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Decoding McCarthy/Zimmer Report, Week 11
Consolidating the Xs and Os from the Week 11 Texans Game as the season slips away.
Bob Sturm
Nov 20, 2024
Tuesdays (or Wednesday on a Monday Night Game week) – since about 2008 – have been my day to evaluate the offense in this space. However, due to circumstances beyond the Cowboys control, evidently, we have modified this space from now through the end of the regular season as the games themselves have become less compelling. Therefore, we will attempt to combine the offensive and defensive reviews as best we can and that will leave us room for an additional piece in days to come. This week, that will be looking closer at Texas QB Quinn Ewers in a few days.
Our objectives today:
The offense was functional on Monday Night, if we are comparing it to what the Eagles game demonstrated for us as a bar of expectation.
Cooper Rush was better. The offense was better.
They actually found some solutions and ended up with 388 yards and 24 first downs. I realize that the score is the only stat that truly matters for offensive evaluation, but 388 yards is more than nothing.
388 is the 3rd-best yardage output of the year. Only Baltimore (garbage time stats) and Pittsburgh exceed that number. The same is true for 24 first downs—again, 3rd-best in 2024 behind the Baltimore and Pittsburgh games.
But, as is often the case, the running game was a mess, and the efficiency was unacceptable. If you are struggling as an offense, we almost always boil it down to efficiency on 3rd downs and in the red zone. And then we find that boiling that down is about staying out of bad 3rd-down situations—average yards to go on 3rd down on Monday night was 10 (which is so bad!)—and that usually comes back to a team that cannot run the ball at all.
Here we are. This team tried to run the ball in the first half and ended up with 10 runs for 33 yards. But if you take out the CeeDee Lamb gadget run, then it’s nine runs for 20 yards. And your top RB had eight runs for 18 yards.
If you want to know the biggest Achilles Heel of this offense right now, it is that they cannot run the rock. Yes, Rico Dowdle is your best choice and no, he is probably not a starter in the NFL – which means Dallas does not have one. But, when I am asked why they didn’t “stick with the run” and had Cooper Rush throwing the ball on 61 drop backs, here is your answer. They were trying to win a game.
And right now, in 2024, after an offseason of emphasizing how they have two objectives – run the ball and stop the run – we see that they might be worse than ever before. Houston sat in 2-high all day and knew you couldn’t run on them. They weren’t wrong.
Here are Rico’s eight attempts before halftime:
Could this team use a better running back? Sure. But, I actually think Dowdle is pretty solid overall. There just isn’t anywhere to go.
So, definitely, asking Rush to throw the ball so much was probably a bad idea, but right now, I think they are all bad ideas and he was actually much better.
Again, this offense is broken and we won’t bang our heads against the wall all day on this. But, below, I would argue that this offensive performance was decently productive at moving the ball and moving the chains. Only once did they actually go 3-and-out which is a stark departure from a week ago.
I realize that is some feint praise, but it is where we are.
An interception in Houston territory, a missed field goal, and a failed fourth-down deep in the red zone all led us to a frustrating night and 10 points. But, you can definitely see a scenario where they might have had 23 or 24 points. And honestly, that might allow you to accidentally win a game if you aren’t careful.
Lastly for the offensive overview, Cooper Rush’s throw chart from Next Gen:
I was happy for the guy. He responded well. Now, he also had four turnover-worthy plays and that means he is not a starter, but we knew he was better than last week and he played a reasonable game on Monday and showed some toughness because he certainly woke up pretty sore on Tuesday. The sacks allowed montage is pretty painful:
As you can see, No. 55 Danielle Hunter was a massive issue. He is special. But, in this game, it looks like almost every offensive line position took a turn losing. Yes, Terence Steele struggled again, but Hunter just got done beating Penei Sewell the week before, so we know his quality. Just imagine if Will Anderson would have been active, too.
The offense, obviously, struggled. Too many mistakes and if you can’t score, then you better not allow Houston to get a defensive touchdown, too.
Let’s look at the defense now.
This was not as impressive for the defense. When they play a team with a diversified portfolio – which means they can beat you in many ways with many guys – then we have to hope you can get some pass pressure against a faulty offensive line.
But, right now, they only have one decent edge rusher healthy. As you can see, Micah Parsons personally had 10 of the Cowboys 19 QB Pressures.
Now, he did not get 3 sacks. And online during a season like this, people want to trade him because he is annoying and has a podcast that seems a bit tone deaf. But, make no mistake – there aren’t many on the planet like Micah Parsons right now.
Here are the season numbers. Yes, you want more sacks, but he is in the backfield constantly and his pressure rate is elite.
I just wish we were watching Marshawn Kneeland and Sam Williams this year if Micah and DeMarcus Lawrence were down with injuries. Alas, instead we are watching a group that can’t apply pressure and trying to talk ourselves into the idea of cutting loose the only guy we have who is close to special.
But the bottom line on Monday is that the team needed to generate multiple takeaways and multiple sacks. They did not. They also needed to deal with Joe Mixon—they tried but did not. There were some good things—Mixon had a very low success rate relative to what we feared after the first drive—but overall, it is more of the same.
C.J. Stroud did not play his best game, their offensive line is still mediocre, and they left plenty of meat on the bone. But, putting 14 points in the bank on the first quarter turned out to be pretty much all they needed as they put the Cowboys in a vice-grip and while Dallas can feel better about the performance, it still wasn’t close enough to make a playoff contender sweat.
You could argue that Houston could have named their score and if the object of the game was 45 points and 500 yards, they could have done it. I felt like they did what they needed to do and then put it on cruise control the rest of the way, so our evaluation is what it is as we follow a team to the bottom of the ocean. Sigh.
Splash Plays - Vs Houston
Malik Hooker had a nice night and I do think a conversation about the safety position is needed at some point during this project in the weeks and months to come. Every week, it seems the Cowboys are playing teams who have better safety play than Dallas.
OK, on to Washington for them.
Looking closer at players for 2025
Several of you asked for us to look at some more drafted players who need to be part of this team next year in a much bigger way. We chose three from your requests this week:
C - Cooper Beebe, 2024 3rd Round
For me, Cooper Beebe has been exactly what we expected: a strong, smart, and capable interior offensive lineman who is only going to get better with age. Washington signed Tyler Biadasz for about $10 million a year to leave Dallas and take over there. He has been good for them and has probably been the better player between the two—Biadasz and Beebe—in 2024. But this, obviously, is not the bar. The bar is 2025 and 2026, and the belief was that Beebe could be a league-average center in Year 1 (he has) and then make a leap in Years 2-4.
The tape above is promising but not perfect. That said, I have had zero issues with his development and look forward to his future. He is right on the path.
TE - Luke Schoonmaker, 2023 2nd Round
Schoonmaker played the best game of his career on Monday night with 10 targets, 6 catches for 56 yards, and 45 snaps—easily a career-high after Jake Ferguson went down. Hindsight is 20/20, but this is one of the more puzzling picks this regime has made because they seemed to not know how good Ferguson was when they spent a valuable 2nd-round pick on a second-choice tight end. You should definitely never do that unless you think he is your starter. Dallas apparently discovered Ferguson’s upside after they let Dalton Schultz go and picked Schoonmaker, which is not great.
They wanted to run a lot of 12 personnel when they drafted him and dominate on the ground, but so far, he has been a rather big disappointment. However, we saw flashes of usefulness on Monday as a receiver. I just don’t think he is anything special as a blocker, which was a big part of his profile out of Michigan. So, my analysis of this tape is that it is “better than it has been, but still, we need to see much more.”
DT - Mazi Smith, 2023 1st Round
Nearly every week we have done a cut-up of Mazi Smith, so we don’t need a complete reset on his dossier. But, I will say this particular video (thanks to Kevin Utz), I am pleased. This is better. He is developing. They also are making him play more and more and he is holding up. He isn’t perfect and he will never make you feel good about dropping a 1st rounder on him. But, games like this say he can be in your plans moving forward. Again, not great, but not awful. Growth – especially after that big TD run that started the night.
9 plays that defined this game - Xs and Os breakdown
OK, for the historical record, we better look at the plays that this game made famous so nobody wonders why we stopped tracking things. I would never!
Let’s do it.
1Q - 12:50 - 1-10-DAL 45 - J.Mixon right tackle for 45 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This is a text-book zone blocking play where the RB executes the backside cut beautifully. If you slow-mo the end-zone view at about 0:14, you will see it happen and it is wonderful to behold. Micah, Mazi, and everyone seems to have it defended on the play frontside. Where things break down for Dallas and make Mixon’s TD look comically easy is that 99-Golston gets cut by the TE Dalton Schultz. Once that happens, 24-Mukamu has to fill that spot or it is bad. And it was bad. Then, your last chance is the safeties and they did not cover themselves in glory here at all.
1Q - 10:41 - 4-9-DAL 33 - B.Anger pass short middle to J.Thomas to DAL 37 for 4 yards
At a certain point, we have to simply say this is bad coaching. I understand being aggressive but these fake punts – which were part of what makes Bones Fassel a top special teams coach – are killing game situations too much. In Atlanta and now here again, they see something and go for it. But, what they saw both times was not actually what happened. Here, they expect Juanyeh Thomas to be running free down the field and if he is, great. But, the Texans have him covered and you look silly again. For me, if I am the head coach, I would have probably grounded these missions after Atlanta. Alas, here we are again with a ridiculous failed punt.
1Q - 8:32 - 4-3-DAL 30 - C.Stroud pass deep right intended for N.Collins INTERCEPTED by M.Hooker at DAL 12
The Cowboys needed multiple takeaways and they got one here. But, this one is on 4th down and also a Tampa 2 coverage where we think it is 100% on CJ Stroud throwing a bad ball. John Metchie is being carried vertically by 50-Kendricks and now 12-Nico Collins is running a post behind it. MFO (split safeties) in a Cover 2 and that means if Collins is hit with this pass, he will split the safeties and probably score – especially when Hooker steps outside. The throw misses and goes right to Hooker, but they will see this and say if he puts it on Collins, this is a touchdown. Poor throw and big break.
1Q - 5:58 - 3-8-HST 41 - C.Rush pass short left intended for C.Lamb INTERCEPTED by D.Stingley at HST 30.
Unfortunately, Dallas gives the ball right back on this 3rd and 8. Cover 3 defense with a 6-man blitz that gets picked up well. Rush has a wide open Jalen Tolbert streaking across the field who I think might score if you hit him. Instead, he forces it to Lamb who is running right into 20-Ward on his way to 24-Stingley. Stingley is an amazing corner ball hawk who will catch any mistakes close and Rush is burned here with a predetermined read. Tolbert is the easier throw and if you hit him in stride, he is going to run a long ways, but the 6th man pressure causes Rush to guess.
1Q - 0:54 - 2-1-DAL 1 - J.Mixon right end for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
I don’t have much on this one except seeing everyone over-playing the inside run so hard that Mixon only has to step outside and he is high-stepping. They didn’t respect the Cowboys run defense which is consistent with a season of not defending well enough vs basic run concepts. Must get this fixed, eventually.
2Q - 15:00 - 3-10-DAL 36 - C.Rush pass short right to K.Turpin for 64 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This moment makes you wonder why this hasn’t really happened more. 3rd and long and Houston is in Cover 1, but with help headed to CeeDee Lamb and then a single-high safety. If you have a guy who runs a sub 4.3, your first idea would be to see how you can isolate him against a defender and then try to create a foot-race where he makes one move with his release and is gone. I don’t want to ruin a great moment – and the first touchdown at home since Week 3 – with a complaint of “where has this been?”, but I can’t lie. That was my first thought. If you see man coverage, try using the guy who can run faster than anyone in the NFL more often. LOL
3Q - 2:18 - 4-2-HST 8 - C.Rush pass incomplete short right to J.Mingo.
So, we were asked to take a look at this one and there are a few things going on. First, the targeted receiver is the polarizing Jonathan Mingo. This was his chance at a decent first impression since the majority of fans seem to be mad at me for thinking he might be a decent piece next year. Also, it is 4th and goal and you just took a field goal off the board that would have cut it to 20-13. For that reason, people only want a team to “go for it” if they promise the play will work. It does not. On this play, Rush is going to roll right and the concept is based on Rush seeing something he likes with Tolbert and Lamb using traffic to the pylon. But, that breaks down with 55-Hunter disrupts again and gets in Rush’s face as he overpowers Schoonmaker. Now, before we get mad at the TE, the fact is that few TE’s have a chance against Hunter. Steele wants to help, but the spacing is not great and Schoonmaker holds. Despite all of this, the backside to Mingo is open and Rush navigates back to him and then sails the throw. It was a touchdown, but also the penalty would negate it. So, the incomplete pass is a turnover on downs because if Rush hits Mingo, at least you can still kick the field goal. But, yeah, 2024 strikes again.
Onto the fourth quarter now…
4Q - 14:26 - 1-10-DAL 7 - C.Rush pass deep left to C.Lamb to DAL 36 for 29 yards (K.Hollman).
I just wanted to put this in there because Cooper Rush played hard and made a few very good throws. This is recognizing that Lamb is 1-on-1 with a mismatch and knows what to do. Lamb wins because Dallas throws it on 1st down when Houston is sure they will run it. Nice job all around.
4Q - 12:44 - 2-6-DAL 40 - C.Rush sacked at DAL 32 for -8 yards (D.Barnett). FUMBLES (D.Barnett), recovered by DAL-T.Guyton at DAL 33. T.Guyton to DAL 32 for -1 yards (J.Pitre; D.Horton). FUMBLES (J.Pitre), RECOVERED by HST-D.Barnett at DAL 28. D.Barnett for 28 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
And finally, the football follies play of the day was three snaps later after the Lamb catch. 2nd and 6. Tyler Guyton has had his ups and downs in his rookie season and this one will stick with him. Former Eagles edge Derek Barnett gets outside him and gets to Rush’s back arm in delivery and gets the ball out. It goes right to Guyton who decides to run with it. This is a no-no, but everything is happening fast. They are coached to “fall on it” and not make a bad play worse. Well, guess what. He makes it worse as the ball is fumbled again as he is lit up by Jalen Pitre and it goes back to Barnett for a defensive touchdown. It is the first sack Guyton has allowed since Week 4 and we are not down on him, but the NFL is a tough place to learn to play left tackle as a rookie. He was the alternative to keeping our favorite, Tyron Smith. And to be fair, they have had similar years in terms of giving up pressure on PFF. Tyron’s grades are all better and Guyton has a long ways to go, but I think Guyton has a bright future still:
Anyway, there are 3,300 words for you to digest (for those still with me) and now we move on to Washington.
Consolidating the Xs and Os from the Week 11 Texans Game as the season slips away.
Bob Sturm
Nov 20, 2024
Tuesdays (or Wednesday on a Monday Night Game week) – since about 2008 – have been my day to evaluate the offense in this space. However, due to circumstances beyond the Cowboys control, evidently, we have modified this space from now through the end of the regular season as the games themselves have become less compelling. Therefore, we will attempt to combine the offensive and defensive reviews as best we can and that will leave us room for an additional piece in days to come. This week, that will be looking closer at Texas QB Quinn Ewers in a few days.
Our objectives today:
- The Offensive Overview vs the Texans
- The Defensive Overview vs the Texans
- Looking close at young players for 2025
- 10 plays that defined this game - Xs and Os breakdown
The offense was functional on Monday Night, if we are comparing it to what the Eagles game demonstrated for us as a bar of expectation.
Cooper Rush was better. The offense was better.
They actually found some solutions and ended up with 388 yards and 24 first downs. I realize that the score is the only stat that truly matters for offensive evaluation, but 388 yards is more than nothing.
388 is the 3rd-best yardage output of the year. Only Baltimore (garbage time stats) and Pittsburgh exceed that number. The same is true for 24 first downs—again, 3rd-best in 2024 behind the Baltimore and Pittsburgh games.
But, as is often the case, the running game was a mess, and the efficiency was unacceptable. If you are struggling as an offense, we almost always boil it down to efficiency on 3rd downs and in the red zone. And then we find that boiling that down is about staying out of bad 3rd-down situations—average yards to go on 3rd down on Monday night was 10 (which is so bad!)—and that usually comes back to a team that cannot run the ball at all.
Here we are. This team tried to run the ball in the first half and ended up with 10 runs for 33 yards. But if you take out the CeeDee Lamb gadget run, then it’s nine runs for 20 yards. And your top RB had eight runs for 18 yards.
If you want to know the biggest Achilles Heel of this offense right now, it is that they cannot run the rock. Yes, Rico Dowdle is your best choice and no, he is probably not a starter in the NFL – which means Dallas does not have one. But, when I am asked why they didn’t “stick with the run” and had Cooper Rush throwing the ball on 61 drop backs, here is your answer. They were trying to win a game.
And right now, in 2024, after an offseason of emphasizing how they have two objectives – run the ball and stop the run – we see that they might be worse than ever before. Houston sat in 2-high all day and knew you couldn’t run on them. They weren’t wrong.
Here are Rico’s eight attempts before halftime:
- R.Dowdle left guard to DAL 21 for 3 yards
- R.Dowdle left tackle to DAL 33 for 1 yard
- R.Dowdle up the middle to HST 45 for -2 yards
- R.Dowdle up the middle to HST 41 for 4 yards
- R.Dowdle left guard to DAL 41 for 2 yards
- R.Dowdle right guard to DAL 47 for -2 yards
- R.Dowdle right tackle to DAL 29 for 9 yards
- R.Dowdle left guard to DAL 32 for 3 yards
Could this team use a better running back? Sure. But, I actually think Dowdle is pretty solid overall. There just isn’t anywhere to go.
So, definitely, asking Rush to throw the ball so much was probably a bad idea, but right now, I think they are all bad ideas and he was actually much better.
Again, this offense is broken and we won’t bang our heads against the wall all day on this. But, below, I would argue that this offensive performance was decently productive at moving the ball and moving the chains. Only once did they actually go 3-and-out which is a stark departure from a week ago.
I realize that is some feint praise, but it is where we are.
An interception in Houston territory, a missed field goal, and a failed fourth-down deep in the red zone all led us to a frustrating night and 10 points. But, you can definitely see a scenario where they might have had 23 or 24 points. And honestly, that might allow you to accidentally win a game if you aren’t careful.
Lastly for the offensive overview, Cooper Rush’s throw chart from Next Gen:
I was happy for the guy. He responded well. Now, he also had four turnover-worthy plays and that means he is not a starter, but we knew he was better than last week and he played a reasonable game on Monday and showed some toughness because he certainly woke up pretty sore on Tuesday. The sacks allowed montage is pretty painful:
As you can see, No. 55 Danielle Hunter was a massive issue. He is special. But, in this game, it looks like almost every offensive line position took a turn losing. Yes, Terence Steele struggled again, but Hunter just got done beating Penei Sewell the week before, so we know his quality. Just imagine if Will Anderson would have been active, too.
The offense, obviously, struggled. Too many mistakes and if you can’t score, then you better not allow Houston to get a defensive touchdown, too.
Let’s look at the defense now.
This was not as impressive for the defense. When they play a team with a diversified portfolio – which means they can beat you in many ways with many guys – then we have to hope you can get some pass pressure against a faulty offensive line.
But, right now, they only have one decent edge rusher healthy. As you can see, Micah Parsons personally had 10 of the Cowboys 19 QB Pressures.
Now, he did not get 3 sacks. And online during a season like this, people want to trade him because he is annoying and has a podcast that seems a bit tone deaf. But, make no mistake – there aren’t many on the planet like Micah Parsons right now.
Here are the season numbers. Yes, you want more sacks, but he is in the backfield constantly and his pressure rate is elite.
I just wish we were watching Marshawn Kneeland and Sam Williams this year if Micah and DeMarcus Lawrence were down with injuries. Alas, instead we are watching a group that can’t apply pressure and trying to talk ourselves into the idea of cutting loose the only guy we have who is close to special.
But the bottom line on Monday is that the team needed to generate multiple takeaways and multiple sacks. They did not. They also needed to deal with Joe Mixon—they tried but did not. There were some good things—Mixon had a very low success rate relative to what we feared after the first drive—but overall, it is more of the same.
C.J. Stroud did not play his best game, their offensive line is still mediocre, and they left plenty of meat on the bone. But, putting 14 points in the bank on the first quarter turned out to be pretty much all they needed as they put the Cowboys in a vice-grip and while Dallas can feel better about the performance, it still wasn’t close enough to make a playoff contender sweat.
You could argue that Houston could have named their score and if the object of the game was 45 points and 500 yards, they could have done it. I felt like they did what they needed to do and then put it on cruise control the rest of the way, so our evaluation is what it is as we follow a team to the bottom of the ocean. Sigh.
Splash Plays - Vs Houston
Malik Hooker had a nice night and I do think a conversation about the safety position is needed at some point during this project in the weeks and months to come. Every week, it seems the Cowboys are playing teams who have better safety play than Dallas.
OK, on to Washington for them.
Looking closer at players for 2025
Several of you asked for us to look at some more drafted players who need to be part of this team next year in a much bigger way. We chose three from your requests this week:
C - Cooper Beebe, 2024 3rd Round
For me, Cooper Beebe has been exactly what we expected: a strong, smart, and capable interior offensive lineman who is only going to get better with age. Washington signed Tyler Biadasz for about $10 million a year to leave Dallas and take over there. He has been good for them and has probably been the better player between the two—Biadasz and Beebe—in 2024. But this, obviously, is not the bar. The bar is 2025 and 2026, and the belief was that Beebe could be a league-average center in Year 1 (he has) and then make a leap in Years 2-4.
The tape above is promising but not perfect. That said, I have had zero issues with his development and look forward to his future. He is right on the path.
TE - Luke Schoonmaker, 2023 2nd Round
Schoonmaker played the best game of his career on Monday night with 10 targets, 6 catches for 56 yards, and 45 snaps—easily a career-high after Jake Ferguson went down. Hindsight is 20/20, but this is one of the more puzzling picks this regime has made because they seemed to not know how good Ferguson was when they spent a valuable 2nd-round pick on a second-choice tight end. You should definitely never do that unless you think he is your starter. Dallas apparently discovered Ferguson’s upside after they let Dalton Schultz go and picked Schoonmaker, which is not great.
They wanted to run a lot of 12 personnel when they drafted him and dominate on the ground, but so far, he has been a rather big disappointment. However, we saw flashes of usefulness on Monday as a receiver. I just don’t think he is anything special as a blocker, which was a big part of his profile out of Michigan. So, my analysis of this tape is that it is “better than it has been, but still, we need to see much more.”
DT - Mazi Smith, 2023 1st Round
Nearly every week we have done a cut-up of Mazi Smith, so we don’t need a complete reset on his dossier. But, I will say this particular video (thanks to Kevin Utz), I am pleased. This is better. He is developing. They also are making him play more and more and he is holding up. He isn’t perfect and he will never make you feel good about dropping a 1st rounder on him. But, games like this say he can be in your plans moving forward. Again, not great, but not awful. Growth – especially after that big TD run that started the night.
9 plays that defined this game - Xs and Os breakdown
OK, for the historical record, we better look at the plays that this game made famous so nobody wonders why we stopped tracking things. I would never!
Let’s do it.
1Q - 12:50 - 1-10-DAL 45 - J.Mixon right tackle for 45 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This is a text-book zone blocking play where the RB executes the backside cut beautifully. If you slow-mo the end-zone view at about 0:14, you will see it happen and it is wonderful to behold. Micah, Mazi, and everyone seems to have it defended on the play frontside. Where things break down for Dallas and make Mixon’s TD look comically easy is that 99-Golston gets cut by the TE Dalton Schultz. Once that happens, 24-Mukamu has to fill that spot or it is bad. And it was bad. Then, your last chance is the safeties and they did not cover themselves in glory here at all.
1Q - 10:41 - 4-9-DAL 33 - B.Anger pass short middle to J.Thomas to DAL 37 for 4 yards
At a certain point, we have to simply say this is bad coaching. I understand being aggressive but these fake punts – which were part of what makes Bones Fassel a top special teams coach – are killing game situations too much. In Atlanta and now here again, they see something and go for it. But, what they saw both times was not actually what happened. Here, they expect Juanyeh Thomas to be running free down the field and if he is, great. But, the Texans have him covered and you look silly again. For me, if I am the head coach, I would have probably grounded these missions after Atlanta. Alas, here we are again with a ridiculous failed punt.
1Q - 8:32 - 4-3-DAL 30 - C.Stroud pass deep right intended for N.Collins INTERCEPTED by M.Hooker at DAL 12
The Cowboys needed multiple takeaways and they got one here. But, this one is on 4th down and also a Tampa 2 coverage where we think it is 100% on CJ Stroud throwing a bad ball. John Metchie is being carried vertically by 50-Kendricks and now 12-Nico Collins is running a post behind it. MFO (split safeties) in a Cover 2 and that means if Collins is hit with this pass, he will split the safeties and probably score – especially when Hooker steps outside. The throw misses and goes right to Hooker, but they will see this and say if he puts it on Collins, this is a touchdown. Poor throw and big break.
1Q - 5:58 - 3-8-HST 41 - C.Rush pass short left intended for C.Lamb INTERCEPTED by D.Stingley at HST 30.
Unfortunately, Dallas gives the ball right back on this 3rd and 8. Cover 3 defense with a 6-man blitz that gets picked up well. Rush has a wide open Jalen Tolbert streaking across the field who I think might score if you hit him. Instead, he forces it to Lamb who is running right into 20-Ward on his way to 24-Stingley. Stingley is an amazing corner ball hawk who will catch any mistakes close and Rush is burned here with a predetermined read. Tolbert is the easier throw and if you hit him in stride, he is going to run a long ways, but the 6th man pressure causes Rush to guess.
1Q - 0:54 - 2-1-DAL 1 - J.Mixon right end for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
I don’t have much on this one except seeing everyone over-playing the inside run so hard that Mixon only has to step outside and he is high-stepping. They didn’t respect the Cowboys run defense which is consistent with a season of not defending well enough vs basic run concepts. Must get this fixed, eventually.
2Q - 15:00 - 3-10-DAL 36 - C.Rush pass short right to K.Turpin for 64 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This moment makes you wonder why this hasn’t really happened more. 3rd and long and Houston is in Cover 1, but with help headed to CeeDee Lamb and then a single-high safety. If you have a guy who runs a sub 4.3, your first idea would be to see how you can isolate him against a defender and then try to create a foot-race where he makes one move with his release and is gone. I don’t want to ruin a great moment – and the first touchdown at home since Week 3 – with a complaint of “where has this been?”, but I can’t lie. That was my first thought. If you see man coverage, try using the guy who can run faster than anyone in the NFL more often. LOL
3Q - 2:18 - 4-2-HST 8 - C.Rush pass incomplete short right to J.Mingo.
So, we were asked to take a look at this one and there are a few things going on. First, the targeted receiver is the polarizing Jonathan Mingo. This was his chance at a decent first impression since the majority of fans seem to be mad at me for thinking he might be a decent piece next year. Also, it is 4th and goal and you just took a field goal off the board that would have cut it to 20-13. For that reason, people only want a team to “go for it” if they promise the play will work. It does not. On this play, Rush is going to roll right and the concept is based on Rush seeing something he likes with Tolbert and Lamb using traffic to the pylon. But, that breaks down with 55-Hunter disrupts again and gets in Rush’s face as he overpowers Schoonmaker. Now, before we get mad at the TE, the fact is that few TE’s have a chance against Hunter. Steele wants to help, but the spacing is not great and Schoonmaker holds. Despite all of this, the backside to Mingo is open and Rush navigates back to him and then sails the throw. It was a touchdown, but also the penalty would negate it. So, the incomplete pass is a turnover on downs because if Rush hits Mingo, at least you can still kick the field goal. But, yeah, 2024 strikes again.
Onto the fourth quarter now…
4Q - 14:26 - 1-10-DAL 7 - C.Rush pass deep left to C.Lamb to DAL 36 for 29 yards (K.Hollman).
I just wanted to put this in there because Cooper Rush played hard and made a few very good throws. This is recognizing that Lamb is 1-on-1 with a mismatch and knows what to do. Lamb wins because Dallas throws it on 1st down when Houston is sure they will run it. Nice job all around.
4Q - 12:44 - 2-6-DAL 40 - C.Rush sacked at DAL 32 for -8 yards (D.Barnett). FUMBLES (D.Barnett), recovered by DAL-T.Guyton at DAL 33. T.Guyton to DAL 32 for -1 yards (J.Pitre; D.Horton). FUMBLES (J.Pitre), RECOVERED by HST-D.Barnett at DAL 28. D.Barnett for 28 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
And finally, the football follies play of the day was three snaps later after the Lamb catch. 2nd and 6. Tyler Guyton has had his ups and downs in his rookie season and this one will stick with him. Former Eagles edge Derek Barnett gets outside him and gets to Rush’s back arm in delivery and gets the ball out. It goes right to Guyton who decides to run with it. This is a no-no, but everything is happening fast. They are coached to “fall on it” and not make a bad play worse. Well, guess what. He makes it worse as the ball is fumbled again as he is lit up by Jalen Pitre and it goes back to Barnett for a defensive touchdown. It is the first sack Guyton has allowed since Week 4 and we are not down on him, but the NFL is a tough place to learn to play left tackle as a rookie. He was the alternative to keeping our favorite, Tyron Smith. And to be fair, they have had similar years in terms of giving up pressure on PFF. Tyron’s grades are all better and Guyton has a long ways to go, but I think Guyton has a bright future still:
Anyway, there are 3,300 words for you to digest (for those still with me) and now we move on to Washington.
