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The Morning After: Cowboys outlast Falcons to win yet another huge road test
By Bob Sturm 4h ago
Another week, another moment of clarity that reminds us to never, ever try predicting outcomes in the unpredictable National Football League. For this league, and yes, this franchise inside of it, will take you on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows that does not follow any script. They will lose games you were positive they would win. They will win games you were quite certain they would lose.
In the end, they might end up in roughly the same place, but along the way, the plot will go through enough twists and turns to make every journey memorable.
14 days ago, the Cowboys came out of the bye week with 15 days of rest and lost to a Tennessee team that seldom wins away from Nashville. They looked disinterested and lost without a compass or a leader to point them. After that debacle, I wrote some less-than-optimistic descriptions of what I was seeing:
“Losing is a disease. And when you start to lose too much, the spirit gets weaker – especially if the troops can sniff out that their leaders have lost the plot one too many times.
This era of Cowboys football is coming to a close. I wasn’t sure before last night, but 3-5 leaves them destined for 4-8 and ultimately 6-10 or so. And while Jerry Jones might be reluctant to follow it, the path the Cowboys are currently navigating appears to be one that ends with burning things to the ground and starting over (without a first-round pick).”
Destined for 4-8 and ultimately 6-10? I suppose, given their ability to zig when we anticipate a zag, we should probably not assume that they are incapable of an unlikely nosedive, but the two weeks following the Tennessee game have been some of the most encouraging football this organization has turned out in a while. Road wins are rare treats in the National Football League, especially when the home side is playing their own brand of desperate football and also appears to be out of mulligans. Those last two opponents — Philadelphia and Atlanta — are the last two NFC teams to play in the Super Bowl. One enjoyed a parade and the other choked the title away in epic fashion, but make no mistake, the quality on both of those rosters has been proven, and much of the damage they dished out was in front of their home faithful.
That is why, 14 days ago, I was comfortable preparing for a Cowboys funeral. Dallas had not won a single road game and they were about to have to go on a two-week trip where getting swept might get people fired before Thanksgiving. Splitting the trip would be better than nothing, but it would not save the season. Sweeping the trip? Why even consider that possibility? There was no point based on what we had seen. Surely, they weren’t going to beat the last two NFC Champions in their home stadiums. Don’t even entertain that ridiculous possibility.
Yesterday, the Cowboys scored three times in the fourth quarter to narrowly defeat Atlanta 22-19. Neither team displayed any real competence offensively for the first 45 minutes as they combined for five field goals in three quarters, and then presto, 26 points were scored in the final 15 minutes. One could easily argue that is the way the Cowboys wanted it, as Atlanta is a team that would have been quite happy to engage in a track meet with a Dallas side that struggles to score — especially on the road.
Before this road trip, we suggested that Atlanta (and to a lesser extent, Philadelphia) would strongly test our theory that the Cowboys defense may be better than we’ve seen since Wade Phillips was coaching it a decade ago. Atlanta averaged 32.2 points and 436 yards per game in front of their home faithful and had no problem putting the ball in the end zone over and over again.
But this Dallas defense continues to impress. Given the fact that the front seven was down several key players — David Irving, Taco Charlton, Antwaun Woods, and Daniel Ross all were scratched due to health, as was Sean Lee — the Cowboys had to manage the best they could up front while defending the red zone by turning touchdowns into field goals and even occasional field goals into punts. Cosmetically, it might not dazzle as the Falcons still put up 354 yards and had a 50% day on third downs, but overall, they put up most of their yardage working their way down the field and almost none of the yardage turned into points.
The high-flying offensive attack that features three excellent receivers and a solid tight end along with an MVP-winning QB had a heck of a time imposing their will. The Cowboys defense put up resistance all day and then when the moment of truth occurred — a Matt Ryan pass into traffic that bounced off Falcons rookie Calvin Ridley’s hands into a dangerous spot, there were the opportunistic mitts of Cowboys rookie Leighton Vander Esch to snag it and head back the other direction. It was Vander Esch’s second interception in two weeks and if the two road wins had anything in common, it would likely be that the Cowboys defense found a takeaway while the offense committed no giveaways.
Win the turnover margin and win the game, right? The Cowboys are 4-0 this season in that stat and 16-1 with Dak Prescott as their QB when that happens. Want a convincing number to demonstrate that the Cowboys can win with Prescott as their QB and with roughly their current personnel? How about this one: They’ve won 16 games in a row since September of 2016 when the offense doesn’t commit a turnover and the defense gets just one. That applies to home and the road, good teams and bad, September or December. If this team takes care of the ball, they have won 16 games straight with no attached yardage or points barrier. Just don’t beat yourself.
But this win was not simple. It required quite a bit of offense in that fourth quarter. Three scores were needed and that would require moving the ball from your own 25 on two of them (thank you to Mr. Vander Esch for the very short field on the third). That was where the offense needed to execute with precision and effectiveness against a battered Atlanta side, and they did just that.
Ezekiel Elliott continues to demonstrate his extreme quality as a weapon and had another ridiculously effective day with 201 yards from scrimmage. He gained 122 on the ground in 23 carries and 79 yards from seven receptions. It was only the eighth game of over 200 yards in the NFL in 2018, and he’s responsible for two of them (Detroit, 240). If you expand the list to the 13 games with the highest yardage, he has three of them. He now has four 200-yard days in his career and since he entered the league in 2016, there is just one player in the sport who has more total yards than his 4,540: Todd Gurley (4,695).
Elliott makes every play better than it seems like it should be. His ability to use his vision and different speeds are uncanny with respect to finding cracks where there seem to be none. He takes plays that should lose five yards and somehow gets back to the line of scrimmage. He takes nothing and finds three yards. Most importantly, he takes a four-yard hole and makes it 12. I definitely don’t advise teams to use their highest pick in 25 years on a RB in a passing league, but I must admit, if you are going to do it you should make sure he is a generational talent. So far, it is tough to say that he is not. His ability is just absurd.
Which brings us to the quarterback all over again. 12 months and six days ago Dak Prescott visited Mercedes-Benz Stadium and was sacked eight times, stayed in the game despite what appeared to surely be concussion-like symptoms, and was brought to his knees as a professional QB. It would be several weeks before he started to look himself again physically, but you could make the case that his confidence is finally just starting to heal up.
Prescott needed to make some massive throws in the fourth quarter. One was on 3rd and 7 when the Falcons decided to blitz six defenders and leave Cole Beasley in man coverage (for a rare time when he wasn’t bracketed) against Robert Alford. Beasley hit the jets dragging across and Prescott put it on him for a 17-yard gain down to the 4-yard line. One snap later, Prescott barged into the end zone on a zone read keeper that wasn’t the smoothest play ever run.
The next big moment for the Cowboys’ QB on his way to getting a win in this house of pain was a 3rd and 5 with 1:38 left to go. The Falcons had just hit Julio Jones for the game-tying touchdown and now were fully planning on getting a stop here and then winning the game. Atlanta even called a time-out after second down to make sure Matt Ryan had enough time after Prescott would fail to convert this third down.
The Falcons dropped off the blitz and sent a three-man rush at Prescott. Vic Beasley, already with two sacks, was working hard past La’el Collins again to hit Prescott’s blind side. Beasley ran right into a bracket on the inside as Atlanta was going to take Amari Cooper and Beasley off the table. That is when Prescott spied Michael Gallup on the outside, who ran a sharp comeback on Alford again. The resulting completion moved the chains and put the Cowboys in a spot where would either win in regulation or take the game to overtime.
From there, a quick dump-off to Ezekiel Elliott took the Cowboys into Falcons territory, but they would still need one more big throw to get a win in the place that has haunted them for 371 days.
2nd and 10 from the Falcons 49 with 0:44 left. This is a thing of football beauty. Once again, the Falcons want to take Beasley away by bracketing him with a cornerback (Alford, yet again) playing outside leverage and running him into an inside player (59-De’vondre Campbell) who will not let him win across the field. On the outside, Tyron Smith is trying to hold the edge against Bruce Irvin, but Irvin is too quick and Tyron falls to the ground, seemingly injured. Because the Cowboys are in an empty grouping, Prescott must move up in the pocket and wait on Beasley. Beasley stutters, which convinces Campbell that he is out of the play, and Campbell now heads towards Prescott to clean up the sack. But that move pushed Beasley back into space going across the field as he defeated the bracket with this odd move and uncovered in time for Prescott to loft a pass into his path. Beasley eludes Alford long enough to squirm down to the 30-yard line. It was a magnificent moment and a game-winning throw and catch.
The Brett Maher roller coaster ride finally won the game with a 42-yarder that brought the Cowboys back to 5-5 and in a spot where they actually swept the two-game trip to Philadelphia and Atlanta. I never considered they had that in them, but because of this win, the Eagles losing two straight, and the broken leg of Washington QB Alex Smith — as well as that team’s loss to Houston, the Cowboys — like zombies that simply won’t allow their unpopular coach to be dismissed, evidently — are still right in the thick of things as we approach Thanksgiving.
And who does the holiday bring to town? Who else, but that same Washington team with Colt McCoy leading the way. A Cowboys win will push them into first place in the NFC East and surely the inside path to the post-season with five games to play.
Just as I proved two weeks ago, I confess to having no earthly idea what the next few weeks will present us. But I will tell you the lasting memory from Sunday was witnessing a postseason-esque moment between Vander Esch and Prescott, as they beamed and embraced.
It became easy to imagine the young guys learning to win. They aren’t worried about the emotional baggage of a fanbase that might prefer a full cratering of the season so they can start anew in 2019. They want to forge their own destiny. The Cowboys are one of the youngest teams in the NFL, and the players on the field don’t remember the three straight 8-8 seasons from 2011-2013. Dak Prescott was a freshman at Mississippi State when he famously tweeted about Tony Romo. Ezekiel Elliott was a senior in a Missouri high school in 2013, running in state track meets and winning awards.
And Vander Esch? Well, here you can see Leighton playing eight-man high School Football for Salmon River in 2013.
In other words, these guys aren’t worried about your emotional baggage. They want to make their own legacy. And maybe 2018 and the remarkable road trip to Philadelphia and Atlanta will be an early chapter in that book.
By Bob Sturm 4h ago
Another week, another moment of clarity that reminds us to never, ever try predicting outcomes in the unpredictable National Football League. For this league, and yes, this franchise inside of it, will take you on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows that does not follow any script. They will lose games you were positive they would win. They will win games you were quite certain they would lose.
In the end, they might end up in roughly the same place, but along the way, the plot will go through enough twists and turns to make every journey memorable.
14 days ago, the Cowboys came out of the bye week with 15 days of rest and lost to a Tennessee team that seldom wins away from Nashville. They looked disinterested and lost without a compass or a leader to point them. After that debacle, I wrote some less-than-optimistic descriptions of what I was seeing:
“Losing is a disease. And when you start to lose too much, the spirit gets weaker – especially if the troops can sniff out that their leaders have lost the plot one too many times.
This era of Cowboys football is coming to a close. I wasn’t sure before last night, but 3-5 leaves them destined for 4-8 and ultimately 6-10 or so. And while Jerry Jones might be reluctant to follow it, the path the Cowboys are currently navigating appears to be one that ends with burning things to the ground and starting over (without a first-round pick).”
Destined for 4-8 and ultimately 6-10? I suppose, given their ability to zig when we anticipate a zag, we should probably not assume that they are incapable of an unlikely nosedive, but the two weeks following the Tennessee game have been some of the most encouraging football this organization has turned out in a while. Road wins are rare treats in the National Football League, especially when the home side is playing their own brand of desperate football and also appears to be out of mulligans. Those last two opponents — Philadelphia and Atlanta — are the last two NFC teams to play in the Super Bowl. One enjoyed a parade and the other choked the title away in epic fashion, but make no mistake, the quality on both of those rosters has been proven, and much of the damage they dished out was in front of their home faithful.
That is why, 14 days ago, I was comfortable preparing for a Cowboys funeral. Dallas had not won a single road game and they were about to have to go on a two-week trip where getting swept might get people fired before Thanksgiving. Splitting the trip would be better than nothing, but it would not save the season. Sweeping the trip? Why even consider that possibility? There was no point based on what we had seen. Surely, they weren’t going to beat the last two NFC Champions in their home stadiums. Don’t even entertain that ridiculous possibility.
Yesterday, the Cowboys scored three times in the fourth quarter to narrowly defeat Atlanta 22-19. Neither team displayed any real competence offensively for the first 45 minutes as they combined for five field goals in three quarters, and then presto, 26 points were scored in the final 15 minutes. One could easily argue that is the way the Cowboys wanted it, as Atlanta is a team that would have been quite happy to engage in a track meet with a Dallas side that struggles to score — especially on the road.
Before this road trip, we suggested that Atlanta (and to a lesser extent, Philadelphia) would strongly test our theory that the Cowboys defense may be better than we’ve seen since Wade Phillips was coaching it a decade ago. Atlanta averaged 32.2 points and 436 yards per game in front of their home faithful and had no problem putting the ball in the end zone over and over again.
But this Dallas defense continues to impress. Given the fact that the front seven was down several key players — David Irving, Taco Charlton, Antwaun Woods, and Daniel Ross all were scratched due to health, as was Sean Lee — the Cowboys had to manage the best they could up front while defending the red zone by turning touchdowns into field goals and even occasional field goals into punts. Cosmetically, it might not dazzle as the Falcons still put up 354 yards and had a 50% day on third downs, but overall, they put up most of their yardage working their way down the field and almost none of the yardage turned into points.
The high-flying offensive attack that features three excellent receivers and a solid tight end along with an MVP-winning QB had a heck of a time imposing their will. The Cowboys defense put up resistance all day and then when the moment of truth occurred — a Matt Ryan pass into traffic that bounced off Falcons rookie Calvin Ridley’s hands into a dangerous spot, there were the opportunistic mitts of Cowboys rookie Leighton Vander Esch to snag it and head back the other direction. It was Vander Esch’s second interception in two weeks and if the two road wins had anything in common, it would likely be that the Cowboys defense found a takeaway while the offense committed no giveaways.
Win the turnover margin and win the game, right? The Cowboys are 4-0 this season in that stat and 16-1 with Dak Prescott as their QB when that happens. Want a convincing number to demonstrate that the Cowboys can win with Prescott as their QB and with roughly their current personnel? How about this one: They’ve won 16 games in a row since September of 2016 when the offense doesn’t commit a turnover and the defense gets just one. That applies to home and the road, good teams and bad, September or December. If this team takes care of the ball, they have won 16 games straight with no attached yardage or points barrier. Just don’t beat yourself.
But this win was not simple. It required quite a bit of offense in that fourth quarter. Three scores were needed and that would require moving the ball from your own 25 on two of them (thank you to Mr. Vander Esch for the very short field on the third). That was where the offense needed to execute with precision and effectiveness against a battered Atlanta side, and they did just that.
Ezekiel Elliott continues to demonstrate his extreme quality as a weapon and had another ridiculously effective day with 201 yards from scrimmage. He gained 122 on the ground in 23 carries and 79 yards from seven receptions. It was only the eighth game of over 200 yards in the NFL in 2018, and he’s responsible for two of them (Detroit, 240). If you expand the list to the 13 games with the highest yardage, he has three of them. He now has four 200-yard days in his career and since he entered the league in 2016, there is just one player in the sport who has more total yards than his 4,540: Todd Gurley (4,695).
Elliott makes every play better than it seems like it should be. His ability to use his vision and different speeds are uncanny with respect to finding cracks where there seem to be none. He takes plays that should lose five yards and somehow gets back to the line of scrimmage. He takes nothing and finds three yards. Most importantly, he takes a four-yard hole and makes it 12. I definitely don’t advise teams to use their highest pick in 25 years on a RB in a passing league, but I must admit, if you are going to do it you should make sure he is a generational talent. So far, it is tough to say that he is not. His ability is just absurd.
Which brings us to the quarterback all over again. 12 months and six days ago Dak Prescott visited Mercedes-Benz Stadium and was sacked eight times, stayed in the game despite what appeared to surely be concussion-like symptoms, and was brought to his knees as a professional QB. It would be several weeks before he started to look himself again physically, but you could make the case that his confidence is finally just starting to heal up.
Prescott needed to make some massive throws in the fourth quarter. One was on 3rd and 7 when the Falcons decided to blitz six defenders and leave Cole Beasley in man coverage (for a rare time when he wasn’t bracketed) against Robert Alford. Beasley hit the jets dragging across and Prescott put it on him for a 17-yard gain down to the 4-yard line. One snap later, Prescott barged into the end zone on a zone read keeper that wasn’t the smoothest play ever run.
The next big moment for the Cowboys’ QB on his way to getting a win in this house of pain was a 3rd and 5 with 1:38 left to go. The Falcons had just hit Julio Jones for the game-tying touchdown and now were fully planning on getting a stop here and then winning the game. Atlanta even called a time-out after second down to make sure Matt Ryan had enough time after Prescott would fail to convert this third down.
The Falcons dropped off the blitz and sent a three-man rush at Prescott. Vic Beasley, already with two sacks, was working hard past La’el Collins again to hit Prescott’s blind side. Beasley ran right into a bracket on the inside as Atlanta was going to take Amari Cooper and Beasley off the table. That is when Prescott spied Michael Gallup on the outside, who ran a sharp comeback on Alford again. The resulting completion moved the chains and put the Cowboys in a spot where would either win in regulation or take the game to overtime.
From there, a quick dump-off to Ezekiel Elliott took the Cowboys into Falcons territory, but they would still need one more big throw to get a win in the place that has haunted them for 371 days.
2nd and 10 from the Falcons 49 with 0:44 left. This is a thing of football beauty. Once again, the Falcons want to take Beasley away by bracketing him with a cornerback (Alford, yet again) playing outside leverage and running him into an inside player (59-De’vondre Campbell) who will not let him win across the field. On the outside, Tyron Smith is trying to hold the edge against Bruce Irvin, but Irvin is too quick and Tyron falls to the ground, seemingly injured. Because the Cowboys are in an empty grouping, Prescott must move up in the pocket and wait on Beasley. Beasley stutters, which convinces Campbell that he is out of the play, and Campbell now heads towards Prescott to clean up the sack. But that move pushed Beasley back into space going across the field as he defeated the bracket with this odd move and uncovered in time for Prescott to loft a pass into his path. Beasley eludes Alford long enough to squirm down to the 30-yard line. It was a magnificent moment and a game-winning throw and catch.
The Brett Maher roller coaster ride finally won the game with a 42-yarder that brought the Cowboys back to 5-5 and in a spot where they actually swept the two-game trip to Philadelphia and Atlanta. I never considered they had that in them, but because of this win, the Eagles losing two straight, and the broken leg of Washington QB Alex Smith — as well as that team’s loss to Houston, the Cowboys — like zombies that simply won’t allow their unpopular coach to be dismissed, evidently — are still right in the thick of things as we approach Thanksgiving.
And who does the holiday bring to town? Who else, but that same Washington team with Colt McCoy leading the way. A Cowboys win will push them into first place in the NFC East and surely the inside path to the post-season with five games to play.
Just as I proved two weeks ago, I confess to having no earthly idea what the next few weeks will present us. But I will tell you the lasting memory from Sunday was witnessing a postseason-esque moment between Vander Esch and Prescott, as they beamed and embraced.
It became easy to imagine the young guys learning to win. They aren’t worried about the emotional baggage of a fanbase that might prefer a full cratering of the season so they can start anew in 2019. They want to forge their own destiny. The Cowboys are one of the youngest teams in the NFL, and the players on the field don’t remember the three straight 8-8 seasons from 2011-2013. Dak Prescott was a freshman at Mississippi State when he famously tweeted about Tony Romo. Ezekiel Elliott was a senior in a Missouri high school in 2013, running in state track meets and winning awards.
And Vander Esch? Well, here you can see Leighton playing eight-man high School Football for Salmon River in 2013.
In other words, these guys aren’t worried about your emotional baggage. They want to make their own legacy. And maybe 2018 and the remarkable road trip to Philadelphia and Atlanta will be an early chapter in that book.