dpf1123
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 2,172
Cowboys’ total team effort delivers physical beatdown of Rams: The Morning After
By Bob Sturm
1h ago
This is everything you could hope for right now. This feels like the game where everyone started to look around and wonder if this Cowboys group was badly underestimated.
The Cowboys went into Los Angeles and won the line of scrimmage. They won it on offense and they won it on defense. They also won it on special teams. They challenged the Rams to a street fight at their parking lot and got out with the satisfaction of winning.
Many of us wondered if they would have it in them. It is nice to handle the NFC East punching bags without your QB1, but surely going to play the Rams at their place would be a discovery of how reality bites. There simply did not see a real pathway to victory in a straight-up fight against a team that can generate offense like we have seen them generate.
The Cowboys would have to take advantage of every opportunity if this was going to be a game.
They would have to play with the lead and take care of the ball. How would they get the lead in the first place? They would also need the defense to play at its best and would need the Rams to assist with some turnovers and perhaps a special teams mishap or two.
What do you know? It all happened in the Cowboys’ impressive 22-10 win Sunday. They move to 4-1 and yes, have won four consecutive games since opening night when they lost the game and Dak Prescott.
Of all of the potential outcomes the next month would hold, this one is so off the charts that it will only result in ridiculous explanations from all corners of the football universe to help reconcile what we are seeing. It is difficult to explain any of this. If you didn’t think the Cowboys were going to beat both Super Bowl teams from last February with Cooper Rush in a 28-day span, well, you are not alone.
Here is where we ask the Cowboys journalist to offer his thoughts on what is happening. Explain away!
Having heard many an offensive mind discuss the limitations of playing with a backup QB and a young offensive line, the cautious tones get stronger when you talk about playing a heavyweight on the road. The pathways to victory are so narrow that they are unlikely to be found, let alone navigated.
You must figure out a way to get a lead early and play offense with a series of careful decisions. You can’t be overly conservative, but you must be smart. But, how on earth would you get a lead and keep it the whole day?
This is the repeated theme of this past month that has made everything possible. It has been clear and evident for four consecutive weeks. The Cowboys have had the lead and they have played like a team with the lead from the start of every game until the finish. That means you start every drive knowing that the goal is to move the ball some, let the defense catch its breath, be opportunistic when the time is right, and end every drive with a kick of some sort. A punt, a field goal, or an extra point will be the recipe for success. That means you never turned the ball over and you never gave the opponent the lifeline it might need.
Can you get the lead? Thanks to Dorance Armstrong and DeMarcus Lawrence on the game’s third snap, that was not a problem. The Rams had designed a big strike on third-and-1 to open the game, but their play-action plot was foiled by Armstrong getting past David Edwards in a blink, while Lawrence destroyed the two men in his path (Tyler Higbee and Cam Akers). When they both met at Stafford for a sack, Armstrong got the ball loose and Lawrence scooped and scored with barely any time off the first quarter clock.
Armstrong wasn’t done, of course. The man who has made blocking kicks a bit of a specialty blocked his second kick this season and the third of his career with a masterful punt block that ended the Rams’ second drive with a magnificent Cowboys moment. Armstrong’s career is a testament to someone’s value growing substantially because they take their special teams job seriously and from that grow into the job they really want rushing the passer. He endeared himself to the team so they valued him at contract time for just this reason. He wants to help the Cowboys win and will play hard no matter what he’s asked to do. Never has he demonstrated it more than in five minutes Sunday. He gets a strip-sack to end the Rams’ first drive and blocks a punt to end the second. Now the Cowboys have their lead without taking an offensive snap.
Once you get the lead, you can start to relax a bit offensively. Not too much, but you don’t need to score every drive. You look for chances and when the moment arrives, you seize it. It is the difference between needing and wanting. The Cowboys were able to take the ball on every single possession without ever upgrading the situation to “in dire need of points” — that has been a theme this month.
Over the years, we have done studies on when bad things happen to an offense — in particular, giveaways and sacks — and the majority of these moments occur when a defense is playing with a lead. They can sit on your likely desires and play in full, downhill attack mode. If your offense can avoid that and make an opponent like the Rams have to remain patient, you can frustrate them.
It is amazing how little the Dallas offense has had to play from a trailing position during this month and make no mistake, that is the No. 1 reason the Cowboys are having success. On Sunday, they trailed when Cooper Kupp caught a crosser and turned it into a 75-yard touchdown as he eluded Trevon Diggs to the end zone. This gave the Rams the lead, 10-9. Dallas had squandered its two-score lead by early in the second quarter.
How long did it take Dallas to get its lead back?
92 seconds.
Tony Pollard took an outside zone play, cut it right back in the backside A-gap and ran through the left arm of Aaron Donald and then eluded both Rams safeties on his way to a sensational 57-yard run … 92 seconds later. Pollard’s game-breaking ability was one of only two explosive plays (20+) on the day. You certainly don’t win in this league with only two explosive plays very often, but Sunday was that kind of day.
And this was that kind of month. The Cowboys trailed for 92 seconds Sunday. Against Cincinnati, they did not trail the entire game. In New York, they trailed for 5:04 and against Washington, they trailed for 6:01. So, yes, in four games (all wins) the Cowboys have trailed for just 12:37! That is nothing. Out of 240 possible minutes, the Cowboys have trailed for about 5 percent of the game time. Meanwhile, they are above 160 minutes with the lead. The basic math is this: Dallas is ahead 67 percent of the time, trailing 5 percent and tied the other 28 percent. That is the recipe.
How much would everything change if teams could jump on them quickly and force Rush to throw the ball when he would rather not?
Maybe we will never find out. The Cowboys won the game with some degree of comfort, with just 76 net yards passing and 10 first downs. I hope I don’t need to tell you that you don’t win games with that incredibly starved production from an offense. But, let me prove it.
The last time the Cowboys won a road game with less than 80 yards passing was Oct. 12, 1975, when they beat the New York Giants at their place, 13-7. Roger Staubach had the roughest of days going 8 for 22 for 87 yards but left with the victory because his defense picked off Craig Morton three times and recovered two fumbles. The key to winning a game like this requires tremendous defense and lots of takeaways from that tremendous defense. It happens every 47 years or so.
We better circle back to that tremendous defense here, because it requires our attention again. Matthew Stafford will not soon forget the battering he endured Sunday.
When we pondered how to get out of Los Angeles with a win given all of the circumstances the Cowboys faced, we knew it would require a masterful effort from the pass rush:
“This is where the game can swing to Dallas. Can this pass rush have a game? The Rams are really struggling to protect and Stafford is not really one to make you miss. Can this be a mighty Micah Parsons night? Can DeMarcus Lawrence cause chaos? Can the entire front wreck things against a guard-center-guard group that is just trying to keep its head above water? The Rams are having all sorts of issues and their sacks allowed per attempt sit at 30th, while Dallas is up at fourth and gets as much pressure cooking as any team in the league. If you want to swing this game, go get four to five sacks.”
Well, you know now that they went and got five sacks and three takeaways (two fumbles and an interception). Parsons wrote another chapter into his legend with another great game in this stadium that will rival the memories of his performance in Week 2 against the Chargers of his 2021 rookie of the year season. We don’t know how badly his body is compromised, but it sure looked like he was out of the game at halftime. Instead, he had another signature moment as he ended two second-half drives with a sack of Stafford on third-and-11 late in the third quarter and then a sack and strip of Stafford late in the fourth that was recovered by Sam Williams. Rob Havenstein is no slouch, but he also had no answer for Parsons, despite Parsons having a limp in his game and being played sparingly save for important pass-rush situations.
He had nine pressures and Lawrence was no slouch with five. The two have been excellent in this early season and now that Armstrong and friends are getting in on the fun, this appears to be a trend. It appears the defensive front is able to cause havoc every week.
It is difficult to say what impact Parsons has on this entire operation, but he definitely gives the franchise the confidence that with him, the Cowboys have a chance to win in any rumble. In some ways, he mitigates a team like Los Angeles strutting in with Aaron Donald. They think he gives them the advantage in every game, but Dallas points over at its guy and says we have one of those guys, too. It has absolutely changed everything about Cowboys football in the past 18 months. To find someone who is transformative in this “Post-Triplets era” is pretty difficult around here, to say the least. He is their clear talisman and to see that he won’t allow an injury to keep him from trying to secure a victory speaks volumes about his leadership and pure will. You have to love what he is all about.
In the end, the Cowboys followed the recipe beautifully. They knew they would not win this game with a fireworks display from the offense, so they engaged in a street fight in all three phases. It took a full roster of battles and they received it. When they were done, the Rams limped worse. That is what this game is about. That Dallas, after being eliminated last season because the 49ers battered them, returned the favor on the team that put the 49ers out last winter.
Dallas is a tough and physical team on both sides of the ball. If the Cowboys can play their game, they can deal with most anyone. Both teams in last year’s Super Bowl can attest to that.
Heck of a team win and a sign of what this might be capable of looking ahead.
By Bob Sturm
1h ago
This is everything you could hope for right now. This feels like the game where everyone started to look around and wonder if this Cowboys group was badly underestimated.
The Cowboys went into Los Angeles and won the line of scrimmage. They won it on offense and they won it on defense. They also won it on special teams. They challenged the Rams to a street fight at their parking lot and got out with the satisfaction of winning.
Many of us wondered if they would have it in them. It is nice to handle the NFC East punching bags without your QB1, but surely going to play the Rams at their place would be a discovery of how reality bites. There simply did not see a real pathway to victory in a straight-up fight against a team that can generate offense like we have seen them generate.
The Cowboys would have to take advantage of every opportunity if this was going to be a game.
They would have to play with the lead and take care of the ball. How would they get the lead in the first place? They would also need the defense to play at its best and would need the Rams to assist with some turnovers and perhaps a special teams mishap or two.
What do you know? It all happened in the Cowboys’ impressive 22-10 win Sunday. They move to 4-1 and yes, have won four consecutive games since opening night when they lost the game and Dak Prescott.
Of all of the potential outcomes the next month would hold, this one is so off the charts that it will only result in ridiculous explanations from all corners of the football universe to help reconcile what we are seeing. It is difficult to explain any of this. If you didn’t think the Cowboys were going to beat both Super Bowl teams from last February with Cooper Rush in a 28-day span, well, you are not alone.
Here is where we ask the Cowboys journalist to offer his thoughts on what is happening. Explain away!
Having heard many an offensive mind discuss the limitations of playing with a backup QB and a young offensive line, the cautious tones get stronger when you talk about playing a heavyweight on the road. The pathways to victory are so narrow that they are unlikely to be found, let alone navigated.
You must figure out a way to get a lead early and play offense with a series of careful decisions. You can’t be overly conservative, but you must be smart. But, how on earth would you get a lead and keep it the whole day?
This is the repeated theme of this past month that has made everything possible. It has been clear and evident for four consecutive weeks. The Cowboys have had the lead and they have played like a team with the lead from the start of every game until the finish. That means you start every drive knowing that the goal is to move the ball some, let the defense catch its breath, be opportunistic when the time is right, and end every drive with a kick of some sort. A punt, a field goal, or an extra point will be the recipe for success. That means you never turned the ball over and you never gave the opponent the lifeline it might need.
Can you get the lead? Thanks to Dorance Armstrong and DeMarcus Lawrence on the game’s third snap, that was not a problem. The Rams had designed a big strike on third-and-1 to open the game, but their play-action plot was foiled by Armstrong getting past David Edwards in a blink, while Lawrence destroyed the two men in his path (Tyler Higbee and Cam Akers). When they both met at Stafford for a sack, Armstrong got the ball loose and Lawrence scooped and scored with barely any time off the first quarter clock.
Armstrong wasn’t done, of course. The man who has made blocking kicks a bit of a specialty blocked his second kick this season and the third of his career with a masterful punt block that ended the Rams’ second drive with a magnificent Cowboys moment. Armstrong’s career is a testament to someone’s value growing substantially because they take their special teams job seriously and from that grow into the job they really want rushing the passer. He endeared himself to the team so they valued him at contract time for just this reason. He wants to help the Cowboys win and will play hard no matter what he’s asked to do. Never has he demonstrated it more than in five minutes Sunday. He gets a strip-sack to end the Rams’ first drive and blocks a punt to end the second. Now the Cowboys have their lead without taking an offensive snap.
Once you get the lead, you can start to relax a bit offensively. Not too much, but you don’t need to score every drive. You look for chances and when the moment arrives, you seize it. It is the difference between needing and wanting. The Cowboys were able to take the ball on every single possession without ever upgrading the situation to “in dire need of points” — that has been a theme this month.
Over the years, we have done studies on when bad things happen to an offense — in particular, giveaways and sacks — and the majority of these moments occur when a defense is playing with a lead. They can sit on your likely desires and play in full, downhill attack mode. If your offense can avoid that and make an opponent like the Rams have to remain patient, you can frustrate them.
It is amazing how little the Dallas offense has had to play from a trailing position during this month and make no mistake, that is the No. 1 reason the Cowboys are having success. On Sunday, they trailed when Cooper Kupp caught a crosser and turned it into a 75-yard touchdown as he eluded Trevon Diggs to the end zone. This gave the Rams the lead, 10-9. Dallas had squandered its two-score lead by early in the second quarter.
How long did it take Dallas to get its lead back?
92 seconds.
Tony Pollard took an outside zone play, cut it right back in the backside A-gap and ran through the left arm of Aaron Donald and then eluded both Rams safeties on his way to a sensational 57-yard run … 92 seconds later. Pollard’s game-breaking ability was one of only two explosive plays (20+) on the day. You certainly don’t win in this league with only two explosive plays very often, but Sunday was that kind of day.
And this was that kind of month. The Cowboys trailed for 92 seconds Sunday. Against Cincinnati, they did not trail the entire game. In New York, they trailed for 5:04 and against Washington, they trailed for 6:01. So, yes, in four games (all wins) the Cowboys have trailed for just 12:37! That is nothing. Out of 240 possible minutes, the Cowboys have trailed for about 5 percent of the game time. Meanwhile, they are above 160 minutes with the lead. The basic math is this: Dallas is ahead 67 percent of the time, trailing 5 percent and tied the other 28 percent. That is the recipe.
How much would everything change if teams could jump on them quickly and force Rush to throw the ball when he would rather not?
Maybe we will never find out. The Cowboys won the game with some degree of comfort, with just 76 net yards passing and 10 first downs. I hope I don’t need to tell you that you don’t win games with that incredibly starved production from an offense. But, let me prove it.
The last time the Cowboys won a road game with less than 80 yards passing was Oct. 12, 1975, when they beat the New York Giants at their place, 13-7. Roger Staubach had the roughest of days going 8 for 22 for 87 yards but left with the victory because his defense picked off Craig Morton three times and recovered two fumbles. The key to winning a game like this requires tremendous defense and lots of takeaways from that tremendous defense. It happens every 47 years or so.
We better circle back to that tremendous defense here, because it requires our attention again. Matthew Stafford will not soon forget the battering he endured Sunday.
When we pondered how to get out of Los Angeles with a win given all of the circumstances the Cowboys faced, we knew it would require a masterful effort from the pass rush:
“This is where the game can swing to Dallas. Can this pass rush have a game? The Rams are really struggling to protect and Stafford is not really one to make you miss. Can this be a mighty Micah Parsons night? Can DeMarcus Lawrence cause chaos? Can the entire front wreck things against a guard-center-guard group that is just trying to keep its head above water? The Rams are having all sorts of issues and their sacks allowed per attempt sit at 30th, while Dallas is up at fourth and gets as much pressure cooking as any team in the league. If you want to swing this game, go get four to five sacks.”
Well, you know now that they went and got five sacks and three takeaways (two fumbles and an interception). Parsons wrote another chapter into his legend with another great game in this stadium that will rival the memories of his performance in Week 2 against the Chargers of his 2021 rookie of the year season. We don’t know how badly his body is compromised, but it sure looked like he was out of the game at halftime. Instead, he had another signature moment as he ended two second-half drives with a sack of Stafford on third-and-11 late in the third quarter and then a sack and strip of Stafford late in the fourth that was recovered by Sam Williams. Rob Havenstein is no slouch, but he also had no answer for Parsons, despite Parsons having a limp in his game and being played sparingly save for important pass-rush situations.
He had nine pressures and Lawrence was no slouch with five. The two have been excellent in this early season and now that Armstrong and friends are getting in on the fun, this appears to be a trend. It appears the defensive front is able to cause havoc every week.
It is difficult to say what impact Parsons has on this entire operation, but he definitely gives the franchise the confidence that with him, the Cowboys have a chance to win in any rumble. In some ways, he mitigates a team like Los Angeles strutting in with Aaron Donald. They think he gives them the advantage in every game, but Dallas points over at its guy and says we have one of those guys, too. It has absolutely changed everything about Cowboys football in the past 18 months. To find someone who is transformative in this “Post-Triplets era” is pretty difficult around here, to say the least. He is their clear talisman and to see that he won’t allow an injury to keep him from trying to secure a victory speaks volumes about his leadership and pure will. You have to love what he is all about.
In the end, the Cowboys followed the recipe beautifully. They knew they would not win this game with a fireworks display from the offense, so they engaged in a street fight in all three phases. It took a full roster of battles and they received it. When they were done, the Rams limped worse. That is what this game is about. That Dallas, after being eliminated last season because the 49ers battered them, returned the favor on the team that put the 49ers out last winter.
Dallas is a tough and physical team on both sides of the ball. If the Cowboys can play their game, they can deal with most anyone. Both teams in last year’s Super Bowl can attest to that.
Heck of a team win and a sign of what this might be capable of looking ahead.
