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Cowboys avoid Thanksgiving ruin with second half that tells us plenty
By Bob Sturm
2h ago
You will have to forgive those of us who are not even somewhat shocked when Dallas doesn’t play well on Thanksgiving. I realize for decades, this was the game you probably felt the best about not ruining the day. But, those days are no longer and coming into this one, Dallas had lost eight of its previous 12 on Thanksgiving — the Cowboys’ worst stretch since playing on this spectacular holiday.
The reasons for this could be that the league is no longer unfamiliar with the concept of playing four days after a game like they once were now that the NFL has made Thursdays a part of its life. But honestly, we just don’t have a real understanding of why things are the way they currently are. We do know this: Before Thursday, the Cowboys had not won on Thanksgiving since 2018. And given the two wins in their last eight attempts were both against Washington, they had not beaten a team that wasn’t owned by Daniel Snyder since 2013 when they took down the Raiders.
That is why we sat there at halftime and weren’t terribly surprised that the Cowboys were behind and appeared fairly listless just a few days after the most dominating performance most of us have ever seen.
Where was that Dallas team?
I don’t know how to break this to anyone, so I am going to do it nicely. People claim they want consistency from a football team and then point to the best game they have ever played as a model for that to follow. That isn’t how any of this works.
We could look at several very nice things when it does come to consistency around here. Dallas has been stomping the heck out of opponents on a pretty regular basis — especially since Dak Prescott returned. We hoped that the top defense in the land could remain playing well when QB1 came back and that he could help the offense discover the type of production that became typical in 2021 and that has fallen into place against five consecutive opponents. Well, that is, aside from 15 minutes in Green Bay.
And that is what has kept them humble. Because otherwise, the Cowboys would be standing on top of the world as their calendar turns to December. But, the wounds of that 14-point lead vs. Green Bay have inspired consecutive games where Dallas is out of reach by the time the game gets late again. On Sunday, against an 8-1 Minnesota team, Dallas scored on its first seven drives and put its feet up by the fourth quarter. This one, against a 7-3 Giants team, was less convincing than the previous one, but the Cowboys went from down at the half to up 15 in short order in the concluding minutes. They were merely playing against the point spread with the game already decided late.
The evidence is pretty clear: The Giants and Cowboys have similar records, but not similar teams. We can say “you are what your record says you are” all we please, but the Giants are a great story with a new coaching staff. They will likely be a problem in the years to come because Brian Daboll knows what he is doing. But at present, they are a plucky team that has done a nice job winning some close games.
But, the Cowboys? They are clearly a better team on both sides of the ball with weapons everywhere you look. When the Cowboys struggle, they might be their own worst enemy that fights impatience as much as anything.
Impatience is probably what inspires going for a fourth-and-2 well within your own territory less than five minutes into the game. Impatience is probably what inspires a third-and-15 interception when Prescott forces a ball into CeeDee Lamb that had very little chance of being completed. It is a long afternoon and if you don’t get too carried away early because people are wanting you to duplicate that Minnesota margin of victory, then you don’t feel like every spot is the most important one. They need to start demonstrating a willingness to punt the ball because they are starting to act like they don’t fully grasp how good their defense is this year. The Cowboys can definitely hold up their ends of the bargain, so there is no reason to chase what isn’t there.
https://theathletic.com/3933810/2022/11/25/cowboys-beat-giants-thanksgiving-nfc-east/
That is what will get the Cowboys in trouble down the road. Thinking they can survive multiple giveaways because they are the Dallas Cowboys will end poorly. Again, I will go back to the Cowboys for years getting great risk/reward decisions from its chief decision-maker and in these past several weeks upon his return, Prescott just seems to be chasing everything right now. Is he trying to silence the doubters? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter why he is doing it. But, he is acting like a quarterback who feels like he has to do everything for his team. While I know that will help provide more evidence in this discussion about his greatness each week, I think it is important to remind him and everyone that that discussion does not matter. What matters for the betterment of every Cowboys discussion that has ever happened is that they navigate the best possible path to victory week after week and deep into these playoffs. They are plenty good enough this year. For me, the rest of this is fool’s gold. If you are going to chase third-and-15s down the seam and just throw it in there and hope your guy makes a play, you have to understand that is how a lesser team upsets you down the stretch. You have to look at this entire thing as a mathematical equation: How does a team with few significant weaknesses put its inferior opponents in a vice and give them no air to breathe?
The reason we feel that way is this team does not need Prescott to be its best player every week, so he should not be forcing that issue. I also think the coaching staff should adjust more when they go all-in, too. The Cowboys’ Thursday’s fourth-down decision-making on their own end of the field is one I believe in when the time is right. But, is it right on your first drive of the game from your own 40? Do you really need to be ultra-aggressive there? If you tell me the answer is yes, I am going to lose sight of the fact that you are a two-score favorite in this game. Everyone going in thought Dallas was a significantly better football team, but it felt like the coach and QB wanted to beat another team, 40-3. Chasing aesthetics in this league is never profitable.
What makes me so sure that this team is so much more than “how far can their QB take them?” Well, we know it is two ways.
One, this running game is dominant right now — part of that is because the passing game is back. In the first six weeks of the season, Dallas ran the ball pretty well, they were right at the league average (118 ypg). That is quite good if you believe your backup QB is not getting opponents to respect his arm.
What has happened since?
The Cowboys are third in the NFL at 164 per game. The two teams above them (Bears, Ravens) use running as most of their offense with run-first quarterbacks. Without spending too much time on an obvious point, teams respect Prescott (whether your buddy at work does or not) and opponents are willing to deploy troops to stop the pass far more now than they were. Even if Prescott seldom if ever runs the ball, teams are way more worried about vertical attacks than giving up some ground and pound in smaller bites. On Thursday, the Cowboys ran the ball 39 times for 169 yards. The offensive line was really doing well and was supplemented by a host of tight ends who balance this offense. Dalton Schultz played maybe his best game of a year so far that has not been the one he would have hoped.
And two, this Cowboys defense is special.
Across the board, the Cowboys do it all very well. They are the top-scoring defense in the league and routinely have taken over games. We understand that the Green Bay day will leave a bit of a mark, but Saquon Barkley had 52 yards of total offense on 17 plays where his number was called? Yes, please. Dallas is not going to allow an opponent’s quarterback to get comfortable or to use his guys. Every play feels like a bomb is being disarmed and the countdown to detonation tells us nothing is calm. Panicked is the disposition of Cowboys opponents because they are not attacking — the Cowboys are attacking them and it continues as the day progresses.
Leading 13-7 at the half, the Giants had a chance at an upset, but the two teams came out of the halftime show with objectives clear. Dallas went touchdown-touchdown-touchdown on its first three drives and we knew that the defense would have an opportunity to do its job where so many Cowboys teams in the past few decades could not get both units right at the same time. This Cowboys team held the Giants offense — which is missing pieces for sure, but even at full strength doesn’t have enough to contend — to turnover on downs-punt-turnover on downs.
That is what this team has this year.
I cannot assure you that this is the team that will get those streaks of futility off the board by at least attending an NFC Championship Game this year. But, I would not bet against it anymore. This team is good everywhere and when you have one of the best offenses in the league:
• Dallas is the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL since Prescott’s return (it was 23rd when he was out).
• The Cowboys are also No. 1 (by a mile) in third-down conversions at nearly 60 percent during this stretch (29th without Prescott).
They have a potentially dominant offense and do have a dominant defense. This is most exciting as we get to this spot of the year. The Vikings and Giants — both in the playoff mix — showed us what those opponents would look like and Dallas beat them both soundly. There was no problem with production and no issues with allowing production. The Cowboys have as good a chance as any right now, which still means the cost of coffee will remain unmoved. Just last season, we sort of already knew at Thanksgiving that the Cowboys were not that team. This year? We at least have to ask the question about whether the rest of the league is aware that this doesn’t appear to be the same thing down here that has existed for a mighty long time.
I realize the pattern around here is to always freak out and complain about something. We aren’t allowed to be happy when it comes to this franchise anymore. “Why was Dak still in the game on Sunday” was last week’s version of this and this week’s is “you aren’t going to be able to beat good teams with those turnovers and penalties.” I get it. We hate to be enjoying Cowboys football. But all indicators around this team are that they are a legitimate problem for opponents. Especially in an NFC where they look like they can play with everyone.
That won’t happen today. Today, you are just happy, I assume, that the Cowboys didn’t ruin your Thanksgiving. That this team is no longer talking about firing another coaching staff and figuring out how to avoid pitfalls of December on its way in. Dallas is a very good team and I am eager to see how that equates to quieting the January doubters.
I bet they are, too.
By Bob Sturm
2h ago
You will have to forgive those of us who are not even somewhat shocked when Dallas doesn’t play well on Thanksgiving. I realize for decades, this was the game you probably felt the best about not ruining the day. But, those days are no longer and coming into this one, Dallas had lost eight of its previous 12 on Thanksgiving — the Cowboys’ worst stretch since playing on this spectacular holiday.
The reasons for this could be that the league is no longer unfamiliar with the concept of playing four days after a game like they once were now that the NFL has made Thursdays a part of its life. But honestly, we just don’t have a real understanding of why things are the way they currently are. We do know this: Before Thursday, the Cowboys had not won on Thanksgiving since 2018. And given the two wins in their last eight attempts were both against Washington, they had not beaten a team that wasn’t owned by Daniel Snyder since 2013 when they took down the Raiders.
That is why we sat there at halftime and weren’t terribly surprised that the Cowboys were behind and appeared fairly listless just a few days after the most dominating performance most of us have ever seen.
Where was that Dallas team?
I don’t know how to break this to anyone, so I am going to do it nicely. People claim they want consistency from a football team and then point to the best game they have ever played as a model for that to follow. That isn’t how any of this works.
We could look at several very nice things when it does come to consistency around here. Dallas has been stomping the heck out of opponents on a pretty regular basis — especially since Dak Prescott returned. We hoped that the top defense in the land could remain playing well when QB1 came back and that he could help the offense discover the type of production that became typical in 2021 and that has fallen into place against five consecutive opponents. Well, that is, aside from 15 minutes in Green Bay.
And that is what has kept them humble. Because otherwise, the Cowboys would be standing on top of the world as their calendar turns to December. But, the wounds of that 14-point lead vs. Green Bay have inspired consecutive games where Dallas is out of reach by the time the game gets late again. On Sunday, against an 8-1 Minnesota team, Dallas scored on its first seven drives and put its feet up by the fourth quarter. This one, against a 7-3 Giants team, was less convincing than the previous one, but the Cowboys went from down at the half to up 15 in short order in the concluding minutes. They were merely playing against the point spread with the game already decided late.
The evidence is pretty clear: The Giants and Cowboys have similar records, but not similar teams. We can say “you are what your record says you are” all we please, but the Giants are a great story with a new coaching staff. They will likely be a problem in the years to come because Brian Daboll knows what he is doing. But at present, they are a plucky team that has done a nice job winning some close games.
But, the Cowboys? They are clearly a better team on both sides of the ball with weapons everywhere you look. When the Cowboys struggle, they might be their own worst enemy that fights impatience as much as anything.
Impatience is probably what inspires going for a fourth-and-2 well within your own territory less than five minutes into the game. Impatience is probably what inspires a third-and-15 interception when Prescott forces a ball into CeeDee Lamb that had very little chance of being completed. It is a long afternoon and if you don’t get too carried away early because people are wanting you to duplicate that Minnesota margin of victory, then you don’t feel like every spot is the most important one. They need to start demonstrating a willingness to punt the ball because they are starting to act like they don’t fully grasp how good their defense is this year. The Cowboys can definitely hold up their ends of the bargain, so there is no reason to chase what isn’t there.
https://theathletic.com/3933810/2022/11/25/cowboys-beat-giants-thanksgiving-nfc-east/
That is what will get the Cowboys in trouble down the road. Thinking they can survive multiple giveaways because they are the Dallas Cowboys will end poorly. Again, I will go back to the Cowboys for years getting great risk/reward decisions from its chief decision-maker and in these past several weeks upon his return, Prescott just seems to be chasing everything right now. Is he trying to silence the doubters? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter why he is doing it. But, he is acting like a quarterback who feels like he has to do everything for his team. While I know that will help provide more evidence in this discussion about his greatness each week, I think it is important to remind him and everyone that that discussion does not matter. What matters for the betterment of every Cowboys discussion that has ever happened is that they navigate the best possible path to victory week after week and deep into these playoffs. They are plenty good enough this year. For me, the rest of this is fool’s gold. If you are going to chase third-and-15s down the seam and just throw it in there and hope your guy makes a play, you have to understand that is how a lesser team upsets you down the stretch. You have to look at this entire thing as a mathematical equation: How does a team with few significant weaknesses put its inferior opponents in a vice and give them no air to breathe?
The reason we feel that way is this team does not need Prescott to be its best player every week, so he should not be forcing that issue. I also think the coaching staff should adjust more when they go all-in, too. The Cowboys’ Thursday’s fourth-down decision-making on their own end of the field is one I believe in when the time is right. But, is it right on your first drive of the game from your own 40? Do you really need to be ultra-aggressive there? If you tell me the answer is yes, I am going to lose sight of the fact that you are a two-score favorite in this game. Everyone going in thought Dallas was a significantly better football team, but it felt like the coach and QB wanted to beat another team, 40-3. Chasing aesthetics in this league is never profitable.
What makes me so sure that this team is so much more than “how far can their QB take them?” Well, we know it is two ways.
One, this running game is dominant right now — part of that is because the passing game is back. In the first six weeks of the season, Dallas ran the ball pretty well, they were right at the league average (118 ypg). That is quite good if you believe your backup QB is not getting opponents to respect his arm.
What has happened since?
The Cowboys are third in the NFL at 164 per game. The two teams above them (Bears, Ravens) use running as most of their offense with run-first quarterbacks. Without spending too much time on an obvious point, teams respect Prescott (whether your buddy at work does or not) and opponents are willing to deploy troops to stop the pass far more now than they were. Even if Prescott seldom if ever runs the ball, teams are way more worried about vertical attacks than giving up some ground and pound in smaller bites. On Thursday, the Cowboys ran the ball 39 times for 169 yards. The offensive line was really doing well and was supplemented by a host of tight ends who balance this offense. Dalton Schultz played maybe his best game of a year so far that has not been the one he would have hoped.
And two, this Cowboys defense is special.
Across the board, the Cowboys do it all very well. They are the top-scoring defense in the league and routinely have taken over games. We understand that the Green Bay day will leave a bit of a mark, but Saquon Barkley had 52 yards of total offense on 17 plays where his number was called? Yes, please. Dallas is not going to allow an opponent’s quarterback to get comfortable or to use his guys. Every play feels like a bomb is being disarmed and the countdown to detonation tells us nothing is calm. Panicked is the disposition of Cowboys opponents because they are not attacking — the Cowboys are attacking them and it continues as the day progresses.
Leading 13-7 at the half, the Giants had a chance at an upset, but the two teams came out of the halftime show with objectives clear. Dallas went touchdown-touchdown-touchdown on its first three drives and we knew that the defense would have an opportunity to do its job where so many Cowboys teams in the past few decades could not get both units right at the same time. This Cowboys team held the Giants offense — which is missing pieces for sure, but even at full strength doesn’t have enough to contend — to turnover on downs-punt-turnover on downs.
That is what this team has this year.
I cannot assure you that this is the team that will get those streaks of futility off the board by at least attending an NFC Championship Game this year. But, I would not bet against it anymore. This team is good everywhere and when you have one of the best offenses in the league:
• Dallas is the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL since Prescott’s return (it was 23rd when he was out).
• The Cowboys are also No. 1 (by a mile) in third-down conversions at nearly 60 percent during this stretch (29th without Prescott).
They have a potentially dominant offense and do have a dominant defense. This is most exciting as we get to this spot of the year. The Vikings and Giants — both in the playoff mix — showed us what those opponents would look like and Dallas beat them both soundly. There was no problem with production and no issues with allowing production. The Cowboys have as good a chance as any right now, which still means the cost of coffee will remain unmoved. Just last season, we sort of already knew at Thanksgiving that the Cowboys were not that team. This year? We at least have to ask the question about whether the rest of the league is aware that this doesn’t appear to be the same thing down here that has existed for a mighty long time.
I realize the pattern around here is to always freak out and complain about something. We aren’t allowed to be happy when it comes to this franchise anymore. “Why was Dak still in the game on Sunday” was last week’s version of this and this week’s is “you aren’t going to be able to beat good teams with those turnovers and penalties.” I get it. We hate to be enjoying Cowboys football. But all indicators around this team are that they are a legitimate problem for opponents. Especially in an NFC where they look like they can play with everyone.
That won’t happen today. Today, you are just happy, I assume, that the Cowboys didn’t ruin your Thanksgiving. That this team is no longer talking about firing another coaching staff and figuring out how to avoid pitfalls of December on its way in. Dallas is a very good team and I am eager to see how that equates to quieting the January doubters.
I bet they are, too.
