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Cowboys win again with a game plan that worked like a charm: The Morning After
By Bob Sturm
24m ago
The pre-game news continued to roll in and none of it was what the Cowboys wanted to hear.
Michael Gallup would not play. Dalton Schultz would not play. And while he is making progress toward a return that is quicker than most expected, Dak Prescott again would not play. We already knew that Tyron Smith won’t play until the holidays.
If you bounced those four major pieces being absent from the roster off any of us in August, the doom and gloom would have been immense. Heck, in August, there was still considerable mourning about the losses of La’el Collins and Amari Cooper, too. Subtract those six names and what does the offense even have left?
They apparently have enough to win consecutive games to keep this boat afloat while some of the big money boys can return. In a game that was never comfortable but plenty effective, the Cowboys emerged from the month of September with a 2-1 record as they beat the Giants on the road, 23-16.
Given that they have done it with many understudies and rookies playing key roles, this development is beyond exciting. It could save the whole doggone season.
And that says a lot about the group and coaches who took them into New York on Monday night. Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn have been tasked with finding more solutions in 2022 (or else), and to be fair to them, the way they decided to coach and play these past two games is impressive.
This team has attacked. They have attacked in disposition and they have attacked with tactics. They have decided to try to use fourth down as a weapon and to attack on first down to enhance their opportunities. Basically, they took the fight to the Bengals and Giants and scratched out physical battles in a beautiful way. And most importantly, they didn’t show fear. They didn’t coach with massive caution and act like they needed everything to go right to beat a team on the road. Instead, they got after it on both sides of the ball and decided to throw a little disruption into the affair and put the pressure on the undefeated team that had not been in a prime-time divisional battle with its new staff.
I believe this can be best explained with the way the Cowboys started the game. On the first play of the first possession, they told us so much.
The Cowboys lined up with multiple tight ends next to Tyler Smith. Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot made it three rookies right in a row. If you want to add left guard Matt Farniok to that mix, it would be four guys who basically had nothing to do with the 2021 Dallas Cowboys on the field in front of a backup QB. Out left was Noah Brown, who also was seldom used for the heavy lifting last year. The number of modifications made to the “top offense in 2021” was distressing, to say the least.
They have Ezekiel Elliott deep behind Cooper Rush and this play will be the opening moment in a big road game that you really want to get to allow some regulars to rejoin the battle in the upcoming weeks. But some of these guys will be part of a new normal, whatever that may mean.
On this first play, the Cowboys lined up like they wanted to run Zeke. Get physical on first-and-10 and the Giants loaded the box. This is what teams do with a backup QB. Play it safe. Get a few yards, only throw when they must.
Opposing coaches are delighted when you do that. They know you are scared so they take away all your easy solutions. You play directly into their hands and a loud stadium looks forward to your frightened QB trying to figure out third-and-long after you run into their teeth twice. Third down is where almost no quarterback makes a good living, because the entire odds flip to the defense and the ambushes they have planned.
By now, you know where I am going with this. The Cowboys set up a run play on that first snap and then pulled the ball back for a play-action pass to CeeDee Lamb. He had half the field and only Adoree Jackson to deal with and it was an easy 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. It also provided confidence to the offense that there was going to be some aggressiveness on this evening.
On the very next drive, it was there again. Right after the Cowboys crossed midfield, we have a first-and-10. Ground and pound again from 12 personnel with Rush lined up under center?
Yes to all of that, except Rush again fakes to Elliott and drops back in play action. This time, another two-man route combination with Lamb deep and Noah Brown on a big dig/crosser underneath attacking the space Lamb just cleared out. Again, Rush delivers the throw to Brown for 19 yards and another first down. Lamb was very available on a deeper shot, but Rush took the nice chunk to Brown.
That and a number of successful first-down runs were planted to set up the next one.
There’s 4:42 left in the second quarter and the Cowboys are again on the move. This time it is a first-and-10 with 11 personnel, but it looks like something right out of the Sean McVay playbook — tight splits with Brown basically playing a tight end spot. The play is outside zone left, with a play-action rollout right behind it. Jalen Tolbert with a short route on the left, but the intent here is to find Lamb on the over-route against a zone when Lamb can go deep and cross the face of the free safety and Rush can lead him to the sideline and perhaps the end zone. Everything went perfectly and Rush let a dynamic pass go into space. Lamb ran under it without a defender close as Dane Belton is more than five yards away and will have to hope to trip him to save a sure touchdown. The only thing that kept everything from going perfectly? Lamb had the ball hit him in the hands and drop to the ground. Just an unthinkable drop where everything — the play call, the sell job, the excellent 40-yard throw and even the coverage — played perfectly into the Cowboys’ hands. This moment of genius should have given the Cowboys a 13-3 lead going into halftime. Instead, it made everyone upset back in Dallas that Lamb, one of the guys who is expected to make that play every time, let down the band of nobodies. Just a killer.
The odds of that being the moment that cost them this opportunity to go get a vital divisional road win were substantial. It would have allowed for all sorts of premature declarations about fired coaches and how Lamb was never the top receiver anyway. Trade him for parts!
This is where the story gives you hope for the here and now. Dallas went to the locker room and on the other side, the Giants came out and scored twice. The Giants’ first two drives in the second half flipped the game from the Cowboys up three points, to down 13-6. The Cowboys got the ball back with 5:31 left in the third quarter down a touchdown and the stadium was going wild.
What do we see from Dallas? Conviction from McCarthy and Moore. The drive starter of the very next drive was a first-and-10, play-action pass to go find a chunk after selling the run. The throw to the sideline finds Lamb again — looking for atonement — and another gain of 17 yards.
What do you expect on another first-down play two minutes later? 13 personnel! Three tight ends on the field are really selling a power run. Instead, more play-action passing. This was drawn up beautifully as Hendershot was the motion tight end to probably be the lead blocker for Elliott. The other two tight ends were to Smith’s left. Again, Elliott and the line sell the fake, but Rush pulls it back and that lead blocker Hendershot just kept running down the sideline on a wheel route. He is wide open as Lamb cleared out that side and Hendershot had 29 yards that were as easy as a practice rep. They would score the tying touchdown with Elliott barreling in a few moments later to enter the fourth quarter, 13-13.
That is where the CeeDee Lamb redemption tour would come full circle. Yes, he made a horrid mistake before halftime that might have cost them the game, but the funny thing about sports is that there is often a chance to make amends. That moment would arrive when the defense forced a punt early in the fourth quarter. It was a great night overall for the defense, but this was the Cowboys’ first stop of the second half when they got the ball back with a punt with 14:42 to play.
That is when Moore and Rush executed three more first-and-10 play-action passes. To do this eight times in one game is extraordinary. To connect on 7 of 8 and the eighth was a remarkable drop shows that the Cowboys had the Giants’ number all night in the coaching and tactical departments. A true masterclass.
First, it was 12 personnel and a play-action fake to Tony Pollard (who just had a nice run) from the 36-yard line and a beautiful dig route to Lamb on the logo at midfield for 17 yards. Seven-man protection and no pass rush allow for a clean throw and catch. First down and Dallas is on the move for the winning score.
The next one doesn’t happen if McCarthy doesn’t trust the team to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Giants’ 41. This should be the call from a mathematical standpoint, but how often do you see a team on the road with a backup QB not trust the situation? Coaching scared was an option and McCarthy wasn’t interested, even if Rush just missed a third-down throw. Rush delivered to Lamb again. It worked. Barely.
That set up another first-down run look that was a run fake left and a bootleg to a wide-open Hendershot in the right flat again. He tries to jump the safety and move the chains again.
Another first down on the next play. Moore is feeling it and knows just the play to get this thing in the end zone. Pollard and Elliott out there together and everything in the pre-snap motion is to make the Giants see Pollard on the left flank. Again, it is all deception. Lamb is not here to block Darnay Holmes for a swing to Pollard. Instead, he slips past Holmes to the left sideline with nobody left to account. Rush puts a comfy throw right on Lamb who attempts to take out all of his frustration by trucking Fabian Moreau on his way in. He comes up just short of the end zone, but have no fear, on the next play he has a one-handed catch in the end zone over Jackson again. Perfect throw, perfect catch.
The defense was rudely ignored in this column, but we will get to them this week. The story today is about the coaches realizing that this was going to be a difficult task for this group unless you could bake in something like first-down, play-action throws. Overall, Rush was 21 for 31 for 215 yards and a passer rating of 98.2. But, if you just take his first-down, play-action throws, he was 7 for 8 for 133 yards and a passer rating of 119. That includes the drop by Lamb that might have been a 48-yard touchdown. Everything else was 14 of 23 for 82 yards and a passer rating of 82.
In other words, this was not asking your players to save your skin. Instead, it was a great job of understanding the situation and finding solutions in real-time by the guys who have their jobs on the line. And that is called “getting it done” in whatever fashion you need to load the plane with a win tucked away.
By Bob Sturm
24m ago
The pre-game news continued to roll in and none of it was what the Cowboys wanted to hear.
Michael Gallup would not play. Dalton Schultz would not play. And while he is making progress toward a return that is quicker than most expected, Dak Prescott again would not play. We already knew that Tyron Smith won’t play until the holidays.
If you bounced those four major pieces being absent from the roster off any of us in August, the doom and gloom would have been immense. Heck, in August, there was still considerable mourning about the losses of La’el Collins and Amari Cooper, too. Subtract those six names and what does the offense even have left?
They apparently have enough to win consecutive games to keep this boat afloat while some of the big money boys can return. In a game that was never comfortable but plenty effective, the Cowboys emerged from the month of September with a 2-1 record as they beat the Giants on the road, 23-16.
Given that they have done it with many understudies and rookies playing key roles, this development is beyond exciting. It could save the whole doggone season.
And that says a lot about the group and coaches who took them into New York on Monday night. Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn have been tasked with finding more solutions in 2022 (or else), and to be fair to them, the way they decided to coach and play these past two games is impressive.
This team has attacked. They have attacked in disposition and they have attacked with tactics. They have decided to try to use fourth down as a weapon and to attack on first down to enhance their opportunities. Basically, they took the fight to the Bengals and Giants and scratched out physical battles in a beautiful way. And most importantly, they didn’t show fear. They didn’t coach with massive caution and act like they needed everything to go right to beat a team on the road. Instead, they got after it on both sides of the ball and decided to throw a little disruption into the affair and put the pressure on the undefeated team that had not been in a prime-time divisional battle with its new staff.
I believe this can be best explained with the way the Cowboys started the game. On the first play of the first possession, they told us so much.
The Cowboys lined up with multiple tight ends next to Tyler Smith. Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot made it three rookies right in a row. If you want to add left guard Matt Farniok to that mix, it would be four guys who basically had nothing to do with the 2021 Dallas Cowboys on the field in front of a backup QB. Out left was Noah Brown, who also was seldom used for the heavy lifting last year. The number of modifications made to the “top offense in 2021” was distressing, to say the least.
They have Ezekiel Elliott deep behind Cooper Rush and this play will be the opening moment in a big road game that you really want to get to allow some regulars to rejoin the battle in the upcoming weeks. But some of these guys will be part of a new normal, whatever that may mean.
On this first play, the Cowboys lined up like they wanted to run Zeke. Get physical on first-and-10 and the Giants loaded the box. This is what teams do with a backup QB. Play it safe. Get a few yards, only throw when they must.
Opposing coaches are delighted when you do that. They know you are scared so they take away all your easy solutions. You play directly into their hands and a loud stadium looks forward to your frightened QB trying to figure out third-and-long after you run into their teeth twice. Third down is where almost no quarterback makes a good living, because the entire odds flip to the defense and the ambushes they have planned.
By now, you know where I am going with this. The Cowboys set up a run play on that first snap and then pulled the ball back for a play-action pass to CeeDee Lamb. He had half the field and only Adoree Jackson to deal with and it was an easy 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. It also provided confidence to the offense that there was going to be some aggressiveness on this evening.
On the very next drive, it was there again. Right after the Cowboys crossed midfield, we have a first-and-10. Ground and pound again from 12 personnel with Rush lined up under center?
Yes to all of that, except Rush again fakes to Elliott and drops back in play action. This time, another two-man route combination with Lamb deep and Noah Brown on a big dig/crosser underneath attacking the space Lamb just cleared out. Again, Rush delivers the throw to Brown for 19 yards and another first down. Lamb was very available on a deeper shot, but Rush took the nice chunk to Brown.
That and a number of successful first-down runs were planted to set up the next one.
There’s 4:42 left in the second quarter and the Cowboys are again on the move. This time it is a first-and-10 with 11 personnel, but it looks like something right out of the Sean McVay playbook — tight splits with Brown basically playing a tight end spot. The play is outside zone left, with a play-action rollout right behind it. Jalen Tolbert with a short route on the left, but the intent here is to find Lamb on the over-route against a zone when Lamb can go deep and cross the face of the free safety and Rush can lead him to the sideline and perhaps the end zone. Everything went perfectly and Rush let a dynamic pass go into space. Lamb ran under it without a defender close as Dane Belton is more than five yards away and will have to hope to trip him to save a sure touchdown. The only thing that kept everything from going perfectly? Lamb had the ball hit him in the hands and drop to the ground. Just an unthinkable drop where everything — the play call, the sell job, the excellent 40-yard throw and even the coverage — played perfectly into the Cowboys’ hands. This moment of genius should have given the Cowboys a 13-3 lead going into halftime. Instead, it made everyone upset back in Dallas that Lamb, one of the guys who is expected to make that play every time, let down the band of nobodies. Just a killer.
The odds of that being the moment that cost them this opportunity to go get a vital divisional road win were substantial. It would have allowed for all sorts of premature declarations about fired coaches and how Lamb was never the top receiver anyway. Trade him for parts!
This is where the story gives you hope for the here and now. Dallas went to the locker room and on the other side, the Giants came out and scored twice. The Giants’ first two drives in the second half flipped the game from the Cowboys up three points, to down 13-6. The Cowboys got the ball back with 5:31 left in the third quarter down a touchdown and the stadium was going wild.
What do we see from Dallas? Conviction from McCarthy and Moore. The drive starter of the very next drive was a first-and-10, play-action pass to go find a chunk after selling the run. The throw to the sideline finds Lamb again — looking for atonement — and another gain of 17 yards.
What do you expect on another first-down play two minutes later? 13 personnel! Three tight ends on the field are really selling a power run. Instead, more play-action passing. This was drawn up beautifully as Hendershot was the motion tight end to probably be the lead blocker for Elliott. The other two tight ends were to Smith’s left. Again, Elliott and the line sell the fake, but Rush pulls it back and that lead blocker Hendershot just kept running down the sideline on a wheel route. He is wide open as Lamb cleared out that side and Hendershot had 29 yards that were as easy as a practice rep. They would score the tying touchdown with Elliott barreling in a few moments later to enter the fourth quarter, 13-13.
That is where the CeeDee Lamb redemption tour would come full circle. Yes, he made a horrid mistake before halftime that might have cost them the game, but the funny thing about sports is that there is often a chance to make amends. That moment would arrive when the defense forced a punt early in the fourth quarter. It was a great night overall for the defense, but this was the Cowboys’ first stop of the second half when they got the ball back with a punt with 14:42 to play.
That is when Moore and Rush executed three more first-and-10 play-action passes. To do this eight times in one game is extraordinary. To connect on 7 of 8 and the eighth was a remarkable drop shows that the Cowboys had the Giants’ number all night in the coaching and tactical departments. A true masterclass.
First, it was 12 personnel and a play-action fake to Tony Pollard (who just had a nice run) from the 36-yard line and a beautiful dig route to Lamb on the logo at midfield for 17 yards. Seven-man protection and no pass rush allow for a clean throw and catch. First down and Dallas is on the move for the winning score.
The next one doesn’t happen if McCarthy doesn’t trust the team to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Giants’ 41. This should be the call from a mathematical standpoint, but how often do you see a team on the road with a backup QB not trust the situation? Coaching scared was an option and McCarthy wasn’t interested, even if Rush just missed a third-down throw. Rush delivered to Lamb again. It worked. Barely.
That set up another first-down run look that was a run fake left and a bootleg to a wide-open Hendershot in the right flat again. He tries to jump the safety and move the chains again.
Another first down on the next play. Moore is feeling it and knows just the play to get this thing in the end zone. Pollard and Elliott out there together and everything in the pre-snap motion is to make the Giants see Pollard on the left flank. Again, it is all deception. Lamb is not here to block Darnay Holmes for a swing to Pollard. Instead, he slips past Holmes to the left sideline with nobody left to account. Rush puts a comfy throw right on Lamb who attempts to take out all of his frustration by trucking Fabian Moreau on his way in. He comes up just short of the end zone, but have no fear, on the next play he has a one-handed catch in the end zone over Jackson again. Perfect throw, perfect catch.
The defense was rudely ignored in this column, but we will get to them this week. The story today is about the coaches realizing that this was going to be a difficult task for this group unless you could bake in something like first-down, play-action throws. Overall, Rush was 21 for 31 for 215 yards and a passer rating of 98.2. But, if you just take his first-down, play-action throws, he was 7 for 8 for 133 yards and a passer rating of 119. That includes the drop by Lamb that might have been a 48-yard touchdown. Everything else was 14 of 23 for 82 yards and a passer rating of 82.
In other words, this was not asking your players to save your skin. Instead, it was a great job of understanding the situation and finding solutions in real-time by the guys who have their jobs on the line. And that is called “getting it done” in whatever fashion you need to load the plane with a win tucked away.
