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By Bob Sturm
1h ago
Future generations will look at this final score and assume that this game was not worth reviewing. Surely a game with a 35-point victory margin was never a contest and would not be worth digging into deeper.
They would be wrong with that conclusion.
This one is a deceiver. There is no way that the margin should have been five touchdowns after what we saw Sunday night. Sometimes, the roof collapses on a team and there is no escape.
But, with 3:43 to go in the third quarter, the stadium was uneasy and so were the Cowboys. The Colts had just thrown a touchdown to Alec Pierce in the left corner of the end zone and would try a two-point conversion to tie the game at 21.
The conversion — a throw to Parris Campbell that was broken up by rookie DaRon Bland at the goal line — fell just short, but we would go to the fourth quarter with the Cowboys holding a slim two-point lead.
Then the 33-point fourth quarter happened.
That fourth quarter will take its own time to fully grasp. The Colts got the ball five times in that quarter — all on kickoffs. They committed four turnovers and the fifth possession was a merciful end to the game as time expired. The Cowboys scored directly on Malik Hooker’s fumble return, but took the ball four times and scored four touchdowns.
The 33 points are a team record and nearly an NFL record (34 has been done twice before) and if it wasn’t for some botched conversion attempts, Dallas would have scored 35. It is nothing to get too worked up about, aside from some ink spilled in the record books. They won the game, 54-19, and became the first NFL team to score 50 in a game in 2022. They also are the only team to score 49 points this year. So yes, the Cowboys have the two highest-scoring games this season.
That explosion was incredible and a further telling claim of the power of this fully operational NFC power. They may or may not be the best team in this side of the league, but they can make teams look pretty overmatched at a very high level. The Colts are not a great example of a contender by any stretch, but given that they have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs this year and put the Philadelphia Eagles on the ropes just a few weeks ago, we know that on their night they are still pretty formidable.
They turned out to be a strong foe Sunday night in Arlington. The Colts ran the ball fairly well and did what we expected on defense, with decent control of the line of scrimmage, and they made Dak Prescott uncomfortable in the pocket. This, in turn, made the passing game uncomfortable down the field. Dallas had to work through some things early and ultimately figured it out, but the initial plans were not made easy.
This is probably the best way to play against the Cowboys: Try pushing them into an anxious phase where they are going to want to force the issue. When that happened, between the second and third quarters when the Cowboys were stuck in a tighter one-score game, there are opportunities for the opponent to take advantage of Dallas’ impatience. The Cowboys simply do not like punting right now and that is an underlying concern in many of these games. I sound like a broken record, but it is clear to see if you look. The Cowboys offense — and Prescott, in particular — is definitely forcing the ball.
Is it a bad thing? Not necessarily.
We can make the case that his orders are coming from above — that the coaching staff sees the scoring probabilities of these games and is simply suggesting to play aggressively on offense, no matter what. And if they keep pushing the ball down the field — even when coverages are being stingy and trying to force you to avoid them — the belief is that it is a great way to win games. Force up-tempo football and turn it into a basketball mentality. The more you score, the more the opponent has to try to play “your game” and keep up and since they don’t believe in it, they will make more mistakes trying to match that pace with you than you will make (because this is your core belief and you do it every week).
Dak Prescott throws down field for Dalton Schultz. (Kevin Jairaj / USA Today)
At the end of the game, did Prescott risk the ball a few too many times? Sure. He is definitely missing on some throws down the field and they are missing into harm’s way. But, did the opponent do it even more? Easily. Did Dallas set a league scoring record while not even playing that great again? Yes. It almost suggests that this is all by design and the design makes a fair amount of intuitive sense. No, you don’t want Prescott missing a throw that either got picked off or should have been intercepted. We know there are times when this is what can and will get you eliminated from a playoff game. And then, the “I told you so’s” will be deafening. But, I think it is important for us to see that most of these throws are happening in the first half of games and it all seems like a game-plan directive to try to score points on every drive.
This attack-at-all-costs mindset is putting teams in an uncomfortable space that they cannot match up with over 60 minutes and it is one that very few teams from around the league are engaging in. With these weapons and the prospect of signing yet another weapon today, you can see that the best approach is to push the tempo. Just like the best way to deal with a wounded secondary as the defense currently faces is also to score more points on offense. You are baking in a cushion to survive in many of these scenarios.
Now, the news Sunday night was not good on Anthony Brown. Brown blew his Achilles tendon midway through that third quarter with the game still very tight on a Jonathan Taylor screen play that went up his side of the field. As he jousted with Pierce, something snapped in his heel and you saw instantly that he knew he was done. By all accounts, his season is over and the Cowboys face the prospect of losing a second starting corner for the year.
First, it was Jourdan Lewis, who was lost in Week 7. Luckily, the Cowboys had just drafted a better version of Lewis in the young Bland. Bland has continued to prove that he is a savvy ball-hound slot corner and I have no issues with his work since Oct. 23. Yes, he will lose on occasion and take some lumps, but he has quietly blended in and looks the part of a guy who from here on out will replace Lewis. Seldom do you push a rookie onto the field with no real drop-off, but I believe we have seen that here. Bland, for his part, was exceptional Sunday and got his hands on the ball on two occasions. There seem to be no concerns about that draft pick.
But, the Brown situation hits differently, for sure. Since his rookie year in 2016, Brown has played almost 1,000 more snaps than any other Cowboys defender. He has been on the field for 4,602 plays during that time and while he is not a flawless player, he has always scrapped at a level that suggests he belongs. Teams have attacked him and he has always stood his ground very well. Heck, the Cowboys have tried to replace him a number of times and he has been sure to fight off all comers in a way that makes you really respect the man. Now, with him injured, all eyes turn to Kelvin Joseph who is about to try to replace Brown and is also about to be circled on every whiteboard as teams plan to attack this defense. Can he hold up? He has the talent to do so. Now, we find out if the Cowboys picked the right corner in the second round of 2021. The Cowboys have made enough selections over recent years to verify that they know what they are doing. Despite his many off-field red flags, perhaps all Joseph needs is the opportunity. Well, he better get ready.
This is what we have talked about plenty. The Cowboys had a chance or two to solidify their depth and go get a veteran corner. Instead, they stood pat on their previous picks and will have both Joseph and Nahshon Wright available to fill this void. Ask any team what sort of depth they would fancy and they would surely love to have two top-100 draft picks waiting in the wings and having received nearly a two-year “how to be a professional cornerback” course from Dan Quinn. The time has arrived for next man up. And frankly, Dallas has been protected from the injury virus quite well this season. Yes, Tyron Smith and Prescott were both hit hard, but there is a very short list of guys they won’t be getting back and you don’t have to look hard around the league to see that to this point, Dallas has been almost fully protected.
So, back to our story of scoring 33 points in the fourth quarter against the Colts and 54 in the game. Dallas exploded at a level that is very impressive. I mean very impressive. When we woke up Monday, we saw that the offense and defense had individual credentials that suggested they are a threat to go deep into the playoffs. Put them together and the sky appears to be the limit.
https://theathletic.com/3970521/2022/12/05/cowboys-fourth-quarter-scoring-odell-beckham/
With the pressure packages that Quinn puts together, you see that most opposing offenses cannot weather the 60-minute storm. It is a different story each week, but they are all related. The defense is trying to complement the offense by getting the ball. And they get the ball by hitting the QB, jumping routes and playing a physical brand of football. The Cowboys defense will be run on, but again, that tempo is making teams leave the run. They know they can get four yards per run, but when you are chasing the scoreboard, you have to get chunk plays. To do that, you have to stand up to the pass rush. And that breeds turnovers.
Yes, you can see issues creep up in the game. The offense has a few and so does the defense. But, the global view of this operation clearly is to force teams to try to play their style of football. And let me tell you, that is a short list right now. Philadelphia can cause problems and I suspect Minnesota will have a better plan next time.
Beyond that? The list is very short.
For Dallas to play a pretty mid-level game on Sunday night and completely blow the doors off the stadium on both sides of the ball by the time it was over is just hard to overlook. They are playing teams right off the field in the last three games since leaving Green Bay and while this fan base never stops doubting them, I have no problem telling you that you better get comfortable with this being a very good team. They have made the real changes needed from 2021 and while the talking shows will keep telling you that this is what you have seen for 25 years, I am here to tell you it is not.
This team has almost nothing to do with 1996 to 2021. The players are different and the coaches are different. The style is different and yes, the pass rush is different. The average age on this team is so young that you can’t even ask them about the olden days.
In other words, it’s a new era and the more you watch this thing, the more you can see this Dallas team pushing teams around in January. It must stay the course, but last night was the latest piece of evidence of what happens when this team plays a normal opponent.
It dominates them.
