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The Morning After Week 12 - The Turkey Leg Game
Bland does it again as Dallas celebrates Thanksgiving by destroying Washington.
BOB STURM
NOV 24, 2023
There is much about this game that is incredibly repetitious as we ponder the details of a Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day pounding of Washington, 45-10.
Before the game we knew that these two teams were going in different directions, but it took a few hours to fully see things materialize.
But, by the time things did run through the full game cycle, it was much like the games that have come before it. Dallas is really testing the resolve of the “this is the same Dallas team that always does this” crowd. If they do fall to a familiar fate as “they always do” it will have this odd subsection where they continue to do things that those other teams never did.
Yesterday was the 13th consecutive home win for the Cowboys – that is something last done from 1979-1981 in Dallas – and the last home game that had a reasonably competitive fourth quarter was on Christmas Eve of last season. You can certainly suggest that the applications of this factoid should not be misused, but you also cannot say you know of other times when Dallas has obliterated every visitor over the course of three months.
It hasn’t happened in decades.
In fact, if you want to push it a level further up the hill, how about this one: No team in NFL history has won its first five home games of the season by more than 20 points. I have no idea what to do with that number other than to say that if you are doing something that has never been done before, we should be extra cautious about saying this is exactly the same as we have seen again and again.
This game was not like many of the others where the opponent does not stay in the game from off the bus. It seemed very much like Washington had an opportunity to gather points in the third quarter that would have made it a one-score game and perhaps offer some pressure on Dallas. Then, like the Carolina game on Sunday, there was an opportunity to pucker up and show a nervy response.
Instead, the Cowboys stepped on the gas with such authority in both situations that you almost could see the reluctance of the opposing sideline to not make the Cowboys angry. You won’t like them when they are angry enough to break off another 25-point fourth quarter.
That was aided by yet another defensive touchdown, of course. Make it six times this season that the defense has scored – yes, five from DaRon Bland himself – which ties the all-time Dallas Cowboys record for an entire season of defensive production. That high was set in 2021 by the first year of the Dan Quinn defense, so to then equal it in 2023 demonstrates that there is no fluke involved.
That 2021 defense was led by Trevon Diggs intercepting everything in his vicinity and now Bland is doing the exact same thing. Quinn’s defenses are their own brand of offense and it shows a strength that pairs well with the other side of the ball that is setting its own marks at the moment with rhythm and booms.
That is the thing about the 2023 Dallas Cowboys. The offense and defense are now taking turns of dominance – sometimes in the exact same game. Both sides of the ball are not perfect, but they are close enough to terrify almost every opponent. They make it look easy and have done this in nearly every week since the bye. The exception being that 4th Quarter in Philadelphia where they fell one play short. That result – and the trip to San Francisco from early October – are pretty much the only things that hold everyone back from seeing this Cowboys squad from potentially what it is: a team that is on the path to some very big January results.
Early in this Thanksgiving game, I found myself fixated on Ron Rivera’s seeming lack of interest in making this a memorable affair. The coach formerly known as “Riverboat Ron” because of his penchant for “going for it” back in the day had apparently lost his lust for the excitement. It has been six seasons since a Rivera team has had a winning record and that is best demonstrated with the marketing materials out of Washington that claim 2022’s 8-8-1 mark as a “non-losing season.” I guess, by definition, yes.
The issue that got me going was the way the first two Washington drives ended. By punting from both the Dallas 44 and then the Dallas 43.
Folks, I am not sure you recall, but a young Andy Reid opened his second season as coach of the Eagles at Texas Stadium as sizable underdogs. It is Week 1 and you are expected to lose at Dallas on a very hot day. What does Reid do to let the Cowboys know he is planning on leaving with a victory? He ordered an onside kick to open the game. The Eagles recovered that ambush attempt and won the game in a laugher, 41-14.
The point is that cowardice is seldom rewarded in games like this and nothing is more cowardly, in my estimation, than moving the ball into enemy territory and deciding to punt from a spot on the field where punting should seldom be considered. I know, some of our older readers will have a hard time accepting the game has changed from the days of hoping to pin an opponent deep with a perfectly placed coffin corner punt, but in modern times, anything inside the opponents territory should be worth chasing points and sending an early message that we aren’t the patsy you are looking for today.
Washington had that chance Thursday. The chance to show us that Washington was planning on being in the fight all day by allowing your young gunslinger, Sam Howell, to run his favorite play to extend the drive and put pressure on the Cowboys defense when the game was still scoreless. Twice, at 0-0, before Dallas found their groove, the Commanders had the ball on 4th down at those spots on the field and could not work up the courage to send a message of intent. It tells me that Ron is certainly ready to be relieved of his duties here in the next few days or weeks. Its over.
What I had not fully considered is that Rivera probably concluded that safe is the only path to a competitive game. Washington took no chances and seemed to decide that if they can never give Dallas a turnover and a short field, perhaps they could stay in the game if they could put together a drive or two. It was like watching someone disarm a bomb, knowing that one false move could cause a detonation.
They were successful early as Dak Prescott did not start the game with precision on his side. Dallas punted early and looked a tad lethargic, if we are to be honest with the early vibes of the game. Then, Washington mounted two consecutive scoring drives in the second quarter that seemed to trigger murmuring and anxiety in the capacity crowd.
The second drive was a touchdown where Howell was able to keep the ball on an option and cross the goal-line to cut the deficit to 14-10 with 1:51 to go in the 1st half. Rivera’s cautious approach had Dallas unable to shake Washington before Dolly Parton would perform, it seemed.
Ah, but that 1:51 was still going to have to be accounted for as Dallas was getting it together offensively in a big way. Washington must shake their heads at reviewing these details because it looked like they might survive until the half when Prescott fired a pass to Jalen Tolbert, only to have it broken up by defender Danny Johnson. Instead, the ball went from Johnson and Tolbert right into the waiting arms of Cowboys rookie Jalen Brooks. This Dak to Jalen to the other Jalen play flipped the field and put Dallas quickly on the 2-minute drill march and took them from their own 38 to the Washington 38 on one carom.
The next play was another example of Dallas taking major strides offensively in 2023. Basic zone-beating concepts that have, at times, been missing in the years before with this team have seemingly been solved in rather elementary ways. When you play against zone defenses, the most basic attack concept is to create conflicts on defenders. He has a zone and you wish to send two guys at him so he cannot be correct. Well, on this play, CeeDee Lamb attacks the flat in front of Kendall Fuller. Fuller reacts accordingly as he knows Lamb is one of the most prolific threats in the NFL in the last month, abandoning the deep left sideline which Jalen Tolbert is attacking behind him. You can see Fuller’s hesitation on the play – shown below – where he knows he cannot be in both places.
Dak escapes the pocket and waits for Fuller to tell him which receiver will be more wide open and when Fuller goes to Lamb, it leaves Tolbert behind him for an easy 31 yards. This leaves us to wonder why these zone-beaters were never shown in 2021 and 2022 down the stretches. Alas, they now do it routinely and Dak looks like the very best version of himself; something that might be about route combinations that make intuitive sense in situations like this. Dallas would score on the very next play as Tony Pollard had another big day.
The second half was more of the same, but perhaps I learned a valuable lesson. Washington remained at arm’s length until they did what I asked them to do and that was to show some fourth quarter willingness for adventure. So, they did.
Down 23-10, Washington knew they needed a drive or the game was over (it probably already was). Facing a 4th-and-1 from their own 34 with 12:00 left in the game, Rivera decided it was time to gamble. It went poorly. Dallas’ pass rush was actually its run stuffers, as Johnathan Hankins registered his second sack of the season and of the game. Moments later, Dak his Lamb for a touchdown and 2-point conversion and it was game over, 31-10.
Now, Rivera is chasing the game and it is time to go for it again on 4th-and-4 on the next possession. It fails, too, and it takes just five more snaps for Kavontae Turpin to be running free down the seam for another big touchdown, 38-10.
If there is one thing this Dallas team has taught us, it is when the boulder starts rolling down the hill, you better get out of the way.
And then it happened. For the first time in NFL history, a single player has returned a fifth interception for a touchdown in the same season. Like he did on Sunday, Daron Bland undercut a late throw to the sideline and took it back to the end-zone for yet another Pick-6. If any moment had Cowboy fans across the globe leaving their couches on Thanksgiving and yelling with joy, it was watching Bland navigate Commanders on his way to the endzone. It was a circuitous route that was beautiful to behold.
I will grant you “first time in NFL history” doesn’t need any follow-up fun-facts, but I found this one even more amazing when I read the Cowboys postgame notes:
DaRon Bland has more pick-sixes from September to Thanksgiving than any Cowboys player has in their entire career? This guy who we weren’t sure could replace Trevon Diggs on the outside a few months ago has made this level of history?
Yeah, you might want to consider that the 2023 Cowboys are a special group and may be about to accomplish something pretty great by the end of the run in the next few months.
We shall see.
After the Turpin touchdown, Prescott went to go collect a prop turkey leg from the Salvation Army kettle in the endzone that was placed there for just such a showing of victory. He then feasted on said turkey as his day was done with another statistically gaudy day after a slow-ish start.
Yes, it was probably a bit over-the-top in the sportsmanship department and would certainly have entered into Cowboys lore if they would have lost a game where they were planting celebratory turkey in the pregame, but they didn’t lose and it wasn’t particularly close. This entire stretch of football has gone exactly like they planned as they have risen from 5-3 to 8-3 with three absurd blowouts to the tune of 127-37 over just 12 days.
The weather is changing and so is the level of difficulty. But, they needed to make hay while the sun shined and they did just that. So, enjoy your turkey because you are mostly about done playing the league’s turkeys.
The familiar demons await on the road ahead.
Bland does it again as Dallas celebrates Thanksgiving by destroying Washington.
BOB STURM
NOV 24, 2023
There is much about this game that is incredibly repetitious as we ponder the details of a Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day pounding of Washington, 45-10.
Before the game we knew that these two teams were going in different directions, but it took a few hours to fully see things materialize.
But, by the time things did run through the full game cycle, it was much like the games that have come before it. Dallas is really testing the resolve of the “this is the same Dallas team that always does this” crowd. If they do fall to a familiar fate as “they always do” it will have this odd subsection where they continue to do things that those other teams never did.
Yesterday was the 13th consecutive home win for the Cowboys – that is something last done from 1979-1981 in Dallas – and the last home game that had a reasonably competitive fourth quarter was on Christmas Eve of last season. You can certainly suggest that the applications of this factoid should not be misused, but you also cannot say you know of other times when Dallas has obliterated every visitor over the course of three months.
It hasn’t happened in decades.
In fact, if you want to push it a level further up the hill, how about this one: No team in NFL history has won its first five home games of the season by more than 20 points. I have no idea what to do with that number other than to say that if you are doing something that has never been done before, we should be extra cautious about saying this is exactly the same as we have seen again and again.
This game was not like many of the others where the opponent does not stay in the game from off the bus. It seemed very much like Washington had an opportunity to gather points in the third quarter that would have made it a one-score game and perhaps offer some pressure on Dallas. Then, like the Carolina game on Sunday, there was an opportunity to pucker up and show a nervy response.
Instead, the Cowboys stepped on the gas with such authority in both situations that you almost could see the reluctance of the opposing sideline to not make the Cowboys angry. You won’t like them when they are angry enough to break off another 25-point fourth quarter.
That was aided by yet another defensive touchdown, of course. Make it six times this season that the defense has scored – yes, five from DaRon Bland himself – which ties the all-time Dallas Cowboys record for an entire season of defensive production. That high was set in 2021 by the first year of the Dan Quinn defense, so to then equal it in 2023 demonstrates that there is no fluke involved.
That 2021 defense was led by Trevon Diggs intercepting everything in his vicinity and now Bland is doing the exact same thing. Quinn’s defenses are their own brand of offense and it shows a strength that pairs well with the other side of the ball that is setting its own marks at the moment with rhythm and booms.
That is the thing about the 2023 Dallas Cowboys. The offense and defense are now taking turns of dominance – sometimes in the exact same game. Both sides of the ball are not perfect, but they are close enough to terrify almost every opponent. They make it look easy and have done this in nearly every week since the bye. The exception being that 4th Quarter in Philadelphia where they fell one play short. That result – and the trip to San Francisco from early October – are pretty much the only things that hold everyone back from seeing this Cowboys squad from potentially what it is: a team that is on the path to some very big January results.
Early in this Thanksgiving game, I found myself fixated on Ron Rivera’s seeming lack of interest in making this a memorable affair. The coach formerly known as “Riverboat Ron” because of his penchant for “going for it” back in the day had apparently lost his lust for the excitement. It has been six seasons since a Rivera team has had a winning record and that is best demonstrated with the marketing materials out of Washington that claim 2022’s 8-8-1 mark as a “non-losing season.” I guess, by definition, yes.
The issue that got me going was the way the first two Washington drives ended. By punting from both the Dallas 44 and then the Dallas 43.
Folks, I am not sure you recall, but a young Andy Reid opened his second season as coach of the Eagles at Texas Stadium as sizable underdogs. It is Week 1 and you are expected to lose at Dallas on a very hot day. What does Reid do to let the Cowboys know he is planning on leaving with a victory? He ordered an onside kick to open the game. The Eagles recovered that ambush attempt and won the game in a laugher, 41-14.
The point is that cowardice is seldom rewarded in games like this and nothing is more cowardly, in my estimation, than moving the ball into enemy territory and deciding to punt from a spot on the field where punting should seldom be considered. I know, some of our older readers will have a hard time accepting the game has changed from the days of hoping to pin an opponent deep with a perfectly placed coffin corner punt, but in modern times, anything inside the opponents territory should be worth chasing points and sending an early message that we aren’t the patsy you are looking for today.
Washington had that chance Thursday. The chance to show us that Washington was planning on being in the fight all day by allowing your young gunslinger, Sam Howell, to run his favorite play to extend the drive and put pressure on the Cowboys defense when the game was still scoreless. Twice, at 0-0, before Dallas found their groove, the Commanders had the ball on 4th down at those spots on the field and could not work up the courage to send a message of intent. It tells me that Ron is certainly ready to be relieved of his duties here in the next few days or weeks. Its over.
What I had not fully considered is that Rivera probably concluded that safe is the only path to a competitive game. Washington took no chances and seemed to decide that if they can never give Dallas a turnover and a short field, perhaps they could stay in the game if they could put together a drive or two. It was like watching someone disarm a bomb, knowing that one false move could cause a detonation.
They were successful early as Dak Prescott did not start the game with precision on his side. Dallas punted early and looked a tad lethargic, if we are to be honest with the early vibes of the game. Then, Washington mounted two consecutive scoring drives in the second quarter that seemed to trigger murmuring and anxiety in the capacity crowd.
The second drive was a touchdown where Howell was able to keep the ball on an option and cross the goal-line to cut the deficit to 14-10 with 1:51 to go in the 1st half. Rivera’s cautious approach had Dallas unable to shake Washington before Dolly Parton would perform, it seemed.
Ah, but that 1:51 was still going to have to be accounted for as Dallas was getting it together offensively in a big way. Washington must shake their heads at reviewing these details because it looked like they might survive until the half when Prescott fired a pass to Jalen Tolbert, only to have it broken up by defender Danny Johnson. Instead, the ball went from Johnson and Tolbert right into the waiting arms of Cowboys rookie Jalen Brooks. This Dak to Jalen to the other Jalen play flipped the field and put Dallas quickly on the 2-minute drill march and took them from their own 38 to the Washington 38 on one carom.
The next play was another example of Dallas taking major strides offensively in 2023. Basic zone-beating concepts that have, at times, been missing in the years before with this team have seemingly been solved in rather elementary ways. When you play against zone defenses, the most basic attack concept is to create conflicts on defenders. He has a zone and you wish to send two guys at him so he cannot be correct. Well, on this play, CeeDee Lamb attacks the flat in front of Kendall Fuller. Fuller reacts accordingly as he knows Lamb is one of the most prolific threats in the NFL in the last month, abandoning the deep left sideline which Jalen Tolbert is attacking behind him. You can see Fuller’s hesitation on the play – shown below – where he knows he cannot be in both places.
Dak escapes the pocket and waits for Fuller to tell him which receiver will be more wide open and when Fuller goes to Lamb, it leaves Tolbert behind him for an easy 31 yards. This leaves us to wonder why these zone-beaters were never shown in 2021 and 2022 down the stretches. Alas, they now do it routinely and Dak looks like the very best version of himself; something that might be about route combinations that make intuitive sense in situations like this. Dallas would score on the very next play as Tony Pollard had another big day.
The second half was more of the same, but perhaps I learned a valuable lesson. Washington remained at arm’s length until they did what I asked them to do and that was to show some fourth quarter willingness for adventure. So, they did.
Down 23-10, Washington knew they needed a drive or the game was over (it probably already was). Facing a 4th-and-1 from their own 34 with 12:00 left in the game, Rivera decided it was time to gamble. It went poorly. Dallas’ pass rush was actually its run stuffers, as Johnathan Hankins registered his second sack of the season and of the game. Moments later, Dak his Lamb for a touchdown and 2-point conversion and it was game over, 31-10.
Now, Rivera is chasing the game and it is time to go for it again on 4th-and-4 on the next possession. It fails, too, and it takes just five more snaps for Kavontae Turpin to be running free down the seam for another big touchdown, 38-10.
If there is one thing this Dallas team has taught us, it is when the boulder starts rolling down the hill, you better get out of the way.
And then it happened. For the first time in NFL history, a single player has returned a fifth interception for a touchdown in the same season. Like he did on Sunday, Daron Bland undercut a late throw to the sideline and took it back to the end-zone for yet another Pick-6. If any moment had Cowboy fans across the globe leaving their couches on Thanksgiving and yelling with joy, it was watching Bland navigate Commanders on his way to the endzone. It was a circuitous route that was beautiful to behold.
I will grant you “first time in NFL history” doesn’t need any follow-up fun-facts, but I found this one even more amazing when I read the Cowboys postgame notes:
Excuse me? That is incredible.
DaRon Bland has more pick-sixes from September to Thanksgiving than any Cowboys player has in their entire career? This guy who we weren’t sure could replace Trevon Diggs on the outside a few months ago has made this level of history?
Yeah, you might want to consider that the 2023 Cowboys are a special group and may be about to accomplish something pretty great by the end of the run in the next few months.
We shall see.
After the Turpin touchdown, Prescott went to go collect a prop turkey leg from the Salvation Army kettle in the endzone that was placed there for just such a showing of victory. He then feasted on said turkey as his day was done with another statistically gaudy day after a slow-ish start.
Yes, it was probably a bit over-the-top in the sportsmanship department and would certainly have entered into Cowboys lore if they would have lost a game where they were planting celebratory turkey in the pregame, but they didn’t lose and it wasn’t particularly close. This entire stretch of football has gone exactly like they planned as they have risen from 5-3 to 8-3 with three absurd blowouts to the tune of 127-37 over just 12 days.
The weather is changing and so is the level of difficulty. But, they needed to make hay while the sun shined and they did just that. So, enjoy your turkey because you are mostly about done playing the league’s turkeys.
The familiar demons await on the road ahead.
No kidding. 
