Plankton
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Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.
- Babe Ruth
It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
Not for this team, not for the way that they had rebounded from being on death’s doorstep.
But, as it has for the past 23 seasons, the Dallas Cowboys ended their season short of the ultimate goal – a Super Bowl championship. They were tripped up in the same spot as they have been for those previous 23 seasons – unable to advance past the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs. In their 30-22 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys sprung leaks in what had been reliable areas, and lost a game due to failing in an area where one week prior, they had dominated on the way to victory.
The line of scrimmage.
Against the Seattle Seahawks, the Cowboys owned the trenches on both sides of the ball, and used this advantage to control the pace and flow of the game. One week later, it was a complete 180° turnaround. The Rams, thought by many to be a high tech, finesse offense, went full out smashmouth and forced the Cowboys to play a game that they are not built to play. While dressing up their intentions in formation shifts and fake end around motion, the Rams rolled up their sleeves, and beat the Cowboys at their own game.
Whether you call it stuffing it in, down or through, the Rams established superiority at the line of scrimmage early in the game, and made a physical statement that rang through the entire night. If you entered the evening with knowledge that Ram QB Jared Goff would only throw for 186 yards without a touchdown pass, you likely would have signed up for that without any further consideration. It’s also likely certain that you would anticipate a Cowboy victory given a paltry stat line of 15 completions in 28 attempts for those 186 yards by Goff.
And, perhaps, in an offense built on deception and disguise, the result was the biggest deception of all.
It would be hard to fathom that this game resembled the 1986 Los Angeles Ram offensive style rather than the 2018 Sean McVay led Ram attack. With 1986 stalwart runner Eric Dickerson in the stadium watching, the Rams ran over, around and through the Cowboy defense with little resistance. In 1986, Dickerson abused the Cowboys for 248 of the Rams 269 yards rushing on their way to a 20-0 victory. The Rams of today didn’t have any one player match those stats, but the two headed monster of Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson provided similar numbers together. Both runners went for over 100 yards, but ground out yards in a manner that was slow death to the Cowboys. The Rams converted 17 of their 30 first downs in the game on the ground, a number even more daunting when you consider the Cowboys had 19 total first downs on offense.
Entering the game, the Cowboys had the number five rush defense in the NFL. This was accomplished on the back of the play of the front seven, who routinely reestablished the line of scrimmage on the opposition’s side. In this game, the Ram offensive line and tight ends had the Cowboy linemen on skates, and linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith likely had to fight off more blocks than they had all season long. The proof of the domination is in the pudding – the Ram running game went for 5.7 yards per rush, and the Cowboys only managed two tackles for loss in 76 plays faced. Too often, the Cowboy ends were handled by tight ends, and the defensive tackles, when not being moved around the field like blocking dummies, ran themselves out of plays. This left linemen free to get to the second level, and get Gurley and Anderson matched up on safeties to get tackles. A Cowboy defense meant to play with a lead and based on speed rather than bulk spent an ungodly 36:13 on the field, which is a recipe for disaster.
That ratio was enhanced by an offense that spent the night losing the line of scrimmage as badly as the defense did.
Entering the game, the Cowboys were thought to have a significant advantage with their offensive running attack matching up against a Ram defense allowing 5.1 yards per rush. The Rams were reminded of this throughout the week, and clearly they made an effort to eliminate the Cowboy rushing attack. They never allowed league rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott to get untracked, as he was held to 2.3 yards per carry in a substandard 47 yard night.
What was curious was there being no effort to get Dak Prescott involved in the running game, as the attack was bereft of zone read plays. The Rams, led by the efforts of Ndamukong Suh and added attention paid to likely defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, clogged the middle, and left precious little room for Elliott to operate. They forced Prescott and the passing game to beat them, and they were not up to the task. Prescott’s numbers on paper look good, but four straight drives that ended in punts left the defense in a position to log too many plays on the field, and allowed the Rams to open up a 16 point lead that proved to be too much to overcome.
If there was a play that summed the evening’s events up perfectly, it was the first play of the fourth quarter. The Cowboys had managed to cut the Ram lead to 23-15, and after forcing the only punt by the Rams all night, faced a fourth down and one from the Ram 35 yard line. With the extra time from the TV break to come up with a play, the Cowboys decided to go with their presumed strength. The play was wrecked from the snap, when Suh forklifted center Joe Looney back into Elliott’s path, and allowed the Ram defense to rally to the ball. Elliott had no chance, stopped by a half dozen Ram defenders, and the Cowboys hopes went from a mild flame to a flicker.
After the teams traded touchdowns, the Cowboy defense had one last shot to get the ball back to their offense. On a third and seven call, of all people, Goff rolled to his right, and ran 11 yards for the clinching first down. The visage of Sean Lee unable to disengage from tight end Tyler Higbee’s block as Goff ran for the clinching first down was a capper on an ineffectual night by the Cowboy defense.
The end of a season is always tough to digest, but considering where this team was following the Monday Night Meltdown against the Titans, it’s amazing that they got as far as they did. As fans, we have a real tendency to either overrate or under sell our team based off of the moment. While this defense had its moments where it looked like a dominating unit, it began to show some holes following the statement win over the Saints. Those holes looked a lot more glaring based off of the Ram showing, where the defensive tackles were manhandled and showed little difference making ability, and the safeties, whose tackling left a lot to be desired. These areas will need to be addressed in the offseason if this team is to take the next step.
While it would be simple to look back to the last time that these teams met in the playoffs as a direct comparison, one could look back to 1991 as a more direct one. The 1991 Cowboys unexpectedly qualified for the playoffs after getting off to a 6-5 start, and won a defensive battle against the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round. With the NFL’s leading rusher on offense, the Cowboys went into Detroit looking like a team on the rise. What happened was the holes on the defense being exposed for all to see, as Lion quarterback Erik Kramer dissected the Cowboy secondary for 341 yards passing and three touchdowns on the way to a 38-6 trouncing of the Cowboys. In the offseason, Jimmy Johnson made it his purpose to improve the pass defense and team speed, adding cornerback Kevin Smith, linebacker Robert Jones, safeties Darren Woodson and Thomas Everett (acquired in season), and most importantly, rush end Charles Haley. These acquisitions put a young team over the top, and began a dynasty.
The Cowboys have another young team, not having a starter over the age of 30 on the field on Saturday. They have holes on the defensive front and safety, as well as on the offensive line and tight end on offense. They lack a first round pick, but the acquisition of wideout Amari Cooper, and what he meant to the Cowboy offense appears to have been worth it. They will be armed with significant cap room to plug some of these holes with quality talent.
Saturday night was a difficult pill to swallow. The positive emotion and feeling entering the game vanished for many in the span of sixty minutes of game clock. What happened the previous week had no bearing on what took place in Los Angeles, and no carry over to what was seen on the field.
It’s now up to the Cowboys to decide whether they are more like the 1991 Cowboys, or the 1985 version of the team.
Either way, in this year to year league, what happened yesterday has no bearing on what happens today.
Other observations on Saturday’s game:
- Babe Ruth
It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
Not for this team, not for the way that they had rebounded from being on death’s doorstep.
But, as it has for the past 23 seasons, the Dallas Cowboys ended their season short of the ultimate goal – a Super Bowl championship. They were tripped up in the same spot as they have been for those previous 23 seasons – unable to advance past the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs. In their 30-22 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys sprung leaks in what had been reliable areas, and lost a game due to failing in an area where one week prior, they had dominated on the way to victory.
The line of scrimmage.
Against the Seattle Seahawks, the Cowboys owned the trenches on both sides of the ball, and used this advantage to control the pace and flow of the game. One week later, it was a complete 180° turnaround. The Rams, thought by many to be a high tech, finesse offense, went full out smashmouth and forced the Cowboys to play a game that they are not built to play. While dressing up their intentions in formation shifts and fake end around motion, the Rams rolled up their sleeves, and beat the Cowboys at their own game.
Whether you call it stuffing it in, down or through, the Rams established superiority at the line of scrimmage early in the game, and made a physical statement that rang through the entire night. If you entered the evening with knowledge that Ram QB Jared Goff would only throw for 186 yards without a touchdown pass, you likely would have signed up for that without any further consideration. It’s also likely certain that you would anticipate a Cowboy victory given a paltry stat line of 15 completions in 28 attempts for those 186 yards by Goff.
And, perhaps, in an offense built on deception and disguise, the result was the biggest deception of all.
It would be hard to fathom that this game resembled the 1986 Los Angeles Ram offensive style rather than the 2018 Sean McVay led Ram attack. With 1986 stalwart runner Eric Dickerson in the stadium watching, the Rams ran over, around and through the Cowboy defense with little resistance. In 1986, Dickerson abused the Cowboys for 248 of the Rams 269 yards rushing on their way to a 20-0 victory. The Rams of today didn’t have any one player match those stats, but the two headed monster of Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson provided similar numbers together. Both runners went for over 100 yards, but ground out yards in a manner that was slow death to the Cowboys. The Rams converted 17 of their 30 first downs in the game on the ground, a number even more daunting when you consider the Cowboys had 19 total first downs on offense.
Entering the game, the Cowboys had the number five rush defense in the NFL. This was accomplished on the back of the play of the front seven, who routinely reestablished the line of scrimmage on the opposition’s side. In this game, the Ram offensive line and tight ends had the Cowboy linemen on skates, and linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith likely had to fight off more blocks than they had all season long. The proof of the domination is in the pudding – the Ram running game went for 5.7 yards per rush, and the Cowboys only managed two tackles for loss in 76 plays faced. Too often, the Cowboy ends were handled by tight ends, and the defensive tackles, when not being moved around the field like blocking dummies, ran themselves out of plays. This left linemen free to get to the second level, and get Gurley and Anderson matched up on safeties to get tackles. A Cowboy defense meant to play with a lead and based on speed rather than bulk spent an ungodly 36:13 on the field, which is a recipe for disaster.
That ratio was enhanced by an offense that spent the night losing the line of scrimmage as badly as the defense did.
Entering the game, the Cowboys were thought to have a significant advantage with their offensive running attack matching up against a Ram defense allowing 5.1 yards per rush. The Rams were reminded of this throughout the week, and clearly they made an effort to eliminate the Cowboy rushing attack. They never allowed league rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott to get untracked, as he was held to 2.3 yards per carry in a substandard 47 yard night.
What was curious was there being no effort to get Dak Prescott involved in the running game, as the attack was bereft of zone read plays. The Rams, led by the efforts of Ndamukong Suh and added attention paid to likely defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, clogged the middle, and left precious little room for Elliott to operate. They forced Prescott and the passing game to beat them, and they were not up to the task. Prescott’s numbers on paper look good, but four straight drives that ended in punts left the defense in a position to log too many plays on the field, and allowed the Rams to open up a 16 point lead that proved to be too much to overcome.
If there was a play that summed the evening’s events up perfectly, it was the first play of the fourth quarter. The Cowboys had managed to cut the Ram lead to 23-15, and after forcing the only punt by the Rams all night, faced a fourth down and one from the Ram 35 yard line. With the extra time from the TV break to come up with a play, the Cowboys decided to go with their presumed strength. The play was wrecked from the snap, when Suh forklifted center Joe Looney back into Elliott’s path, and allowed the Ram defense to rally to the ball. Elliott had no chance, stopped by a half dozen Ram defenders, and the Cowboys hopes went from a mild flame to a flicker.
After the teams traded touchdowns, the Cowboy defense had one last shot to get the ball back to their offense. On a third and seven call, of all people, Goff rolled to his right, and ran 11 yards for the clinching first down. The visage of Sean Lee unable to disengage from tight end Tyler Higbee’s block as Goff ran for the clinching first down was a capper on an ineffectual night by the Cowboy defense.
The end of a season is always tough to digest, but considering where this team was following the Monday Night Meltdown against the Titans, it’s amazing that they got as far as they did. As fans, we have a real tendency to either overrate or under sell our team based off of the moment. While this defense had its moments where it looked like a dominating unit, it began to show some holes following the statement win over the Saints. Those holes looked a lot more glaring based off of the Ram showing, where the defensive tackles were manhandled and showed little difference making ability, and the safeties, whose tackling left a lot to be desired. These areas will need to be addressed in the offseason if this team is to take the next step.
While it would be simple to look back to the last time that these teams met in the playoffs as a direct comparison, one could look back to 1991 as a more direct one. The 1991 Cowboys unexpectedly qualified for the playoffs after getting off to a 6-5 start, and won a defensive battle against the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round. With the NFL’s leading rusher on offense, the Cowboys went into Detroit looking like a team on the rise. What happened was the holes on the defense being exposed for all to see, as Lion quarterback Erik Kramer dissected the Cowboy secondary for 341 yards passing and three touchdowns on the way to a 38-6 trouncing of the Cowboys. In the offseason, Jimmy Johnson made it his purpose to improve the pass defense and team speed, adding cornerback Kevin Smith, linebacker Robert Jones, safeties Darren Woodson and Thomas Everett (acquired in season), and most importantly, rush end Charles Haley. These acquisitions put a young team over the top, and began a dynasty.
The Cowboys have another young team, not having a starter over the age of 30 on the field on Saturday. They have holes on the defensive front and safety, as well as on the offensive line and tight end on offense. They lack a first round pick, but the acquisition of wideout Amari Cooper, and what he meant to the Cowboy offense appears to have been worth it. They will be armed with significant cap room to plug some of these holes with quality talent.
Saturday night was a difficult pill to swallow. The positive emotion and feeling entering the game vanished for many in the span of sixty minutes of game clock. What happened the previous week had no bearing on what took place in Los Angeles, and no carry over to what was seen on the field.
It’s now up to the Cowboys to decide whether they are more like the 1991 Cowboys, or the 1985 version of the team.
Either way, in this year to year league, what happened yesterday has no bearing on what happens today.
Other observations on Saturday’s game:
- With the headlines today that Jason Garrett plans on bringing the entire coaching staff back next year, including embattled offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and quarterbacks coach Kellen Moore, it calls into question whether anything will change in terms of scheme and packaging on offense. The attack needs tweaking, and the lack of deception in the offense needs to be addressed, especially on nights when the offensive line is losing up front, such as Saturday.
- For as good as the defense looked under Kris Richard for much of the year, we may want to cool the jets on his ascension to next great head coach. He was taken behind the woodshed by McVay, Zac Taylor and the Ram offensive staff, and had no answers to the Ram rushing attack. Richard is a promising coach, but this was not one of his finest hours on the sidelines.
- Joe Looney was a godsend and a revelation for much of the year, but if there were ever a game where Travis Frederick was missed, it was this one. Suh manhandled Looney all night long, and also gave Zack Martin a difficult time, and the inability to control the nose of the Ram defense rendered the running attack impotent.
- That being said, for facing the best defensive player in the league in Donald, Connor Williams did as well as you could expect. Donald didn’t get his first tackle until the second half of the game, and only had two on the night. Williams held up relatively well in pass protection, and gave some hope as to his potential once he adds some needed size and strength. If he can convert that to functional football strength, then the Cowboys may have the two most athletic starting guards in the league.
- If DeMarcus Lawrence hits free agency this offseason, he will want to burn this tape from his highlight reel. Lawrence was handled on many run downs by tight ends, and was zero factor in the game. There was not a player in the front four that distinguished themselves on Saturday. Maliek Collins was on the ground for a significant amount of the game, and Antwaun Woods was eaten alive by John Sullivan and Rodger Saffold. Poor run fits and an inability to hold the point killed the defense all night.
- If this was Sean Lee’s last game in a Cowboy uniform, it will be an innocuous end. Lee again looked a step slow in the game, and was unable to disengage from blocks throughout. Watching him unable to escape Higbee on the critical third down conversion by Goff running was tough to watch. Lee has been a terrific player for the Cowboys, but he didn’t put good tape out for much of the season. His body betrayed him again this year, but his play when healthy wasn’t up to his usual standard as well. He’s earned the right to decide whether to keep playing, but here’s hoping that he decides to begin the next phase of his career as a coach, where he’s likely to excel.
- While the officials generally had a good night, and let the teams settle matters on the field, the in the grasp call on Prescott was one of the more ridiculous calls made, and the explanation afterward was even more ludicrous. Not sure how to correct something like that, because it’s human error with a play being blown dead, but errors like that cannot be made, especially in a playoff game.
- Watching Taco Charlton complain for a holding call on C.J. Anderson’s 4th down touchdown that provided the winning margin reminded me of what Erik Williams used to say to his opponents late in games: take your @#$ kicking like a man. Was he held? Yes. Did it make a huge difference on the play? No. Does anyone think that Charlton would have made the stop on the play? And, furthermore, if the Cowboys were called for that penalty in that spot, there would be a call for an investigation.
- Speaking of which, that level of complaining was the most noise Charlton made on the field all season long. If there was a player on the roster under the microscope more than Charlton, I’m not sure who it is. For all of those saying Dak Prescott, at least he has had success in this league. Charlton did little to earn his paycheck this season, and should be forced to earn his roster spot in 2019.
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