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By Bob Sturm 41m ago
There was one major reason why the Cowboys’ offense needed a directional change a few years back and it centered mostly on maximizing the potential of its pieces. The Cowboys had just found a rookie class of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, which should populate every offensive huddle between 2016 and 2025 if things go well. They are young and talented and maybe they can be the core of a successful offense.
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan was upgraded to Kellen Moore. Jason Garrett was replaced for two major reasons — playoff success and the appeal of getting a coach who previously had converted a toolsy QB prospect into the best version of himself. If a QB guru like Mike McCarthy could revive Brett Favre’s career long after he was declared washed (Favre went to both the 2007 and 2009 NFC Championship games and probably should have won both at a stage in his career when almost nobody thought there was that upside still available) and mold Aaron Rodgers into one of only six players in NFL history to win three league MVP trophies (Favre, Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Jim Brown) then perhaps he could join Moore and push Prescott from a really good quarterback to great.
Let’s not declare any battle won, but the first seven starts of Prescott’s career are some of his finest work. This particular performance suggests he has leveled up. It is dangerous to offer credit to those around him when we know his inner motivational skills, but it is also ridiculous to assume he isn’t more receptive when he sees the resumé of those around him and wants to pick new brains for new thoughts and experiences.
I will resist offering lyrics from Fountains of Wayne here, but Prescott is routinely doing things that he couldn’t do a few years ago. He sees the field, reads the coverage, stands in against the blitz and — most importantly because otherwise, the other stuff won’t matter — delivers a throw to the precise place at the precise time to move the chains.
This is best displayed in some of the third-down conversions we have seen this season. It is starting to become clear that defenses will not get him with basic tactics anymore. He is now on the right side of “too good” in these spots.
It is third-and-6 at the Chargers’ 22-yard line with the game tied, 14-14, in the fourth quarter. This crucial moment is why you pay quarterbacks. The defense knows what you are doing, have worked all week on a plan for this moment and are calling their best plan which includes a blitz and Cover 1 behind it.
Let’s take a look:
Noah Brown (85) is on the outside at the bottom with CeeDee Lamb (88) inside of him. Lamb will run a vertical to clear it out and Brown will cut across his path to the inside. Amari Cooper (19) is up top after motion and will take his man on a go. Elliott (21) will hit the left flat. Dalton Schultz (86) is going to run an out where he stems past the sticks and gives Prescott a target with the idea of gaining leverage on his man (athletic safety No. 24 Nasir Adderley).
The Cowboys are in scat protection which means five targets are out in routes, leaving only five linemen to protect. No problem if there is no blitz, but if there is, you have five for five. If anyone loses, Dak has to know he has no help cleaning that up. It’s pretty clear the Chargers are in Cover 1 with man across and a single safety deep. This is the most common third-down coverage in football.
Here is the end-zone view where you can size up the protection. Tyron Smith is losing to edge Uchenna Nwosu on the left side of the line and Terence Steele is beaten quickly at the snap by Joey Bosa. Zack Martin (70) is amazing. Martin is trying to block his guy and clean up for Steele. His idea is his left hand can keep his guy beaten and then with his right hand he can block Bosa. This is very ambitious and the truth is in the NFL you cannot block anyone with one hand, but you can briefly impede him.
I say briefly because this snap is going to hurt. Smith got beat, Steele got beat and frankly, Martin is losing, too, as I assume he was hoping Tyler Biadasz was going to assist on his left more than Steele did on his right. Three Chargers — Nwosu, Christian Covington (former Cowboy) and Bosa — are all about to get to Prescott at the same moment. Prescott had other things on his mind. He stood tall and delivered as Schultz is at the top of his stem. It becomes a matter of if he can throw a strike while bracing for contact.
Here is what it looked like when the ball arrived. Nothing is easy on third down.
The receiver is pleased and defender is frustrated. It is one of six third-down conversions and one that a young Prescott was incapable of completing.
They say the game slows down when you reach a certain point and I believe we have arrived there. We have consistently seen Prescott make throws like this in moments like this where he can make things happen when conditions are not ideal. It is hard to believe the chaos going on all around a quarterback as he is supposed to put a throw in a spot down the field while not worrying about the car crash that is about to happen in his lap.
People doubt Prescott. I am not here to say he is perfect, but the progress is astounding.
Take a look at the play with the NFL Next Gen animation and see how it fit together.
Week 2 vs. Chargers
The numbers are solid and we are starting to see the Cowboys near the top in most of the offensive categories in the NFL. This is expected and now with a homestand, it should continue to rise. Two potential issues are red-zone efficiency — we talk about that here nonstop — and starting field position. Both rank in the NFL’s bottom 10. Otherwise, the Cowboys are productive and explosive and the league is taking notice.
The next item that should be discussed is the performance of Tony Pollard. We are in Year 3 of Pollard’s four-year rookie deal and it is obvious that he is a weapon that must be included in every game plan. Without turning this automatically into a Pollard vs. Elliott debate, it should be obvious to anyone who follows these games that Pollard has a component that Elliott can not offer — the ability to hit home runs regularly.
Elliott serves purposes and this is not a call to eliminate him by any stretch. It is also important to remember that the constant contract discussions serve no purpose at all in-season. The boat has left the port and there is no turning back. Elliott is on the ship in 2021 no matter what, so trying to figure out how much each yard costs is the short road to insanity and serves no real purpose.
The stark difference between Pollard’s role in Week 1 vs. Week 2 tells us that this is no longer an elective component of the offense. It has to be a mandatory feature. He had seven touches on opening weekend and that raced up to 16 in Week 2. You can see that he can do whatever you need and to consider him a running back is missing the point. But, he is an explosive running back.
His 13 carries were very similar in that Pollard showed no hesitation. He hit the gas to the front side of almost every run or cut quickly and decisively and hit the nitro button to dart into the secondary without so much as a blink. Not only is he fast, but he believes in his path with the confidence of a top player and this is where the comparisons to Elliott are worth noting.
You can see it somewhat in their charts. They are running many of the same concepts and Elliott is always looking for his first chance to cut back and get positive yards. Again, there is nothing wrong with taking three yards, but like in baseball, if you are always looking to simply advance the runner with a bunt, you will never get a big inning. If you play for one run, that is exactly what you get. It’s the same in running backs and their decisions in zone blocking. If you never look for the front-side big chunk and always take the first smaller window, then you are perhaps robbing yourself of the big moment. Notice how Pollard’s runs are wide and diagonal? Zeke’s are shorter and more vertical between the tackles?
This generally reveals two things. A runner doesn’t trust his blocking or he doesn’t believe he can beat players to the edge. I hesitate to remind about the third-and-goal race to the pylon that was turned down last week to cut back inside (right into the defensive help), but we are seeing that the blocking is there still. This is a story worth following. Elliott put up fine numbers, but this game showed that the blocking is solid. But, if your home-run hitter knows he can’t hit home runs anymore, you have a bigger issue on the horizon.
Pollard’s runs are distinctly explosive (and seen in the banana stand) and his juice must be a regular part of the offensive diet.
Overall, the offensive performance struggled to score 20 points, but they have shown diversity enough to know they should be in any game. Martin’s return is huge, but now they may not have Cooper for a bit. Being able to demonstrate that they can sustain losses will determine how good this offense can be.
This homestand will provide many answers to questions worth asking. But the offensive start has been exactly what you would have hoped.
