giants eight days ago, the Cowboys masses seemed impressed. Sure, it was just one game, but that fireworks show was like a breath of fresh air, contrasting the stale display they had seen for quite a while.
That game, however, came against an opponent that most predicted would not sniff postseason play. Wins are valuable, but it was important not to get carried away.
If the Cowboys wanted to keep the good feelings going, they needed to demonstrate that performance was not a fluke by doing it again in Week 2.
The follow-up effort would be a divisional road game in a difficult environment, against a more stubborn defensive opponent and with a week of tape to give the Washington coaching staff some insight into what they might be facing.
In other words, if we know anything about this league, it is that Game 2 in Washington would probably be more challenging.
Well, if it was, it surely didn’t really appear so.
The Cowboys again made a run at the lofty heights of 500 yards of total offense — falling short by 26 yards — but once again cracked the 30-point barrier with time to spare as they pounded the Redskins to a relatively simple 31-21 final. It was simple in that witnessing the second consecutive divisional win felt in some ways like an instant replay of a game that never really felt in doubt in the second half. By the fourth quarter, minds were wandering to stories of greater intrigue from around the league.
The Cowboys are a big story in 2019, but the drama will have to wait a little longer this year. These first two games are similar in that the Dallas defense stacked up a number of first-half stops while the offense found its sea legs, then started scoring on every drive once they got up to speed.
Dallas has certainly drawn the league’s attention. This Cowboys offense had its moments over the last several years, but what we are seeing in 2019 is the next level. Please forgive those of us who have begged for some ingenuity from the offensive design for ages. It is here, and the results are a little surreal. If it continues, Dallas will quickly become a Super Bowl contender. Consider:
That was a 3rd-and-1 right before the 2:00 warning when Dallas needed a play to extend the drive and to ultimately take the lead before halftime after a slow start. Tony Pollard was in for this zone read and the read defender was the Washington edge rusher, #58 Cassanova McKinzy, who crashed so hard on Pollard that if Dak did give the ball to his running back, it would have been an easy tackle for loss and a drive stopper. Instead, Prescott saw McKinzy’s intentions and pulled the ball to keep it. It turned – brilliantly – into a 42-yard keeper for Prescott as he rumbled down the field after getting a block from Randall Cobb and perhaps not enough of one from Michael Gallup.
(Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
It demonstrated yet another layer of the onion for this offense, reminding us how difficult it was to stop this idea back in 2016 because the quarterback is such a dangerous runner when the offense chooses to deploy that tactic. Prescott’s excellent decision-making is what makes this all work.
While we are on the topic, this does seem like a proper time to discuss the Cowboys’ quarterback, who continues to demonstrate his quality to those who always need to see more. Prescott made his 50th career regular-season start yesterday as the talks about his record-breaking contract continue to occur. Long ago, the Cowboys pledged that he was their next franchise QB, and they would pay him as such when the details could be worked out, but the public has surely been far more skeptical about his credentials and worthiness. Basically, can this team function with him as their highest-compensated piece in a league where QB seems to mean everything?
His 34-16 record during that span registers at a ridiculous 68% win percentage and is among the best of all-time (currently seventh), but we know this is a team-dependent statistic. Here is an individual mark: He registers second all-time on the list of quarterbacks after 50 starts for completion percentage (66.8%), behind just Kurt Warner of the “Greatest Show on Turf.” That is the entire list of QBs in front of him, and his numbers continue to soar.
Prescott’s numbers are not some two-week aberration, either. His career numbers stand up quite well, and it seems like the further we get, criticisms become more anecdotal than substantive with actual statistical confirmation. In fact, in 11 games since the Amari Cooper trade — notating the moment in time the Cowboys finally replaced what they lost in Dez Bryant — Prescott ranks fourth in passer rating, fourth in yards per game, first in completion percentage and third in yards per attempt in all of the NFL. In other words, the last 20 percent of his career has seen yet another massive step forward, and he continues to clean up his loose ends. There is simply no longer any basis to suggest he is a bottom-half of the league QB, and it seems like most are coming to realize that. He used to be league average. What we are seeing now is well above that mark. Kellen Moore deserves credit, but this “new Dak” has been rolling pretty well since the midway point of last year. What is here in 2019 is just another step up again.
What is most impressive about Prescott for me, though, is not necessarily tangible on spreadsheets: His decision-making. He seldom puts the ball in harm’s way or falls for the deceptive schemes of his opponents. In a league where we see QBs make silly mistakes every weekend, Prescott exhibits intelligence and composure, which seem to be his best traits. Moore can empower him to make decisions throughout the construct of a play and have confidence that his QB can navigate the decision tree with minimal mistakes. Prescott seldom lets his team down by authoring a mistake that gets the Cowboys beat. All you need is a television to see how many franchises can’t say that about their young star.
There is also his ability to rise to this occasion, as pundit after pundit questions his entire career with contract conversations in every direction. He has blocked out that noise and put up some of the best football he has ever played at a time when many would allow that to affect their play. I am not sure enough is being made of that accomplishment.
It is certainly easy to make these first two weeks just about Prescott or Moore. That would be a mistake, however, because football is all about the foot soldiers who handle their own jobs so well. But, you see, that is somewhat of a proper theme because so much of the 2019 Dallas Cowboys does seem primed to step up to the top of the NFC. They could easily reach that ladder’s final rung if they can only get a big year from the QB and the offensive mastermind.
You can be confident in this offensive line that has quickly returned to its previous heights. Yes, there is still a weakness with young Connor Williams, but his development can and should be hidden by the cumulative excellence that surrounds him. The weapons on the offense seem as good as they have been in ages, with yesterday’s highlight surely being the fantastic deep shot to Devin Smith.
If you slept through training camp, you might need to read up on Smith’s incredible story. I wrote plenty about him back on August 12th, but so much has changed since then. He absolutely passed all of the younger kids with healthier knees by putting together an awesome camp and preseason, making it almost impossible to cut him. We weren’t sure if the Cowboys would be able to find a role for him, but if they did, he would offer them a deep threat unlike any since young Terrance Williams or Miles Austin.
Yesterday, they needed him. In fact, the offense badly needed something, because the first three drives were off. It was expected, as Washington has a defense and they prepare well, so the slow start of two punts and an interception was not completely out of the realm of possibility.
The Cowboys trailed 7-0, and the first half was slipping away. At this point in the game, the Cowboys had run 19 plays and zero of them were in Washington territory. There was a bit of uneasiness to the start of their first road game of the year. It was second-and-7 with 6:18 left in the half.
Dallas was in 11 personnel, and Dak was under center with Cobb in the slot to the right and Cooper outside him. Devin Smith was the lone threat to the left, and Blake Jarwin would help sell the play-action fake with a lead block look to the left tackle. There was a solid fake to Elliott at the snap, followed by Prescott trying to sell the safety that he was eyeing the two right-to-left routes of Cooper and Cobb, layered nicely to the left sideline. These high-low concepts are there to put defenders in conflict, allowing the quarterback to choose the most appealing target based on where the defenders declare. But the idea here is to start Devin Smith on the far left and then work him over the top of it all. If the single-high safety sees Cobb and Cooper headed behind him, the diagnosis will often default to the bigger threats in front of you, risking that Josh Norman would be fine against Devin Smith, who had caught a single NFL touchdown pass — back in 2015.
Once Dak sees the deep safety Montae Nicholson jump to Cobb, he knew he had the whole field to lead Smith, who had leverage on Norman. An accurate pass would put Smith in space, and the throw could not have been better. Smith has the speed and Ohio State roots that harken back to Terry Glenn. The 51-yard touchdown was an absolute thing of beauty.
This Cowboys offense appears to have weapons galore, big-play ability and a design that puts its opponents in conflicts that punish wrong choices. If they make good decisions, this Cowboys offense will put up a ton of points. They already have shot to the top of the league in many categories, so now they simply have to make this the rule rather than the exception. For the second straight week, they scored on five consecutive drives and average a ridiculous 3.5 points per drive.
The road will get more difficult along the way, but that is where we expect the depth and quality to shine through.
In other words, this 2019 campaign could not have started better for the QB and his new OC. This might be one of those years when you wish they didn’t have to wait all week to play again.
By Bob Sturm Sep 16, 2019
Leaving the Week 1 game against the Giants eight days ago, the Cowboys masses seemed impressed. Sure, it was just one game, but that fireworks show was like a breath of fresh air, contrasting the stale display they had seen for quite a while.
That game, however, came against an opponent that most predicted would not sniff postseason play. Wins are valuable, but it was important not to get carried away.
If the Cowboys wanted to keep the good feelings going, they needed to demonstrate that performance was not a fluke by doing it again in Week 2.
The follow-up effort would be a divisional road game in a difficult environment, against a more stubborn defensive opponent and with a week of tape to give the Washington coaching staff some insight into what they might be facing.
In other words, if we know anything about this league, it is that Game 2 in Washington would probably be more challenging.
Well, if it was, it surely didn’t really appear so.
The Cowboys again made a run at the lofty heights of 500 yards of total offense — falling short by 26 yards — but once again cracked the 30-point barrier with time to spare as they pounded the Redskins to a relatively simple 31-21 final. It was simple in that witnessing the second consecutive divisional win felt in some ways like an instant replay of a game that never really felt in doubt in the second half. By the fourth quarter, minds were wandering to stories of greater intrigue from around the league.
The Cowboys are a big story in 2019, but the drama will have to wait a little longer this year. These first two games are similar in that the Dallas defense stacked up a number of first-half stops while the offense found its sea legs, then started scoring on every drive once they got up to speed.
Dallas has certainly drawn the league’s attention. This Cowboys offense had its moments over the last several years, but what we are seeing in 2019 is the next level. Please forgive those of us who have begged for some ingenuity from the offensive design for ages. It is here, and the results are a little surreal. If it continues, Dallas will quickly become a Super Bowl contender. Consider:
- It was the second straight game with well over 450 yards. We consider anything over 360 a passable grade in the NFL, and any total over 400 amounts to an excellent day. They are already at 968 yards of offense through two weeks and are averaging an NFC-best 484 per game.
- The Cowboys scored over 30 points, rolled up 400+ yards and won by double-digits. That may sound rather commonplace in other locales, but we can assure you that it is a rarity with this team. In fact, it did not happen a single time all last season. It transpired just twice in 2017, three times each in the 2014 and 2016 “glory years” and never happened once in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Oh, and it happened last week. So in two games with Kellen Moore’s offense, the Cowboys have already hit this threshold both times. If they can do it twice more this entire season (with Miami waiting next), they can become the most prolific offense (in this regard) that the Cowboys have had since 2007.
- Dallas won a game while losing the turnover margin. Again, this may be a rather pedestrian accomplishment in other cities, but the Dallas offense in the “21-4” era has as strong a correlation between the turnover battle and winning as pretty much any team in the business. Since 2016, the Cowboys are 20-1 when win the turnover battle. Their one loss was the first game of 2016. They had lost nine of ten games in which they lose the turnovers, but now have won three straight between the 2018 late-season victories over the Saints and the Eagles and now this game on Sunday, which moved their record to 6-9. But they almost never win away from home if they don’t at least break even. Yesterday, they were a “minus-1,” and that was the first road win where they overcame a negative differential since Oakland in 2017. Basically, the takeaway is that this offense now seems to have the ability to act as an eraser from time to time. Last week, they proved they could overcome drive-killing penalties. This week, an interception didn’t sink their ship.
That was a 3rd-and-1 right before the 2:00 warning when Dallas needed a play to extend the drive and to ultimately take the lead before halftime after a slow start. Tony Pollard was in for this zone read and the read defender was the Washington edge rusher, #58 Cassanova McKinzy, who crashed so hard on Pollard that if Dak did give the ball to his running back, it would have been an easy tackle for loss and a drive stopper. Instead, Prescott saw McKinzy’s intentions and pulled the ball to keep it. It turned – brilliantly – into a 42-yard keeper for Prescott as he rumbled down the field after getting a block from Randall Cobb and perhaps not enough of one from Michael Gallup.
(Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
It demonstrated yet another layer of the onion for this offense, reminding us how difficult it was to stop this idea back in 2016 because the quarterback is such a dangerous runner when the offense chooses to deploy that tactic. Prescott’s excellent decision-making is what makes this all work.
While we are on the topic, this does seem like a proper time to discuss the Cowboys’ quarterback, who continues to demonstrate his quality to those who always need to see more. Prescott made his 50th career regular-season start yesterday as the talks about his record-breaking contract continue to occur. Long ago, the Cowboys pledged that he was their next franchise QB, and they would pay him as such when the details could be worked out, but the public has surely been far more skeptical about his credentials and worthiness. Basically, can this team function with him as their highest-compensated piece in a league where QB seems to mean everything?
His 34-16 record during that span registers at a ridiculous 68% win percentage and is among the best of all-time (currently seventh), but we know this is a team-dependent statistic. Here is an individual mark: He registers second all-time on the list of quarterbacks after 50 starts for completion percentage (66.8%), behind just Kurt Warner of the “Greatest Show on Turf.” That is the entire list of QBs in front of him, and his numbers continue to soar.
Prescott’s numbers are not some two-week aberration, either. His career numbers stand up quite well, and it seems like the further we get, criticisms become more anecdotal than substantive with actual statistical confirmation. In fact, in 11 games since the Amari Cooper trade — notating the moment in time the Cowboys finally replaced what they lost in Dez Bryant — Prescott ranks fourth in passer rating, fourth in yards per game, first in completion percentage and third in yards per attempt in all of the NFL. In other words, the last 20 percent of his career has seen yet another massive step forward, and he continues to clean up his loose ends. There is simply no longer any basis to suggest he is a bottom-half of the league QB, and it seems like most are coming to realize that. He used to be league average. What we are seeing now is well above that mark. Kellen Moore deserves credit, but this “new Dak” has been rolling pretty well since the midway point of last year. What is here in 2019 is just another step up again.
What is most impressive about Prescott for me, though, is not necessarily tangible on spreadsheets: His decision-making. He seldom puts the ball in harm’s way or falls for the deceptive schemes of his opponents. In a league where we see QBs make silly mistakes every weekend, Prescott exhibits intelligence and composure, which seem to be his best traits. Moore can empower him to make decisions throughout the construct of a play and have confidence that his QB can navigate the decision tree with minimal mistakes. Prescott seldom lets his team down by authoring a mistake that gets the Cowboys beat. All you need is a television to see how many franchises can’t say that about their young star.
There is also his ability to rise to this occasion, as pundit after pundit questions his entire career with contract conversations in every direction. He has blocked out that noise and put up some of the best football he has ever played at a time when many would allow that to affect their play. I am not sure enough is being made of that accomplishment.
It is certainly easy to make these first two weeks just about Prescott or Moore. That would be a mistake, however, because football is all about the foot soldiers who handle their own jobs so well. But, you see, that is somewhat of a proper theme because so much of the 2019 Dallas Cowboys does seem primed to step up to the top of the NFC. They could easily reach that ladder’s final rung if they can only get a big year from the QB and the offensive mastermind.
You can be confident in this offensive line that has quickly returned to its previous heights. Yes, there is still a weakness with young Connor Williams, but his development can and should be hidden by the cumulative excellence that surrounds him. The weapons on the offense seem as good as they have been in ages, with yesterday’s highlight surely being the fantastic deep shot to Devin Smith.
If you slept through training camp, you might need to read up on Smith’s incredible story. I wrote plenty about him back on August 12th, but so much has changed since then. He absolutely passed all of the younger kids with healthier knees by putting together an awesome camp and preseason, making it almost impossible to cut him. We weren’t sure if the Cowboys would be able to find a role for him, but if they did, he would offer them a deep threat unlike any since young Terrance Williams or Miles Austin.
Yesterday, they needed him. In fact, the offense badly needed something, because the first three drives were off. It was expected, as Washington has a defense and they prepare well, so the slow start of two punts and an interception was not completely out of the realm of possibility.
The Cowboys trailed 7-0, and the first half was slipping away. At this point in the game, the Cowboys had run 19 plays and zero of them were in Washington territory. There was a bit of uneasiness to the start of their first road game of the year. It was second-and-7 with 6:18 left in the half.
Dallas was in 11 personnel, and Dak was under center with Cobb in the slot to the right and Cooper outside him. Devin Smith was the lone threat to the left, and Blake Jarwin would help sell the play-action fake with a lead block look to the left tackle. There was a solid fake to Elliott at the snap, followed by Prescott trying to sell the safety that he was eyeing the two right-to-left routes of Cooper and Cobb, layered nicely to the left sideline. These high-low concepts are there to put defenders in conflict, allowing the quarterback to choose the most appealing target based on where the defenders declare. But the idea here is to start Devin Smith on the far left and then work him over the top of it all. If the single-high safety sees Cobb and Cooper headed behind him, the diagnosis will often default to the bigger threats in front of you, risking that Josh Norman would be fine against Devin Smith, who had caught a single NFL touchdown pass — back in 2015.
Once Dak sees the deep safety Montae Nicholson jump to Cobb, he knew he had the whole field to lead Smith, who had leverage on Norman. An accurate pass would put Smith in space, and the throw could not have been better. Smith has the speed and Ohio State roots that harken back to Terry Glenn. The 51-yard touchdown was an absolute thing of beauty.
This Cowboys offense appears to have weapons galore, big-play ability and a design that puts its opponents in conflicts that punish wrong choices. If they make good decisions, this Cowboys offense will put up a ton of points. They already have shot to the top of the league in many categories, so now they simply have to make this the rule rather than the exception. For the second straight week, they scored on five consecutive drives and average a ridiculous 3.5 points per drive.
The road will get more difficult along the way, but that is where we expect the depth and quality to shine through.
In other words, this 2019 campaign could not have started better for the QB and his new OC. This might be one of those years when you wish they didn’t have to wait all week to play again.