Machota:Cowboys observations - From Greg Zuerlein to Tony Pollard, what stood out most from Dallas’ first win of the season

Cotton

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INGLEWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 19, 2021: Dallas Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein (2) kicks a 56- yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the game to beat the Chargers 20-17 at SoFi Stadium on September 19, 2021 in Inglewood, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

By Jon Machota Sep 19, 2021

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The first quarter Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium had the makings of a blowout. The Cowboys raced out to an 11-point lead behind a franchise-record 13 first downs. But Dallas failed to score a single point over the next two quarters as the Chargers tied it entering the fourth.

Much like the season opener in Tampa Bay, the Cowboys’ second game of the season came down to a game-winning field goal in the final seconds. This time, though, Dallas was the one kicking.

Here are 10 observations from the Cowboys’ 20-17 win over the Chargers.

1. Greg Zuerlein game-winner. After missing two field goals and an extra point against the Buccaneers, Zuerlein took the blame for the loss. He was the hero on Sunday, making a 56-yarder as time expired.

“The mindset is always, as a kicker, that it’s going to be a field goal,” Zuerlein said of the final drive. “You never plan on scoring a touchdown. If it happens, that’s great, but mentally, you’re always thinking it’s on you.”

He finished the day a perfect 2-for-2 on extra points and 2-for-2 on field goals (34, 56).

“You can see why we have confidence in him,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “This guy kicks field goals to put teams in the Super Bowl, and I think he’s definitely a Super Bowl-caliber, champion type kicker.”

2. What happened in the final 30 seconds? When Tony Pollard was tackled with 28 seconds remaining, the Cowboys faced third-and-3 from the Chargers’ 38-yard line. Most figured they’d run at least one more play. They didn’t. The Cowboys ended up running the clock down to four seconds until they called their final timeout.

“Dallas should’ve called a timeout there,” Tony Romo said on the CBS broadcast. “And I don’t think they should’ve ran that ball (with Pollard), first off because now you’re putting yourselves in position where you just have to throw this out of bounds. They had plenty of time to get multiple plays off and get at least 10 more yards. Handing the ball off, you needed to call the timeout with 30 seconds left. That way you’re still able to throw another pass for 10 yards, get a first down, clock it.”

So what exactly happened before Zuerlein made the game-winner?

McCarthy said the clock he was watching went blank. He said the clock that offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was watching was blocked by one of the TV cameras.
“I’ve never had a clock go off the board on me like that,” McCarthy said. “On second down, we were just trying to chip away and get a shorter field goal, but we were going to attempt a third-down play and kick it on fourth.”

But there was some poor communication with a player coming off the field and when the clock got under 17 seconds, McCarthy did not want to run another play.

3. Micah Parsons rushing off the edge. For the first time since high school, the rookie linebacker played Sunday exclusively as an edge rusher. Judging by his play, he probably could stay there for the rest of his career. To be clear, that’s not the Cowboys’ plan.

Parsons recorded a sack, four quarterback hits and a tackle for loss while working from the right and left edge. Without starting edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence (broken foot) and Randy Gregory (reserve/COVID-19), the Cowboys needed help getting after Justin Herbert. Parsons delivered.

“I prepared to play at a high level,” Parsons said. “A lot of it was natural. Shoot, some people had a long day out there. … My main mindset is to be dominant throughout the whole game. Whether I’m rushing the quarterback or stuffing the run, that’s what I’m going to do to be as dominant as possible.”

McCarthy compares Parsons to Clay Mathews, the six-time Pro Bowl linebacker he coached in Green Bay.

“I always felt once we moved Clay back to an off-the-ball Mike and Will linebacker position, it made him more valuable,” McCarthy said. “It was tougher from an offensive perspective for targeting and trying to help on that type of player. That’s definitely the way I view Micah. So his ability to play on and off the ball creates potential matchups diversity, not only for him but what it does for the other players.”


4. Terence Steele. One of the biggest questions going into the game was how the Cowboys would hold up with starting right tackle La’el Collins suspended for the next five games. Early in the week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Steele, who started 14 games last year as a rookie, would get the first crack. Not only did Steele start, but he had what was probably the best game of his career, especially considering how much he was lined up against three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Joey Bosa. Bosa did not record a sack, quarterback hit or tackle for loss on Sunday.

All-Pro right guard Zack Martin called Steele’s play “unbelievable.”

“To play in this league, you have to have major confidence in yourself,” Steele said. “I worked my butt off this whole offseason, just for this moment, to prepare for this moment. I still have to continue to build off this. … I feel more comfortable out here for sure than last year. I didn’t have a preseason. I do feel more confident this year in my abilities.”

5. Why try to block the punt? With two minutes left in the second quarter, the Cowboys forced the Chargers to punt from near midfield. But instead of playing for a return, special-teams coordinator John Fassel elected to pressure punter Ty Long. The play resulted in a 15-yard penalty as Azur Kamara was called for roughing. The Chargers got an automatic first down, though they failed to cap the drive with any points.

But why send anyone in the first place? Take the ball and see if your offense can at least get in field goal range and add some points before halftime.

“We had a pick stunt on there,” McCarthy said. “The object was to drive the personal protector into the punter, because just the way they were picking it up. I haven’t seen the video of it. I didn’t get a replay of it on the field. But what I saw live was there was a collision that went into the punter. I’m not exactly sure what they called. I know the penalty they called, but I don’t know who they called it on.”

6. Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott. As long as Elliott is healthy, he will be the Cowboys’ lead back. But Pollard, Elliott’s backup, had the better game on Sunday.
Pollard finished with 109 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Elliott finished with 71 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.

“TP ran his tail off today,” Elliott said. “He’s definitely a great back, all around, he can catch it, he can run it. He’s smaller, but he runs hard. He breaks a lot of tackles. He had a hell of a day. I’m proud of him. I’m glad that he went out there and did his thing.”

Pollard said there is no controversy between the running backs.

“We’re good,” he said. “As long as we’re winning, everything is fine.”

7. Kellen Moore with another good game. The Cowboys’ OC has been clear in his game planning for his group this year. If opposing defenses are going to take away the run, like Tampa Bay in Week 1, the Cowboys are going to pass more. Dallas threw 58 times against the Buccaneers.

If opposing defenses are going to take away the pass, like Los Angeles on Sunday, the Cowboys are going to run more. Dallas ran 31 times Sunday after running only 18 times against the Buccaneers. The Cowboys had 76 rushing yards on 14 carries in the first half against the Chargers. They finished with 198 rushing yards to 221 passing yards.

“I thought Kellen called an excellent game,” McCarthy said. “I thought he was very patient today. And this was a game that you needed to be patient in.”

Midway through the third quarter, Romo shared the following when the CBS cameras showed Moore on the sideline.

“Kellen Moore, who is going to be a head coach next year,” Romo said. “Someone is going to pick him up. I think it’s about his time.”

8. Defensive takeaways. The defense played above expectations, especially considering the offense they were facing and the key players they were missing. Along with Lawrence and Gregory, the defense was also missing starting safety Donovan Wilson (groin).

The two biggest plays on that side of the ball were the two takeaways, bringing their total to six in the first two games. No. 1 cornerback Trevon Diggs started things with an incredible diving interception in the first quarter. It was his fifth in his first 14 career games. Starting safety Damontae Kazee then added his first interception as a Cowboy late in the third quarter. The Chargers were in the red zone, looking to take the lead with the score tied, 14-14. According to Next Gen Stats, the Cowboys’ win probability increased from 33 to 46 percent after that Kazee interception.

“We haven’t scratched the surface on what we can do,” safety Jayron Kearse said. “We just come out and play every week. We know the odds are against us. Everybody counting us out on that back end. We are just coming out every week to do our job and prove everybody wrong. The only people that believe in us are in that locker room.”

9. Dak Prescott’s day. He didn’t put up the big numbers he did in Week 1, but he was accurate. He had the one bad deep ball that was picked off, but he completed 23 of his other 26 pass attempts. Most importantly, he did enough to get the Cowboys in position to kick a game-winning field goal or go to overtime. He completed all five of his passes on that final drive.

“That’s what you do it for,” Prescott said, “for the ball in your hands, for the chance to go win it. That’s why I was talking to the offense, telling them that. We talked about it all week long, and now we’ve got the game in a position that we want it, so it’s on us to go capitalize and go finish this game off.

“And we were able to get it in field goal range and let special teams go out there and do their job.”


10. Cowboys fans. The Cowboys played last year in SoFi Stadium, but the pandemic prevented fans from attending that game against the Los Angeles Rams. From the first time the Cowboys took the field for pregame warmups, it was obvious that Sunday was going to be pretty close to a Dallas home game.

“It felt in a lot of ways like a home game,” McCarthy said. “It felt like we were back in Oxnard. It’s awesome. When we pulled in here last night, coming from the airport, there was a truck with three or four huge Cowboys flags hanging off the back. You love that. You love to see that. Our fans are phenomenal and it definitely helps the players.”

Martin said the Cowboys never had to go to a silent count on offense, like they normally have to on the road.

“And I think (the Chargers) did,” Martin said. “It was pretty cool.”

 

shoop

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If Steele can play at that level, id see if there are offers for Collins.

pollard was consistently good, as was Parsons and the safeties.

I’d look to sign longer term deals with at least one of the safeties. Open to trading Collins, Smith, LVE( but only for value), and One of the connors since we don’t seem to want to use both at the same time.
 

NoDak

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Don’t be an idiot. We went toe to toe with the reigning champs and would have won if the kicker hadn’t shit the bed. That loss had absolutely zero to do with the game plan.
Wishful thinking. Different game plans for different opponents is hard to grasp for some.
 

Cotton

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Wishful thinking. Different game plans for different opponents is hard to grasp for some.
He would have a mental breakdown if he were a Patriots fan.
 

bbgun

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Don’t be an idiot. We went toe to toe with the reigning champs and would have won if the kicker hadn’t shit the bed. That loss had absolutely zero to do with the game plan.
What happened to "glorious"? Or maybe we would have won the game if we gave Pollard more touches. In any event, we usually prevail when there's at least some semblance of balance on offense where Dak doesn't have to throw throw throw.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Don’t be an idiot. We went toe to toe with the reigning champs and would have won if the kicker hadn’t shit the bed. That loss had absolutely zero to do with the game plan.
You're literally talking about two games that could have gone either way with a different play or two. To define them purely by the number of runs is about as retarded as you can get.

Defense gets a stop against Brady and we win. Tampa's kicker misses and we win. Refs call one blatant pushoff and we win.

I feel like the Chargers game was slightly more in hand. But if they don't have that illegal shift we would have needed a TD to win. Again, would have been a different game.
 

1bigfan13

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Steele deserves a game ball for his performance yesterday. Quite a few people assumed he would be a huge liability but he more than held his own against an elite DE.

If you could guarantee solid performances like that the rest of the season, I'd tell La'el Collins to take a hike immediately.
 

shoop

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With how thin we are on the OL there is no way I’m trading away a valuable piece of it.
Collins is part of the reason we have been thin. If Steele shows it isn’t a one game fluke the. I’m good with making the change.
 

Cotton

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Collins is part of the reason we have been thin. If Steele shows it isn’t a one game fluke the. I’m good with making the change.
So why let Collins go? We need depth.
 
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