News: DC: Scout's Eye: Dez's Dominance, Dak vs. The Blitz, Defense's Identity; More

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ARLINGTON, Texas – This week is going to work a little bit differently¸ thanks to the short schedule for Thanksgiving.

Right after the Cowboys finished off their 27-17 win against Baltimore, I went back to my office at The Star and got to work on the game tape. Here are my top impressions from the Ravens film.

Immediately after posting this, I’m going to get to work on the tape for the rematch with Washington. The short week schedule isn’t easy on anyone – and that includes the media.

So with that in mind, this is what jumped off the tape from Sunday’s game against Baltimore.


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• I thought the offensive play that turned this game around for the Cowboys was the 2nd-and-18 pass to Dez Bryant. Two things made that pass work: the empty formation forced Eric Weddle to have to cover Lance Dunbar in the slot, and the free access in the route by Shareece Wright allowed Bryant to get inside. When Weddle went with Dunbar inside, that left Bryant one-on-one with Wright, who had no help to the inside. The Ravens’ other safety, Lardarius Webb, was shaded to the other side of the formation and it gave Bryant the confidence that he could get inside and make the play uncontested. Prescott put the ball right where he had to at eye level for Bryant and he was able to do the rest.
  
• Scott Linehan knew the Ravens were going to double Dez Bryant in the red zone. With the ball on the left hash, he called a play that moved the pocket to the open side of the field with Dak Prescott. On the “dash” to the right, Jason Witten stayed in to that side to secure the corner. Witten was able to hold off Albert McClellan long enough to get Prescott to the edge. Cole Beasley lined up behind Terrance Williams to the side that Prescott sprinted. The Ravens doubled Williams with Lardarius Webb and Tavon Young. That left Beasley working on Jerraud Powers one-on-one near the front corner of the end zone. Powers made the mistake of taking a peek at Prescott instead of staying with Beasley – and Beasley made a move to free himself. Once Beasley felt Powers out of position, he adjusted his route to the outside in order to give Prescott a small window to deliver the ball, which he was able to do for the score.

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