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DQ Report, Week 15 - Bills run Boys out of Buffalo
The defensive autopsy was just as ugly as imagined. Many mistakes were made.
BOB STURM
DEC 20, 2023
Megatron.
The Calvin Johnson.
That’s the entire list of Cowboys opponents in the last two decades who had more yards from scrimmage than Buffalo RB James Cook had on Sunday against Dallas.
Megatron had a ridiculous 329 yards of receiving on October 27, 2013, when Detroit beat Dallas, 31-30.
It was another horrid showing from a horrid defense in a year that we all know as “The Monte Kiffin debacle” of 2013. Some day, we will revisit just how bad of a year that ended up being, but trust me, it was bad.
Anyway, on that day, Johnson had 329 yards from scrimmage and for some reason fell 7 yards short of the 336-yard record that Flipper Anderson set back in 1989. Seems to me that if you get that close, they should throw you one more slant so that you can finish the job, but, I guess Jeff Heath had enough at 329 (that was mean, Jeff Heath is a good dude who played hard for the Cowboys).
Regardless, here is James Cook. Cook has been Dalvin Cook’s little brother for a while and admittedly, he is starting to breakout even more now that Buffalo has changed offensive coordinators to Joe Brady.
But, Cook’s career rushing high before Sunday was 123 yards against Las Vegas in September. He had 179 on Sunday. His career-high for scrimmage yards was 159 that same day. On Sunday, he ended the proceedings with a crazy 221. And yes, he now just trails Megatron for the honors of the last two decades against Dallas.
Want a crazier factoid? He had 92 yards after contact Sunday. Broken tackles galore! That also is second-best in the last two decades of Cowboys defensive football. Who does he trail? Dalvin Cook, his older brother, had 99 yards against Dallas in 2019.
The thing is, the 2013 and the 2019 defense were not very good. The 2013 defense was historically awful — brutally bad, in fact.
But, we thought the 2023 Cowboys defense was excellent. At least, we did think that. Now, we are left to really wonder.
Because I don’t quite have the appetite for a super long breakdown of how bad this was with an early flight waiting for me, here is the reel I put together of all 11 plays in this game where James Cook either got a first down or scored a touchdown. It isn’t going to be pretty.
I think you will notice how bullied the linebackers seemed. They are small. We have talked about this. Sometimes they can make up for it with speed and attitude, but this game they just looked outclassed.
I admit that this wasn’t the Cowboys’ plan. You can imagine a world where they have Leighton Vander Esch and DeMarvion Overshown as their main linebackers and that would add about 20 pounds to each linebacker to improve stoutness. But, they have both been lost for the year, so it is Damone Clark and Markquese Bell. It ended up being a clinical destruction of a proud defense.
Here is his Next Gen chart.
Red lines are failed runs, yellow denote shorter runs and green are the longer and successful ones. You may notice you see no red at all and a tiny bit of yellow. It is green all over the field. Especially off the left tackle.
I mean, holy heck. What is this? Look at his directional success! Everyone wants to jump on Mazi Smith, but the outside runs were 14 carries for 113 yards. That is over 8 yards per carry, people. That isn’t because your rookie 1-tech stinks. That is because everyone stinks, especially out on the edges.
It was an embarrassment. They were bludgeoned by an opponent that has a MVP-level QB who beat you with seven completions. Seven.
If there is one thing Dallas can do well and better than anyone, it’s rush the passer. Buffalo’s entire day required them almost no worries at all in pass protection. They bossed the game by destroying the Cowboys physically. I elaborated on the morning after why that is, but I would encourage you to note this one item:
Bullied and bossed. The Cowboys were simply mauled and Buffalo never took their foot off the gas. You sort of have to respect Joe Brady’s willingness to throw one pitch because they couldn’t hit it.
This Cowboys team has been well-conceived. I mean that.
Too many times, we see a roster that does not fit together very well. The Cowboys put a lot of thought into their roster and it would be built on two simple components that will fit together in a way that will consistently win two of every three games it plays. If you do that, you will be in the mix for a Super Bowl every year and over a four or five-year sample, odds are things will fall into place at some point.
The components are simple:
Yes, it has worked. Yes, they are going to the playoffs with about 12 wins for the third straight season. During those three years, they have scored the most offensive points in the NFL and have created the most turnovers. They have not lost consecutive games in over two years and they have not lost a single home game since September of 2022.
By almost every measure, the Mike McCarthy/Dan Quinn experience has been a success.
However, it has limits. For instance, if one side of the ball doesn’t do its part, it sure appears both sides fall apart. The offense requires the defense to pull the rope. The defense seems pretty useless when the offense is in neutral. It doesn’t happen often, as the 34-14 record will indicate, but obviously, it has yet to win a Super Bowl or even to come close to attending one.
Here is a way to see what I am talking about. The defense is small and full of edge rushers and defensive backs who make plays. If the offense is doing its part, the game is either tied or the Cowboys are ahead. Over the course of this season Dallas led for 56% of every second of every game and been tied for 17%. That is 73% of the time where Dallas is in a great position for its defense to be in optimal positions.
The issue, as you can see, is that other 27%. In games where you trail – and the bigger the deficit, the bigger the problems – Dallas can no longer cause chaos with a pass rush because the opponent doesn’t have to deal with it. Then, they can turn the tables and simply run the ball right at you with a significant size advantage and just go right to the ground and pound.
Research clearly shows that most all sacks and turnovers in the NFL happen with the lead. The Cowboys have only trailed for 229 minutes this entire season, but 53 were in Buffalo, 56 were in San Francisco, and 58 were in Arizona. Folks, that is as clear and plain as it gets.
If you want to know what this defense cannot do and how you stop it, it gets simple fast. Dallas cannot play from behind and it isn’t because the offense cannot score. It is because the defense cannot get off the field without an extra point being kicked.
It is the exhaust port in the Death Star. Sometimes an invincible battle station has a design flaw that can be exposed.
Buffalo knew where it was and how to attack it.
The drive chart below shows how demoralizing it truly was, given that the Bills passing game did not exist. Gabe Davis and Dalton Kincaid had zero catches combined. Stefon Diggs had four, but less than 50 yards.
This was one of the strangest offensive dominations you have ever seen. Future generations will be sure that this game was only possible with a foot of snow on the ground. But, no. Conditions were mild.
Five different drives of 65-plus yards and almost all of them were exclusively from running the ball again and again.
The above data box tells the story. No takeaways, one sack, no splash plays, and no chance. This one is going to leave a significant mark because every future opponent is going to feel like they can apply this recipe.
Dallas’ only chance to defeat this blueprint might be to make sure the offense scores and therefore protects its defense. Fast starts and even winning the coin flip and taking the ball may be the only defense for this defense.
NEXT GEN JOSH ALLEN THROW CHART
I honestly just put this up because I thought it would be interesting. There is no throw chart. He watched the game like the rest of us for the most part.
SPLASH PLAYS
I am not sure I have ever seen a game with this little splash plays, but again, it was one of those days.
Part of me says I should walk you through the bust of each of the huge run plays, but part of me says you already get the idea. I put that reel up there and I will also show you this Brian Baldinger tape to summarize how bad the scene got.
Yeah, it was rough.
FILM STUDY
I don’t want to do too much here today to kick a dead horse, but there is one thing that has not been closely covered in this space. I have now written about 7,500 words on this Buffalo game with three different large pieces since it happened, and have hardly mentioned the three personal fouls at all.
This is something you should expect from me, because I am not one who blames officials much at all and find it a pointless exercise that others seem to never get tired of. This call was missed and this call was missed, so obviously the team didn’t actually lose, but was cheated. I don’t there is much value in this go-to move for many and I leave it to them.
However, given that this particular barrage of personal fouls did seem to extend three drives and ended up as very big factors, let’s at least put them here for historical purposes along with the missed challenge opportunity. In a game where there were only six penalties called all day (five against Dallas and one – the late hit on a Dak Prescott run against Buffalo), these flags were very big deals.
1Q - 9:00 - 3rd and 4 - DAL 6 - Josh Allen incomplete short right to Diggs. Penalty on D. Lawrence - Roughing the passer, half the distance and first down. - No Play.
Holding Buffalo to a field goal here to start the game would certainly change quite a bit. Allen rolls out and Lawrence comes from the opposite side and really shows you his athleticism to close down on Allen, who just is trying to get the ball out and throw it away rather than take a sack when he sees Tank screaming at him. This is a fine job by Lawrence and Stephon Gilmore to make a big stand. But, a flag is called and the angle below shows us that Josh Allen did an excellent job conning the ref.
Was the hit too late? I don’t believe so. Allen seems to know this and instead campaigns for a hit in the face-mask, which replays show was not the case at all. He pointed to his face and Lawrence did not hit that at all. As a hockey man, I have seen the flops on a regular basis, but don’t see QB’s do this very much.
But, perhaps that shows that I am not watching Josh Allen very closely. Apparently, others are as the internet was passing this around after that flag. Again, I normally hate to take part in this, but I legitimately am just finding out that Josh Allen has a bit of a diving reputation to extend drives.
Whether it is Claude Lemieux or LeBron James, we know diving works for some guys even if it violates some level of the code, but I guess it is a form of protection in a violent sport, so maybe there are plenty of incentives to do it.
Either way, when someone cons the refs and he is on your team, it is charming. On the other team, it is distasteful.
But, it is also, 7-0, Buffalo. So, mission accomplished, I guess. I would also like to point out that in my NFL where you can review any ruling you wish with your three timeouts per half, this would have been overturned.
1Q - 0:31 - 3rd and 8 - BUF 26 - Allen incomplete short right, thrown away, under pressure from Sam Williams.
The score is still sitting at 7-0 Buffalo here late in the 1st Quarter and Dallas needs a stop. This is still very much a game that feels like a wonderful showdown and the Dallas defense does not look overwhelmed at this point. In fact, they forced one 3-and-out already and are on the verge of another quick stop in Buffalo territory. This third-down stop where Sam Williams closes down Josh Allen like a cheetah gets that stop and Sam deserved a sack. Allen was given the benefit of the doubt and threw the ball quickly away. But, Williams with a great snap. Which led to the next play, a Buffalo punt.
1Q - 0:25 - 4th and 8 - BUF 26 - Martin punts to Dal 28 - PEN Sam Williams - roughing the kicker, 15 yards - No Play.
As we know by now, Williams was the only rusher and Mike McCarthy wanted a punt return on here. We found out after the fact that Bones Fassel went a little rogue here with the one-man pass rush if Williams thought he could fool the long snapper. Watch him shift gaps when the snapper drops his head. By the time, he raises his head back to see Williams, 54 is past him. Folks, this is an easy blocked punt where somehow Williams both misses the ball (which he cannot) and hits the punter (which he only can if he gets the ball). But, everything else says the game should probably be 7-7 right here. We can obviously be disappointed in the outcome, but this single moment was as game-altering as anything I saw on Sunday.
It is an interesting subplot that will be lost to history, but what a moment. Bills are awarded an automatic first down and would soon score on a pass to James Cook (who else?) and it is now 14-0. Dallas would score to make it 14-3, and this is where we would say the game went fully into the disaster mode.
2Q - 5:41 - 2nd and 6 - BUF 40 - J.Allen pass short left to S.Diggs to BUF 47 for 7 yards (S.Gilmore; M.Bell) [S.Williams].
This short pass to the flat and Diggs looks pretty harmless. It is near the Buffalo sideline and in real-time, it looked like he was clearly down and had a first down. Even the general reaction from the Dallas defenders suggested nothing to egregious. Let’s check the end zone angle:
Honestly, from here, it also looks like he is clearly down. It does not look like a fumble to me, so I am trying to be reasonable about how much we should hammer the Cowboys coaches and Mike McCarthy for no challenge. But, this Fox replay – which he and his coaching booth apparently did not have access to before the next snap tells a much different story:
It was a clear fumble. I wish the defenders would have lost their minds to the sideline to convince Mike what Markquese Bell knew. But, Bell is just trying to get into position for the next snap as Josh Allen is hurrying to get a play off. The booth is not getting a replay in time and McCarthy has no information and his sideline has no real view or insight either.
Yet, he has to challenge this. His team is on the ropes. The day is getting away. But, at 14-3, if you get the ball on a takeaway on their end of the field, maybe the game turns right here. He did not challenge it and this one is a real miss from the head coach.
The next play is a Mazi Smith sack which moves it to 2nd and 19.
2Q - 4:23 - 2nd and 19 - BUF 38 - Allen incomplete deep left to K Shakir - PEN on Kearse, unnecessary roughness, 15 yards.
This is another spot where you are pretty sure on 2nd and 19 that you have a stop available. To instantly grant them an automatic first down here is really rough. A couple things here: Jayron Kearse as your deep middle safety is a choice you make when Malik Hooker is a late scratch. I still wouldn’t put him back there, but there aren’t many deep middle options if Hooker is missing. Next, Khalil Shakir is a smallish slot from Boise State and for me, this is not a good call. This is not leading with the helmet and this is defending a deep pass. If we are not allowing players to defend passes like this, we are not really playing football. I don’t think Kearse did much wrong here at all. Yes, the replay does show the helmets hit eachother, but it felt very incidental and in my mind that flag was “15 yards for playing football” and I hate that. Of course, a few plays later, it is 21-3.
I suppose the conclusion here is that the Cowboys made four mistakes.
And with that, we are on to Miami.
The defensive autopsy was just as ugly as imagined. Many mistakes were made.
BOB STURM
DEC 20, 2023
Megatron.
The Calvin Johnson.
That’s the entire list of Cowboys opponents in the last two decades who had more yards from scrimmage than Buffalo RB James Cook had on Sunday against Dallas.
Megatron had a ridiculous 329 yards of receiving on October 27, 2013, when Detroit beat Dallas, 31-30.
It was another horrid showing from a horrid defense in a year that we all know as “The Monte Kiffin debacle” of 2013. Some day, we will revisit just how bad of a year that ended up being, but trust me, it was bad.
Anyway, on that day, Johnson had 329 yards from scrimmage and for some reason fell 7 yards short of the 336-yard record that Flipper Anderson set back in 1989. Seems to me that if you get that close, they should throw you one more slant so that you can finish the job, but, I guess Jeff Heath had enough at 329 (that was mean, Jeff Heath is a good dude who played hard for the Cowboys).
Regardless, here is James Cook. Cook has been Dalvin Cook’s little brother for a while and admittedly, he is starting to breakout even more now that Buffalo has changed offensive coordinators to Joe Brady.
But, Cook’s career rushing high before Sunday was 123 yards against Las Vegas in September. He had 179 on Sunday. His career-high for scrimmage yards was 159 that same day. On Sunday, he ended the proceedings with a crazy 221. And yes, he now just trails Megatron for the honors of the last two decades against Dallas.
Want a crazier factoid? He had 92 yards after contact Sunday. Broken tackles galore! That also is second-best in the last two decades of Cowboys defensive football. Who does he trail? Dalvin Cook, his older brother, had 99 yards against Dallas in 2019.
The thing is, the 2013 and the 2019 defense were not very good. The 2013 defense was historically awful — brutally bad, in fact.
But, we thought the 2023 Cowboys defense was excellent. At least, we did think that. Now, we are left to really wonder.
Because I don’t quite have the appetite for a super long breakdown of how bad this was with an early flight waiting for me, here is the reel I put together of all 11 plays in this game where James Cook either got a first down or scored a touchdown. It isn’t going to be pretty.
I think you will notice how bullied the linebackers seemed. They are small. We have talked about this. Sometimes they can make up for it with speed and attitude, but this game they just looked outclassed.
I admit that this wasn’t the Cowboys’ plan. You can imagine a world where they have Leighton Vander Esch and DeMarvion Overshown as their main linebackers and that would add about 20 pounds to each linebacker to improve stoutness. But, they have both been lost for the year, so it is Damone Clark and Markquese Bell. It ended up being a clinical destruction of a proud defense.
Here is his Next Gen chart.
Red lines are failed runs, yellow denote shorter runs and green are the longer and successful ones. You may notice you see no red at all and a tiny bit of yellow. It is green all over the field. Especially off the left tackle.
I mean, holy heck. What is this? Look at his directional success! Everyone wants to jump on Mazi Smith, but the outside runs were 14 carries for 113 yards. That is over 8 yards per carry, people. That isn’t because your rookie 1-tech stinks. That is because everyone stinks, especially out on the edges.
It was an embarrassment. They were bludgeoned by an opponent that has a MVP-level QB who beat you with seven completions. Seven.
If there is one thing Dallas can do well and better than anyone, it’s rush the passer. Buffalo’s entire day required them almost no worries at all in pass protection. They bossed the game by destroying the Cowboys physically. I elaborated on the morning after why that is, but I would encourage you to note this one item:
If you know why boxing and MMA have strict weight classes, you definitely are familiar with why that is. Going up or down in weight by 10 pounds is a major issue. How about 35? How about 35 multiplied by 11 men on each side?
Bullied and bossed. The Cowboys were simply mauled and Buffalo never took their foot off the gas. You sort of have to respect Joe Brady’s willingness to throw one pitch because they couldn’t hit it.
This Cowboys team has been well-conceived. I mean that.
Too many times, we see a roster that does not fit together very well. The Cowboys put a lot of thought into their roster and it would be built on two simple components that will fit together in a way that will consistently win two of every three games it plays. If you do that, you will be in the mix for a Super Bowl every year and over a four or five-year sample, odds are things will fall into place at some point.
The components are simple:
- An explosive offense with big play capabilities that will allow for an attack that will never lack for points and production. This production will then allow the defense to do their part.
- A defense where there is a premium on rushing the passer and attempting to cause turnovers. With an explosive offense, the ability to steal a possession is everything. Then, with a lead, a team can simply go find sacks and get the ball.
Yes, it has worked. Yes, they are going to the playoffs with about 12 wins for the third straight season. During those three years, they have scored the most offensive points in the NFL and have created the most turnovers. They have not lost consecutive games in over two years and they have not lost a single home game since September of 2022.
By almost every measure, the Mike McCarthy/Dan Quinn experience has been a success.
However, it has limits. For instance, if one side of the ball doesn’t do its part, it sure appears both sides fall apart. The offense requires the defense to pull the rope. The defense seems pretty useless when the offense is in neutral. It doesn’t happen often, as the 34-14 record will indicate, but obviously, it has yet to win a Super Bowl or even to come close to attending one.
Here is a way to see what I am talking about. The defense is small and full of edge rushers and defensive backs who make plays. If the offense is doing its part, the game is either tied or the Cowboys are ahead. Over the course of this season Dallas led for 56% of every second of every game and been tied for 17%. That is 73% of the time where Dallas is in a great position for its defense to be in optimal positions.
The issue, as you can see, is that other 27%. In games where you trail – and the bigger the deficit, the bigger the problems – Dallas can no longer cause chaos with a pass rush because the opponent doesn’t have to deal with it. Then, they can turn the tables and simply run the ball right at you with a significant size advantage and just go right to the ground and pound.
Research clearly shows that most all sacks and turnovers in the NFL happen with the lead. The Cowboys have only trailed for 229 minutes this entire season, but 53 were in Buffalo, 56 were in San Francisco, and 58 were in Arizona. Folks, that is as clear and plain as it gets.
If you want to know what this defense cannot do and how you stop it, it gets simple fast. Dallas cannot play from behind and it isn’t because the offense cannot score. It is because the defense cannot get off the field without an extra point being kicked.
It is the exhaust port in the Death Star. Sometimes an invincible battle station has a design flaw that can be exposed.
Buffalo knew where it was and how to attack it.
The drive chart below shows how demoralizing it truly was, given that the Bills passing game did not exist. Gabe Davis and Dalton Kincaid had zero catches combined. Stefon Diggs had four, but less than 50 yards.
This was one of the strangest offensive dominations you have ever seen. Future generations will be sure that this game was only possible with a foot of snow on the ground. But, no. Conditions were mild.
Five different drives of 65-plus yards and almost all of them were exclusively from running the ball again and again.
The above data box tells the story. No takeaways, one sack, no splash plays, and no chance. This one is going to leave a significant mark because every future opponent is going to feel like they can apply this recipe.
Dallas’ only chance to defeat this blueprint might be to make sure the offense scores and therefore protects its defense. Fast starts and even winning the coin flip and taking the ball may be the only defense for this defense.
NEXT GEN JOSH ALLEN THROW CHART
I honestly just put this up because I thought it would be interesting. There is no throw chart. He watched the game like the rest of us for the most part.
SPLASH PLAYS
I am not sure I have ever seen a game with this little splash plays, but again, it was one of those days.
Part of me says I should walk you through the bust of each of the huge run plays, but part of me says you already get the idea. I put that reel up there and I will also show you this Brian Baldinger tape to summarize how bad the scene got.
Yeah, it was rough.
FILM STUDY
I don’t want to do too much here today to kick a dead horse, but there is one thing that has not been closely covered in this space. I have now written about 7,500 words on this Buffalo game with three different large pieces since it happened, and have hardly mentioned the three personal fouls at all.
This is something you should expect from me, because I am not one who blames officials much at all and find it a pointless exercise that others seem to never get tired of. This call was missed and this call was missed, so obviously the team didn’t actually lose, but was cheated. I don’t there is much value in this go-to move for many and I leave it to them.
However, given that this particular barrage of personal fouls did seem to extend three drives and ended up as very big factors, let’s at least put them here for historical purposes along with the missed challenge opportunity. In a game where there were only six penalties called all day (five against Dallas and one – the late hit on a Dak Prescott run against Buffalo), these flags were very big deals.
1Q - 9:00 - 3rd and 4 - DAL 6 - Josh Allen incomplete short right to Diggs. Penalty on D. Lawrence - Roughing the passer, half the distance and first down. - No Play.
Holding Buffalo to a field goal here to start the game would certainly change quite a bit. Allen rolls out and Lawrence comes from the opposite side and really shows you his athleticism to close down on Allen, who just is trying to get the ball out and throw it away rather than take a sack when he sees Tank screaming at him. This is a fine job by Lawrence and Stephon Gilmore to make a big stand. But, a flag is called and the angle below shows us that Josh Allen did an excellent job conning the ref.
Was the hit too late? I don’t believe so. Allen seems to know this and instead campaigns for a hit in the face-mask, which replays show was not the case at all. He pointed to his face and Lawrence did not hit that at all. As a hockey man, I have seen the flops on a regular basis, but don’t see QB’s do this very much.
But, perhaps that shows that I am not watching Josh Allen very closely. Apparently, others are as the internet was passing this around after that flag. Again, I normally hate to take part in this, but I legitimately am just finding out that Josh Allen has a bit of a diving reputation to extend drives.
Whether it is Claude Lemieux or LeBron James, we know diving works for some guys even if it violates some level of the code, but I guess it is a form of protection in a violent sport, so maybe there are plenty of incentives to do it.
Either way, when someone cons the refs and he is on your team, it is charming. On the other team, it is distasteful.
But, it is also, 7-0, Buffalo. So, mission accomplished, I guess. I would also like to point out that in my NFL where you can review any ruling you wish with your three timeouts per half, this would have been overturned.
1Q - 0:31 - 3rd and 8 - BUF 26 - Allen incomplete short right, thrown away, under pressure from Sam Williams.
The score is still sitting at 7-0 Buffalo here late in the 1st Quarter and Dallas needs a stop. This is still very much a game that feels like a wonderful showdown and the Dallas defense does not look overwhelmed at this point. In fact, they forced one 3-and-out already and are on the verge of another quick stop in Buffalo territory. This third-down stop where Sam Williams closes down Josh Allen like a cheetah gets that stop and Sam deserved a sack. Allen was given the benefit of the doubt and threw the ball quickly away. But, Williams with a great snap. Which led to the next play, a Buffalo punt.
1Q - 0:25 - 4th and 8 - BUF 26 - Martin punts to Dal 28 - PEN Sam Williams - roughing the kicker, 15 yards - No Play.
As we know by now, Williams was the only rusher and Mike McCarthy wanted a punt return on here. We found out after the fact that Bones Fassel went a little rogue here with the one-man pass rush if Williams thought he could fool the long snapper. Watch him shift gaps when the snapper drops his head. By the time, he raises his head back to see Williams, 54 is past him. Folks, this is an easy blocked punt where somehow Williams both misses the ball (which he cannot) and hits the punter (which he only can if he gets the ball). But, everything else says the game should probably be 7-7 right here. We can obviously be disappointed in the outcome, but this single moment was as game-altering as anything I saw on Sunday.
It is an interesting subplot that will be lost to history, but what a moment. Bills are awarded an automatic first down and would soon score on a pass to James Cook (who else?) and it is now 14-0. Dallas would score to make it 14-3, and this is where we would say the game went fully into the disaster mode.
2Q - 5:41 - 2nd and 6 - BUF 40 - J.Allen pass short left to S.Diggs to BUF 47 for 7 yards (S.Gilmore; M.Bell) [S.Williams].
This short pass to the flat and Diggs looks pretty harmless. It is near the Buffalo sideline and in real-time, it looked like he was clearly down and had a first down. Even the general reaction from the Dallas defenders suggested nothing to egregious. Let’s check the end zone angle:
Honestly, from here, it also looks like he is clearly down. It does not look like a fumble to me, so I am trying to be reasonable about how much we should hammer the Cowboys coaches and Mike McCarthy for no challenge. But, this Fox replay – which he and his coaching booth apparently did not have access to before the next snap tells a much different story:
It was a clear fumble. I wish the defenders would have lost their minds to the sideline to convince Mike what Markquese Bell knew. But, Bell is just trying to get into position for the next snap as Josh Allen is hurrying to get a play off. The booth is not getting a replay in time and McCarthy has no information and his sideline has no real view or insight either.
Yet, he has to challenge this. His team is on the ropes. The day is getting away. But, at 14-3, if you get the ball on a takeaway on their end of the field, maybe the game turns right here. He did not challenge it and this one is a real miss from the head coach.
The next play is a Mazi Smith sack which moves it to 2nd and 19.
2Q - 4:23 - 2nd and 19 - BUF 38 - Allen incomplete deep left to K Shakir - PEN on Kearse, unnecessary roughness, 15 yards.
This is another spot where you are pretty sure on 2nd and 19 that you have a stop available. To instantly grant them an automatic first down here is really rough. A couple things here: Jayron Kearse as your deep middle safety is a choice you make when Malik Hooker is a late scratch. I still wouldn’t put him back there, but there aren’t many deep middle options if Hooker is missing. Next, Khalil Shakir is a smallish slot from Boise State and for me, this is not a good call. This is not leading with the helmet and this is defending a deep pass. If we are not allowing players to defend passes like this, we are not really playing football. I don’t think Kearse did much wrong here at all. Yes, the replay does show the helmets hit eachother, but it felt very incidental and in my mind that flag was “15 yards for playing football” and I hate that. Of course, a few plays later, it is 21-3.
I suppose the conclusion here is that the Cowboys made four mistakes.
- Lawrence made contact with Allen close enough to elicit a flop.
- Williams missed the ball and hit the punter.
- McCarthy did not realize the gravity of the moment of the fumble.
- Kearse allowed the helmets to touch on 2nd and 19 on a ball Shakir could not catch anyway.
And with that, we are on to Miami.
