Here are the breakdowns from the offense's first two drives. I quit writing down my analysis after the first two drives. As you can tell by this, Cooper was solid on most of these snaps.
Keith Smith with an 11-yard return on a short kick behind blocking by Gathers and Lenny Jones. Jones' man beat his block to make the tackle, but neither got much of a push and about five Cardinals were there to make the play.
1st and 10 - Moore dropped back, right end stopped his rush, jumped and knocked down the pass. Looney and Cooper gave up ground on the interior, but it was a quick drop and pass. Collins and Bell doubled the left end and he went nowhere. Gathers went out into the right flat and a linebacker was right there with him
2nd and 10 - Handoff to McFadden behind right guard for 2 yards. It looked like he could have bounced it outside for a bigger gain because Collins just slapped the left end out of the play when he tried to stop his rush and play contain. Cooper took on the right defensive tackle and didn't get movement, but held him up long enough that he wouldn't have made the play. Bell and Looney doubled Nkemdiche, but got no movement, then Nkemdiche beat Looney to make the tackle when Bell peeled off to clear a linebacker from the hole. It's possible the linebacker would have gotten McFadden if he had tried to bounce the run. Gathers tried to block an end, who quickly ripped away from him and made the tackle along with Nkemdiche.
3rd and 8 - 6-yard slant to Andy Jones. Gathers went up the middle but didn't shake the linebacker. Collins set up well to force the left end to try to go around him. The end tried the arm-over technique, but Collins gave him a shove to make him no factor. Cooper and Looney doubled the right defensive tackle and he pretty much was stopped in his tracks. Bell's man, who I think was Nkemdiche, had him on skates and probably would have been able to put some pressure on Moore if it had not been a quick throw. Seems like we were expecting pressure on the play because of the quick, short throw.
Kickoff return - Lenoir with a 15-yard return. Gathers got knocked back as a blocker, which led to Lenoir bouncing the return toward the sideline. (There were a bunch of Cardinals in a clump, so it wasn't just Gathers' block that led to the decision, but it was the block closest to him at the time and with the most penetration.) Leon McFadden called for holding as he tried to prevent his man from pulling away and keeping Lenoir from getting around the corner.
1st and 10 - Pass to Smith for 8 on a roll-out. Dallas had the Cardinals going with the fake run to the right. Collins pushed his man that way then jerked him to the ground. Cooper had no problem pushing his man that direction, either. Gathers was on the right side of the formation, chipped Collins' man then blocked a DB and kind of got hung up on him. Bell's man forced his way by him and a couple of others were unblocked, but all three went for the play-action first which made it a fairly easy pitch and catch.
2nd and 2 - McFadden loses 4 when Looney gets beat badly off the snap. McFadden was heading toward right tackle, where Collins had not driven his man out of the way. However, without Looney's mistake, McFadden would have easily been able to cut inside the block. Cooper did a good job of taking his man down the line of scrimmage, but was looking to get off him and get to the second level. (Cleary was trailing and dived to knock Cooper's man down.) The left end went inside of Gathers, who then pushed him past the play. No blame for McFadden on that one. Nkemdiche blew it up, allowing a linebacker to come in and finish it.
3rd and 6 - Pass to wide-open Jarwin for about 15. Collins' man was kept well away, tried a spin move that didn't work, then tried to bull him back. Cooper and Cleary handled a stunt well, with Cooper taking his man to the ground. Bell allowed late pressure as the ball was coming out. Gathers was running a deeper pattern that went offscreen after he headed straight upfield.
1st and 10 - Fake handoff and deep ball to Butler, who raced through a weak jam and had his man beaten by 3 or 4 yards. Collins at first had no one to block, then assisted Bell to allow no pass rush from their man. Cooper knocked his guy back then gave up a little ground, but not enough to matter. Gather was on the line next to Cleary and took on a linebacker coming up on the run fake. He used his hands well to force the linebacker to stop and try to make a move to beat him. Clean pocket, no pressure on about a 44-yard catch and run.
1st and 10 - Handoff to McFadden going right around Collins and losing 4 yards. I'm not sure where McFadden was supposed to run on that play. It didn't appear to me the way that Collins was blocking that McFadden was supposed to take the run that wide. Collins got on his man and had him pinned to the outside, but was unable to drive him toward the sideline and McFadden essentially ran right into the tackle as well as a linebacker who came up to fill before Looney could get close to him on the pull. Cooper also got turned by his man who would have been there to make the play if the others hadn't. We had double tight ends to that side and Gathers did a pretty good job of holding up his man, but other than Bell, the line gave McFadden nowhere to go on that side. If he had cut the run up toward Bell's block, he might have at least been able to get back to the line of scrimmage.
2nd and 14 - Three-man rush, dump to Keith Smith for 3. Bell pass his man off to Collins, who had him blocked, but then Smith gave the DE a chip to the ribs that put him on the ground before Smith went out into his pattern. Cooper and Looney doubled the DT, then Bell came over and helped after passing off the end and that DL had no chance of going anywhere. No pressure. Gathers went over the middle and didn't look to be open.
3rd and 11 - 26-yard TD pass to Gathers. Moore given time to pat the ball and find him. Collins got pushed back toward Moore on a stunt that he and Bell picked up well enough. Cooper's man hit Moore after he released the ball by bulling Cooper back (and Moore stepping into his throw). Good throw by Moore where Gathers could get his hands up to catch it and good job by Gathers easily hanging on despite a linebacker draped on him and hitting his hands. Good concentration. Gathers didn't run away from the defender, but the ball was well-placed to allow him to use his size to reach up and grab it.
