There's an element to an NFL season where it's strictly survive and advance. Style points don't matter, it's a question of getting the end result that you are looking to achieve. There's also a time where people reveal themselves to be what they are, and it gives you a much better idea of where a season is going.
What was revealed today is that the NFL continues to not be too big for one Dak Prescott. Early on, he was a little wild and high throwing the ball, and he took a good amount of hits in the first half. But, with the team down 14-0, and not looking good at all, Prescott maintained his cool, continued to make plays, and drove the team for a score to settle things down. It's very interesting that he continues to eschew driving the ball deep down the field, but he continues to keep the offense on schedule, plays mistake free, and has more poise than any Cowboy rookie that I can recall in quite some time.
The second half of this game was Ezekiel Elliott and the offensive line deciding to settle matters on their own. The offensive line decided that they were going to pound the 49ers front seven into submission, and they did. If you were going to look at a body count to see who was worse for wear during the battle, it was the 49er defense ending up on the short end of the stick. Navorro Bowman and DeForest Buckner left the game with injuries, and the Niner defense was sucking wind hard in the 4th quarter. Elliott is really starting to show the qualities that have excited his many supporters - his cutting today was outstanding, his patience was rewarded by finding creases, and he continued to show remarkable skill as a rookie in pass protection. Elliott ran physically, and was a couple steps away from breaking significant runs. As mentioned on the broadcast, Elliott leads the league in yards after contact. It will only get better from here, as he continues to build a rapport with the line, and his conditioning improves.
And, Morris Claiborne continues to show that he has repaired his fragile confidence and body. Claiborne made a terrific adjustment on the underthrow by Gabbert to make the play of the game, and he basically eliminated Torrey Smith from the Niner arsenal. His tackle on the 4th down play to turn the 49ers over was a play that likely would have resulted in him ending up injured. Not this year. Claiborne had a full training camp for the first time in his career, and it looks to be paying off.
Other notes from today:
- Ron Leary blocked like a man possessed in the run game today. He and Zack Martin were outstanding in this regard.
- Chaz Green needs to keep moving his feet and not stop when faced with inside lateral movement.
- Hearing that Tyron Smith has a bulging disc caused me to have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
- Bryce Butler caught a TD, but made two poor plays to offset that good play. His taunting penalty was just stupid.
- What was up with the TEs today and false starts? Not good.
- Byron Jones nearly made a critical error on the Gabbert deep ball that Claiborne picked off. Can't jump a short route when you are the single high safety.
- Jack Crawford had some good pressure from the edge, especially in the second half.
- Run fits on defense were not as good as they need to be.
- I hate the way Marinelli coaches the DE's to play the zone read. Time after time, the ends would crash down on the running backs, and give up the edge to Gabbert. Let the inside guys defense the running back, and tell the end to clobber the QB no matter what. They were taken advantage of multiple times, and it happens this way each time they play a zone read scheme.
- I think it's safe to say that Jason Garrett was a little excited with Claiborne's stop on the 4th down pass to Torrey Smith. That, or he had a seizure.
- On a completely different note, Patrick Reed is my favorite golfer. What a tremendous match against McElroy today, and a fantastic week for the USA Ryder Cup team.
- And, to close this in a bizarre manner, Philip Rivers had a streak of over 140 passes without an interception snapped today. The man who victimized Rivers? B.W. Webb.
