Sturm: Decoding Schotty Week 7 - The Correct Formula

[dpf1123]

Decoding Schotty Week 7 - The Correct Formula​

The Cowboys may have discovered the optimum offensive performance on Monday Night.​

Bob Sturm
4 hours ago




Here we go. Our objectives for today –

• Overall Offensive Evaluation - At Philadelphia
• The Best Offensive Performance of 2026
• Run The Ball Behind Tyler Booker
• 3rd Down Bounce-back
• Look at plenty of All-22 film and see what we can see.

Let’s dive in!

Offensive Evaluation – At Philadelphia​

If this is a purely offensive evaluation – and it is – then, we really have no choices about how we see the performance against the Eagles defense.

Pretty much perfect. I say pretty much because they left a few points out there at times and probably should have been closer to 50 if they maximize everything, but there is no question that there were three or four occasions where they entered into the “let’s not do anything to beg the Eagles back into this game” mode.

I think, based on the last few weeks, it is wise to make sure that you don’t offer the rival any gifts. Be stingy and tidy and thorough. I would say the offense did all of the above.

The Best Offensive Performance of 2026​

• 416 total yards (season-high), including 204 rushing yards on 38 attempts (5.4 YPC) and 212 passing yards. Yards per play was 6.4.
• 38 points (season high)⁠
• 25 first downs (11 rushing, 12 passing) for strong balance.⁠
• 8/13 on third downs (61.5%) and 1/1 on fourth downs. Th⁠e eight conversions tied a season high.
• Scored on 7 of 9 possessions; 0 turnovers; 0 sacks allowed (and 0 QB hits by the Eagles).
• Time of possession: 30:39. Red zone: 3/5.⁠
• Advanced: 0.32 EPA per play (far ahead of Philadelphia’s 0.06).⁠

They were in control all night and methodically smothered the game in the late stages.



I know this offense has done a lot to anger the masses (and me) in the last two games leading to this versus Tampa and Green Bay, but if we desire a response and we consider that this is the Eagles defense that is pretty much at full strength, then we must be ready and willing to declare that this is what winning offense from this team should look like. As you surely read yesterday in our Morning After piece, we do allow anger to creep in from a “why can’t you show us this more often” standpoint, but if we simply look at the numbers of this one game on this one side of the ball, this is nearly a perfect game.



The green numbers suggest they are above our threshold of expectation. In many cases, they are “well above” those numbers from Monday Night. The only one that we did not make green was red zone where 3-5 is pretty much average. But, everything else “exceeded expectations” on this occasion in Philadelphia.

I think it is ok to say that without qualification (because the Eagles defense was at full strength, even though they seemed to quit pretty early) that is what we are looking for.

Run The Ball Behind Tyler Booker​

My MVP from Monday Night is easy. Tyler Booker was an absolute monster and to prove it, I made this reel of maybe 12 or 13 of his most dominant plays. He was throwing guys around, clearing paths, walling off defenders, and setting the tone. I believe it was the best game he has played as a Dallas Cowboy and proof that the pick was not too high to take a right guard of this quality.


This man finishes plays and players right into the ground. Holy heck, man.

I normally would not endorse taking a guard at No. 12 in a draft because it is a non-premium position and most guards you take will not become the “best guard in football”, especially if most every Cowboys fan will tell you he isn’t even the best guard on his own team.

We can debate that – and hopefully both Tyler Smith and Tyler Booker will measure themselves against each-other for years to come, but I am here to tell you on this day that the 22-year old Booker was dominant on Monday Night and it makes me think that it would border on malpractice to not let him eat as part of every single game-plan.

You must let Booker set a tone, because he wants to make the opponent quit and wants to steal their soul (his words!). He was a beast and because of it, see if you can pick out the game in which Dallas moved bodies the best this season:

204 yards, 5.4 per carry, and 38 runs. Clinical and dominant.

And one of the main reasons that they took Booker was that two months before that the Eagles won the Super Bowl and Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis (the two Eagles DTs) seemed a main reason why. How would Dallas deal with those beasts?

By taking one of their own.

It is certainly reasonable to say that we would like to see many more of these performances as I have seldom left a game with Booker as my main takeaway. Is he being underrated?

Well, PFF seems to think so. So far in 2026, he is the 5th ranked guard in the NFL and in terms of run blocking, he is No. 1 in the entire league.



Let’s keep it going.

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3rd Down Bounce-back​

Now, even when you are running the ball, 3rd down is where we find out about your passing game. The Cowboys started 2026 as an excellent 3rd down team. Then for about a month, they dropped down to average. So, it was great to see the passing game look so red-hot in money situations on Monday.

In particular, Prescott was a perfect 6-6 after missing CeeDee on the 1st drive. His 3rd down numbers had a tremendous uptick and Dallas is ranked 3rd in the league through seven weeks on 3rd down.

If you think about 8-13 on 3rd downs, but only 6-7 on passing, we see that the failures were not even failures, really. They were almost all conceded by Dallas to protect the lead after that first drive.

NEXT GEN THROW CHART - PRESCOTT VS EAGLES​

As you can see, he was dialed in and had a very Aikman passing line. 15 completions to score 38 offensive points tell us that they were balanced and effective. They weren’t just trying to pass it all night. They helped their passing game by running the ball.

The success rates tell the story. This is the response that they required, but a week after we expected it. The claim was that Prescott and the passing game does not have consecutive bad games. They proved that claim incorrect, but this was encouraging and should give them a very clear recipe on how the cake must be baked moving forward. It may not always be this easy, but they have to understand what weapons are for what situation.

Let’s hope they have learned because repeating this cycle multiple more times in 2026 would be discouraging.

FILM STUDY​

Ok, fun film today. About a dozen plays to examine. Let’s do it.

1Q - 14:55 - 1-10-DAL 35 - J.Williams right tackle to DAL 41 for 6 yards (A.Mukuba).​

First offensive snap. Under center and 12 personnel against the Eagles 5-man front. This is a statement of intent. I really like Javonte showing patience here and letting the blocks develop and it is our first look at 52-Booker getting 98-Carter out of the way. For those who may not be aware, Carter is the highest paid DT in football at $38m AAV with his new extension from 2028-2031. Gain of 6.

1Q - 13:44 - 1-10-DAL 46 - B.Jones reported in as eligible. J.Williams left guard to PHI 39 for 15 yards (C.DeJean).​

The next run and we wrote about this yesterday.

This would be 12 personnel, but Spann-Ford is joined by a 6th OL with Broderick Jones as the other TE. Cowboys run a physical duo run right at those big DT’s. Huge hole with the Tylers moving bodies and Javonte is into the secondary now. Tyler Booker, in particular, was a straight-up bulldozer on this one and also takes out the LB at the 2nd level. Not saying you get 10 yards running behind those boys there, but you would get something.

That run is teach-tape. So good. They open with a long field goal.

2nd Drive:

1Q - 9:05 - 3-8-DAL 31 - D.Prescott pass deep right to R.Flournoy pushed ob at PHI 34 for 35 yards (A.Mukuba).​

Ok, 3rd and long here and you love this S10 (shotgun - 10 personnel) which has Pickens on the left and then Mingo, Lamb, and Flournoy on the right. We know Pickens and Lamb are the two terrifying targets that get all the attention, so they use Mingo to clear out the side on a go, with Flournoy running a deep out. The Eagles are in Cover 3, so you know 2-Woolen is in conflict. Does he go with Mingo or does he cover his side with Flournoy. Dak takes the pass and then Flournoy stays in bounds and turns it into a huge field-flipper, nicely, for 35 yards. It starts with great protection.

1Q - 7:49 - 2-5-PHI 29 - J.Williams left tackle to PHI 17 for 12 yards (A.Mukuba; C.DeJean).​

Moments later, here is a very nice run from Javonte with big Book in front on a power run. As you can see, 50-James-Newby is crashing hard and Booker has to get there. The Cowboys run this to the same side as the RB, so Javonte has to set the trap and then it is up to the guys up front like 60-Guyton and 87-Ferguson to get their guys. Really powerful run and it certainly lets the Eagles know what sort of day they have ahead.

1Q - 5:37 - 3-2-PHI 9 - D.Prescott pass short right to C.Lamb for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.​

When I saw this play, I expected he was looking to his TE-Ferguson, but instead, he sees the slot corner in man and knows that this converts to automatic on a back shoulder fade to CeeDee Lamb. 33-Cooper DeJean has no chance in this situation where Lamb has a 2-way go and the whole side of the field with no help. Rough spot to be in if you are on defense.

2Q - 9:10 - 4-1-PHI 44 - B.Jones reported in as eligible. J.Williams left tackle to PHI 40 for 4 yards (Q.Mitchell; J.Trotter).​

Cowboys on 4th and 1. This is what we want to see. 6OL and 2 more Tight Ends, so you have 8 bigs up front. Knowing 3-Pickens is wide, the Eagles don’t have enough bigs up front and this is a very easy conversion. Javonte Williams needing one yard seems a good bet vs a DB.

2Q - 5:44 - 3-3-PHI 21 - D.Prescott pass deep right to G.Pickens for 21 yards, TOUCHDOWN.​

Every one of Dak’s 3 TD throws was a big-time throw on Monday. He was sensational on these and 3rd down was the first two as well. He has to get this right and then Pickens has to make a masterful catch and get those feet in. 24-Mukuba is lined up in man coverage in the slot and this is an easy out and up read where if you see George Pickens against a safety, it makes the decision quite easy. Now, the throw is not, but very interested in the Eagles deciding to try man coverage against 88 and 3 in the red zone. That seems like a very tough assignment.

2Q - 0:52 - 2-10-DAL 26 - D.Prescott pass short left to G.Pickens pushed ob at DAL 47 for 21 yards (J.Jones).​

This 2-minute drive was good stuff until the clock situation bit them a bit. It is that same 3x1 with Pickens by himself out here vs 31-Jones for the Eagles. Jones is going to stay on top of him, so that leaves a wide open Pickens when he hits the out. From there, George does what he does which is best described as “just hitting all of the buttons on his controller at the same time” and decides to try to jump Jones on his way out of bounds. But, 21 yards and the clock stops.

2Q - 0:19 - 1-10-PHI 39 - D.Prescott pass deep right to C.Lamb ran ob at PHI 9 for 30 yards.​

This pass protection remains immaculate. Double move by CeeDee up top vs Riq Woolen makes easy work of things as the Eagles still are in single-high Cover 3. 23-Moore is up top and will try to help, but Lamb is wide open. Would he score with a better throw? Not sure he would, but this is probably Dak’s big miss of the night. It will be a completion, but he would like that a bit more inside to lead Lamb to the end zone. They settle for a field goal.

3Q - 4:10 - 2-6-50 - J.Williams left tackle to PHI 43 for 7 yards (A.Mukuba; Z.Baun).​

This run is an awful lot of Javonte on his own, because here Booker whiffs and that allows Carter to hold 89-Spann-Ford. What is interesting is that Spann-Ford is such a problem for opponents that you see defenders dealing with him and sort of missing the ball going around them 57-AJ Epenesa seems far more dialed on the blocker than the runner. Javonte then shrugs off Mukuba again and moves the chains. Javonte is so good when they use him.

3Q - 3:28 1-10-PHI 43 - D.Prescott pass deep right to R.Flournoy pushed ob at PHI 27 for 16 yards (T.Woolen).​

Love this sprint-out concept that is definitely using the threat of CeeDee to occupy the Eagles and then slip Flournoy behind them. From the end zone, you can see how well it is timed and what a great throw from Prescott to be pinpoint. I feel like No. 19 has more to give based on this tape.

3Q - 1:36 - 1-10-PHI 16 - D.Prescott pass deep left to C.Lamb for 16 yards, TOUCHDOWN.​

Red zone and man coverage against CeeDee Lamb again, eh? This reminds us of 2014 when Dez Bryant kept schooling Bradley Fletcher on this very field. Riq Woolen surely likes his chances against Lamb, but the throws and the catches are just impossible to stop in these spots. No safety help? No chance. What a night for the passing game – by passing so much less.

You see? The coverage is dictated by the running game – especially on 1st down when the Eagles are mindful of all of the runs.

4Q - 13:28 - 2-2-DAL 41 - B.Jones reported in as eligible. J.Williams left tackle to PHI 25 for 34 yards (A.Mukuba).​

Here is where you see the Eagles are pretty much out on the night. This is 6OL again and just watch 77-Broderick Jones provide a path so big that 73-Tyler Smith is looking for work. Just a man-handling performance.

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Again, I don’t want to be an ingrate. But, I do want to see this more than once a month. This balanced-up offense hopefully has been a discovery that all involved will look to replicate as soon as this Sunday.

You paid so much to build this offensive line and running game. Maybe we should take it out of the garage and see how it drives every game?

 

[bbgun]

I'll believe we've turner the corner when the next team brings the house (Fangio didn't) and we pick it up.

 

[Cotton]

and we pick it up.

Or at least adjust the playcalling to faster developing routes to get the ball off faster.