NewsBot
New Member
- Messages
- 111,281
- Reaction score
- 2,947
Dallas simply dominated the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in a 30-23 victory. It had to have been the Cowboys' biggest victory since they beat the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome in December of 2009, spoiling the eventual Super Bowl champion's chances of running the table.
It's the kind of win that fills a team with confidence. Now, with that extreme sense of optimism setting in, the 'Boys are also getting healthier as they prepare for a stretch in the schedule that could be quite lucrative. They're home for three weeks now and don't have to play in another team's stadium until they visit the New York Giants in Week 12.
But before we start looking ahead to a new portion of what's been a surprisingly strong season for the Cowboys, let's reflect one more time on how exactly Dallas slayed Seattle by breaking down seven key plays from the victory.
1. The biggest play of Joseph Randle's career
The situation: Seahawks 10, Cowboys 0 with 5:25 remaining in the first quarter and a 1st-and-10 with the ball at the Dallas 33-yard line. Rattled after having a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, Dallas is in desperate need of a big play. All season long, those had come from running back DeMarco Murray and wide receivers Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams, but this is backup running back Joseph Randle's turn.
The result: Thanks to some phenomenal run blocking, Randle has a nice big hole. He goes 28 yards up the middle of the Seattle defense before being touched by a Seahawks defender, and it takes a combination effort from Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Marcus Burley to finally bring him down after a 38-yard gain.
What the tape says...
The key here was that rookie right guard Zack Martin had to get across quickly to take care of Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright. The entire line was pulling left, and Martin's clear assignment was Wright, who was the roving linebacker in run defense since Bobby Wagner was preoccupied by Cowboys tight end Jason Witten on the right side of the formation:
Witten moved fast inside to block, but Wagner didn't break contain, leaving Martin with a chance to plow Wright in order to open up a huge hole for Randle:
As you can see, the blocking was perfect right across the board, and Wagner was left in no man's land.
That gave Randle a chance to get 15 yards upfield before he even had to encounter a Seahawks defender. And that's when he nearly broke Chancellor's ankles:
What the numbers say: Dating back to the start of 2011, this marked only the fifth occasion in 53 games in which the Seahawks allowed a rush of 38 or more yards. The other three players to accomplish that: Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore and LaRod Stephens-Howling. Seattle entered Week 6 having allowed a league-low 2.6 yards per carry on defense.
Why it mattered: This was the moment in which the Cowboys told the Seahawks this wasn't going to be easy. Five plays later, they were in the end zone.
2. Dez beats Richard, plus a trip
The situation: Seahawks 10, Cowboys 10 with 1:10 remaining in the second quarter. The Cowboys have a 1st-and-10 at the Seattle 43-yard line. Dallas is dominating but still doesn't have the lead as it runs a two-minute drill to finish the half. It's imperative that the 'Boys get points, preferably seven.
The result: Bryant beats All-Galaxy cornerback Richard Sherman for a huge 23-yard grab to move Dallas into the red zone. And to make matters worse for the Seahawks, Sherman is flagged for a highly questionable tripping penalty, setting Dallas up with 1st-and-goal at the 10.
What the tape says...
Bryant straight-up beat Sherman one-on-one, outmuscling him in press coverage:
And pulling away immediately:
That's a very rare sight.
What the numbers say: When Sherman faced the Cowboys back in 2012, he surrendered only two catches for 14 yards, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Opposing quarterbacks completed just 50.6 percent of their passes against him last season.
Why it mattered: It dramatically improved Dallas' chances of taking a seven-point lead into halftime, which is key considering it'd get the ball to start the second half.
3. Romo's third-down, red-zone vacation
The situation: Seahawks 10, Cowboys 10 with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Two plays after Bryant's big catch, the Cowboys have 3rd-and-goal from the Seattle 3-yard line. This is their last chance to get into the end zone before halftime, sending a major statement.
The result: Romo holds on to the ball for 4.2 seconds in the pocket without being harassed even a little bit by a defense that last year had PFF's highest-rated pass rush by a huge margin. With all the time in the world, the veteran quarterback eventually finds his Pro Bowl tight end, Jason Witten, for the touchdown.
What the tape says...
With only four rushers and little ground to cover, Seattle had Dallas' receivers covered extremely well:
Problem is you can't cover 'em forever. And with that offensive line completely dominating the Seahawks' rushers, this is what Romo was dealing with a full four seconds after the snap:
Dude was literally pointing to receivers in order to cook up a play on the fly. It's like backyard football.
And eventually, Witten got open:
What the numbers say: The Cowboys successfully converted 10 of 17 third downs against Seattle.
Why it mattered: It gave Dallas a seven-point pad entering the second half against arguably the best team in the NFL.
4. Brandon's breakup
The situation: Seahawks 20, Cowboys 20 with 8:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. Seattle has a 3rd-and-9 at the Dallas 30-yard line. They're already in field-goal range, but the 'Boys can't afford to let the Seahawks find paydirt again.
The result: Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson looks like he has a chance to pick up the first down and maybe even a touchdown by going to receiver Jermaine Kearse, who has a step on Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr on a short post from the left slot. But Carr dives at the exact moment the ball arrives, breaking the pass up with his right hand and forcing the Seahawks to settle for a field goal.
What the tape says...
The coverage on the X and Z receivers was perfect, and Kearse had inside leverage on Carr on that short post. Since the single-high safety (J.J. Wilcox) was 25 yards back of the line of scrimmage with Barry Church up in coverage, this was a no-brainer for Wilson:
To be clear, this isn't an example of good coverage. But Carr is an experienced, talented corner who has been known to give receivers a little bit of an opening in order to goad quarterbacks into making passes he believes he has a bead on. I'm not suggesting that's what happened here, but Carr saved the day after giving up prime positioning to Kearse:
What the numbers say: Seattle could convert only five third downs all day (5-of-13). That despite the fact Dallas has the league's sixth-worst third-down defense since the start of 2013.
Why it mattered: It took a ton of pressure off Romo and the offense on the ensuing drive, and it meant a touchdown could win the game.
5. Bryant 2, Sherman 0
The situation: Seahawks 23, Cowboys 20 with 6:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys face a 3rd-and-6 on their own 25-yard line. They had gone three-and-out on two of their last three offensive series, and all momentum belonged to the Seahawks in front of the home crowd.
The result: Yet another third-down conversion as Romo hits Bryant on a back-shoulder throw that is impossible for Sherman to break up despite stellar coverage.
What the tape says...
This is just an example of Romo having every bit of faith in his No. 1 receiver. The game was on the line, and Romo had to trust that Bryant would be able to fight off the smaller Sherman in order to get up and make a big third-down grab. Because when Romo threw the ball, Bryant had no separation whatsoever:
And yet:
What the numbers say: Bryant beat Sherman only twice on five targets, but those two completions gave Dallas first downs and a total of 49 yards, including the penalty on the first grab.
Why it mattered: If Bryant doesn't catch that the Cowboys have to punt from deep in their own territory. In other words, the game is probably over, and the next play in this breakdown never happens...
6. The mother of them all
The situation: Seahawks 23, Cowboys 20 with 4:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. After gaining zero yards on three consecutive plays and taking a holding penalty, the Cowboys face 3rd-and-20 on their own 31-yard line.
The result: Romo completes a 23-yard pass to Terrance Williams. But this is no ordinary 23-yard completion. Facing immediate blindside pressure from Bruce Irvin off the edge, the banged-up 34-year-old quarterback spins away from what should have been a sack, cuts away from traffic, again evades a diving Irvin while prancing forward into the pocket and throws a sideline strike that Williams somehow grabs despite the laws of nature.
What the tape says...
This was one occasion in which the Dallas offensive line had some trouble. Romo faced pressure only 10 times on 33 dropbacks, according to PFF, but he completed six of nine passes in those situations. This was the biggest of them all.
Left tackle Tyron Smith and left guard Ronald Leary had trouble with Irvin and Jordan Hill right off the snap, causing the pocket to collapse on Romo's blind side.
Here's how things looked 2.4 seconds after the snap, with Irvin bearing down on Romo, who has an instant to consider hitting an open Witten as a safety valve underneath:
It's at that moment Romo has to decide to either scramble and improvise or settle for Witten. Being that it was 3rd-and-20 and Witten would have only been good for maybe half that yardage, a gambler gambled.
By literally running a circle around Irvin and dodging Hill with a juke, Romo bought his receivers three full seconds. Just out of Irvin's grasp, he had a chance to throw on the run:
The moment Romo decided to attempt to extend the play in the pocket, there were zero open options in first-down territory:
A couple seconds later, after he did some dancing, he had two desperate options in Witten (the arrow on the right side) and Williams (the other red arrow), both of whom were running extensions on their routes in order to get open.
Coincidentally or not, they both ran to about the exact same point on the field, and it became a race to the sideline between Williams, Witten and Seattle defensive backs Marcus Burley (left arrow) and Steven Terrell (the other blue arrow):
To Romo's credit, he put the ball where almost nobody could get it. It was a borderline throwaway, and Fox play-by-play man Thom Brennaman even thought the pass was intended for Witten. But Williams won the race to the ball, and then things got magical:
The coverage wasn't press man, but it should be noted that Terrell was playing the first regular-season snaps of his career, and Burley was only in that spot because starting cornerback Byron Maxwell was injured earlier in the game. It's fair to wonder if Maxwell might have reacted more quickly to Williams' turn toward the sideline, giving Seattle a chance to break up the play.
What the numbers say: Dating back to the start of this century, NFL teams have converted only 6.0 percent of third downs with 20 or more yards to go. This marked only the eighth time Dallas converted from that distance during that span, and it was only the fourth time Romo completed a pass to do so. Prior to that play, Seattle had successfully stopped opposing offenses from converting first downs on 23 of 24 third downs with 20-plus yards to go during the Pete Carroll era (2010-2014).
Why it mattered: Three plays later, Dallas was in the end zone with the winning touchdown. This play doesn't happen, and the Cowboys very likely lose the game. Plus, when you consider the elusiveness and the throw from Romo as well as the toe-tapping catch from Williams, it's probably the play of the year in the NFL thus far.
7. Icing on the cake
The situation: Seahawks 23, Cowboys 20 with 4:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. Very next snap after the incredible Williams catch. It's 1st-and-10 at the Seattle 46-yard line, and after a failed challenge the Seahawks are flustered.
The result: Dallas goes back to its bread and butter with Murray, who gets some superb blocks (as always), slashes through the first two layers of Seattle's defense and breaks a pair of tackles on a 25-yard gain, moving the Cowboys into field-goal range.
What the tape says...
The blocking once again sealed the deal here. They're running right, and Seattle has two zone defenders free on that side of the field, which isn't ideal. Responsible for them are Martin, who is pulling right at the snap toward Burley, and fullback Tyler Clutts, who will have to move Chancellor out of the way:
Martin takes care of Burley:
Clutts manhandles Chancellor:
And Murray takes care of the rest:
What the numbers say: Prior to Sunday's game, Seattle had given up only 10 plays of 20-plus yards, which was the lowest total in the NFL. This was the sixth 20-yard play from Dallas. Dating to the start of 2012, that defense surrendered a league-low 2.7 20-yard plays per game. But the Cowboys had two on this drive alone.
Why it mattered: With three big plays on the drive and Murray eating the Seattle defense alive, it became obvious at this moment that the Cowboys were going to find the end zone...and there was nothing the Seahawks could do about it.
Of course, Murray would indeed find the end zone two plays later, and the Cowboys would shut Seattle down on defense the rest of the way, adding a field goal for good measure.
And don't underestimate the performance that D put on. Football Outsiders determined based on DVOA that it was the fourth-best defensive performance in the NFL this season. Combine that with clutch play after clutch play from Romo, Bryant, Williams, Murray, Witten, Escobar, Randle and dominance from the offensive line, and you have the formula for a special outing.
The question now is whether the Cowboys can keep building from that.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.
Follow @Brad_Gagnon
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...