Plankton
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Team.
Total Effort Affects Mindset.
Football is often regarded as being the ultimate team sport, with eleven players working together as a unit, be it offense, defense or special teams, to achieve great things.
In the locker room following the Dallas Cowboys 33-19 victory over the Washington Commanders, head coach Jason Garrett indicated that this win was about team. Garrett was not wrong – the Cowboys got contributions across their roster to ensure a victory yesterday. Yes, in conditions best suited to grow rice, the Cowboys got a huge contribution from their star running back, Ezekiel Elliott, and their heralded offensive line asserted themselves throughout, but the extent of contributions were seen across other phases of the game to allow the Cowboys to overcome a slow start.
The most ignored phase of the game by casual viewers of the sport, special teams, led the way.
The Cowboys got off to a slow start in this phase as well. Recent acquisition Mike Nugent, signed on Tuesday to replace the most accurate field goal kicker in league history, Dan Bailey, hooked his first field goal attempt from 49 yards. The short field did the Commanders well, leading to a field goal of their own, and a 13-7 lead. Following a three and out by the offense, the Commanders took the ball down the field on a seven play, 55 yard drive before it stalled. As they lined up for a 36 yard field goal to extend their lead to nine points, the team rose up for the Cowboys, and seized the momentum from the Commanders with a swipe of the hand.
Or, should we say a swat?
The snap on the kick wasn’t clean, but holder Tress Way fielded it and got the hold down. Nick Rose’s kick was blocked by defensive end Tyrone Crawford (and if he didn’t block it, David Irving likely would have), and was scooped up by Orlando Scandrick. Scandrick used DeMarcus Lawrence as a lead blocker, and took the ball up the sideline for 86 yards. Two plays later, the Cowboys went from staring at a nine point deficit to having a one point lead.
The effort shown by Crawford, Scandrick and the Cowboy special teams affected not only the mindset of the Cowboys, but that of the Commanders. The next six Commander drives resulted in two turnovers, a sack to end the first half, 42 total yards, and no points. The Cowboys took advantage of this to open up a thirteen point lead that held up for a key division win.
Elliott overcame his first fumble of the season on his first touch of the game to rush for a season high 150 yards on a career best 33 carries. Despite getting off to a bad start on the same field that he fumbled twice on a season ago, the defense picked him up by holding the Commanders to a field goal. With the conditions being as they were, Elliott’s effort combined with the relentless effort of the offensive line in clearing holes allowed the Cowboys to grind the game out, and not have to rely on the passing game in poor weather.
The Commanders didn’t have the same luck. With a completely depleted offensive line, whose list of injured bodies increased as the game went on, Washington was completely unable to run the football, and put little effort into it from the second quarter onward. Throwing the ball with a backup offensive line is chancy enough, but to do it in a driving rainstorm is not conducive to success. Kirk Cousins was game, but took a beating from the Cowboys front. Irving had another strong game in his return from suspension, with two sacks, a forced fumble and a tipped pass that led to a game clinching interception return for a touchdown by Byron Jones. Crawford chipped in with a sack of his own, to go with his game turning blocked field goal. DeMarcus Lawrence continued his string of games with a sack, bumping his season and career best total to 10.5.
And, those pesky special teams were prominent in it all. Nugent rebounded from his opening miss to hit his next four field goal attempts, and had a strong day on kickoffs, holding the explosive Chris Thompson to a 20 yard return average. Chris Jones averaged 46 yards net on his punts for the game, and helped keep the Commanders in middling field position throughout the game. Keith Smith caused a fumble on returns.
As Garrett said, it was a total team effort to get this victory.
And, with this effort affecting the team’s mindset, the Cowboys are above .500 for the first time since the Cardinal win, and are playing their best football of the season.
Other notes from yesterday’s game:
Total Effort Affects Mindset.
Football is often regarded as being the ultimate team sport, with eleven players working together as a unit, be it offense, defense or special teams, to achieve great things.
In the locker room following the Dallas Cowboys 33-19 victory over the Washington Commanders, head coach Jason Garrett indicated that this win was about team. Garrett was not wrong – the Cowboys got contributions across their roster to ensure a victory yesterday. Yes, in conditions best suited to grow rice, the Cowboys got a huge contribution from their star running back, Ezekiel Elliott, and their heralded offensive line asserted themselves throughout, but the extent of contributions were seen across other phases of the game to allow the Cowboys to overcome a slow start.
The most ignored phase of the game by casual viewers of the sport, special teams, led the way.
The Cowboys got off to a slow start in this phase as well. Recent acquisition Mike Nugent, signed on Tuesday to replace the most accurate field goal kicker in league history, Dan Bailey, hooked his first field goal attempt from 49 yards. The short field did the Commanders well, leading to a field goal of their own, and a 13-7 lead. Following a three and out by the offense, the Commanders took the ball down the field on a seven play, 55 yard drive before it stalled. As they lined up for a 36 yard field goal to extend their lead to nine points, the team rose up for the Cowboys, and seized the momentum from the Commanders with a swipe of the hand.
Or, should we say a swat?
The snap on the kick wasn’t clean, but holder Tress Way fielded it and got the hold down. Nick Rose’s kick was blocked by defensive end Tyrone Crawford (and if he didn’t block it, David Irving likely would have), and was scooped up by Orlando Scandrick. Scandrick used DeMarcus Lawrence as a lead blocker, and took the ball up the sideline for 86 yards. Two plays later, the Cowboys went from staring at a nine point deficit to having a one point lead.
The effort shown by Crawford, Scandrick and the Cowboy special teams affected not only the mindset of the Cowboys, but that of the Commanders. The next six Commander drives resulted in two turnovers, a sack to end the first half, 42 total yards, and no points. The Cowboys took advantage of this to open up a thirteen point lead that held up for a key division win.
Elliott overcame his first fumble of the season on his first touch of the game to rush for a season high 150 yards on a career best 33 carries. Despite getting off to a bad start on the same field that he fumbled twice on a season ago, the defense picked him up by holding the Commanders to a field goal. With the conditions being as they were, Elliott’s effort combined with the relentless effort of the offensive line in clearing holes allowed the Cowboys to grind the game out, and not have to rely on the passing game in poor weather.
The Commanders didn’t have the same luck. With a completely depleted offensive line, whose list of injured bodies increased as the game went on, Washington was completely unable to run the football, and put little effort into it from the second quarter onward. Throwing the ball with a backup offensive line is chancy enough, but to do it in a driving rainstorm is not conducive to success. Kirk Cousins was game, but took a beating from the Cowboys front. Irving had another strong game in his return from suspension, with two sacks, a forced fumble and a tipped pass that led to a game clinching interception return for a touchdown by Byron Jones. Crawford chipped in with a sack of his own, to go with his game turning blocked field goal. DeMarcus Lawrence continued his string of games with a sack, bumping his season and career best total to 10.5.
And, those pesky special teams were prominent in it all. Nugent rebounded from his opening miss to hit his next four field goal attempts, and had a strong day on kickoffs, holding the explosive Chris Thompson to a 20 yard return average. Chris Jones averaged 46 yards net on his punts for the game, and helped keep the Commanders in middling field position throughout the game. Keith Smith caused a fumble on returns.
As Garrett said, it was a total team effort to get this victory.
And, with this effort affecting the team’s mindset, the Cowboys are above .500 for the first time since the Cardinal win, and are playing their best football of the season.
Other notes from yesterday’s game:
- It is rare that I will look at injuries as being a factor in anything, as every team has to deal with them, but the run of injuries that the Commanders have is scary. Entering the game without offensive linemen Trent Williams, Spencer Long and Brandon Scherff, linebacker Mason Foster and cornerback Breshaud Breeland, and tackle Morgan Moses at less than 100%, the M*A*S*H* unit needed to be in full effect for yesterday’s game. The Commander injured list increased, with Shawn Lauvao, the one healthy starting lineman, leaving the game, in addition to Williams’ replacement, T.J. Clemmings, and tight ends Niles Paul and Jordan Reed, amongst others. The Commander offense is completely decimated, and doesn’t look to be getting better any sooner. Expect them to drop out of the race, and leave the NFC East as a two team battle.
- With the above as a consideration, the Cowboys absolutely should have dominated this game. It was their own mistakes on offense that allowed this game to remain as close as it was. Five holding penalties on offense were absolute killers, and the Cowboys had to settle for field goals far too often. They were, however, the far more physical team in this game, and it became more evident as the game progressed.
- As much improvement as La’el Collins has shown at right tackle, especially in the run game, he struggled trying to block Ryan Kerrigan on passing downs. Kerrigan beat Collins for two sacks, and it appears to be a function of just not moving his feet well laterally. Collins needs to continue to work on and improve in this area.
- The teamwork by the offensive line on run downs continues to improve and become a strength once again. The Cowboys reestablished the line of scrimmage on the Commanders side throughout the game, and Elliott had creases to run through all game long. While the Cowboys didn’t break any huge runs off in this game, a part of this was due to Elliott putting more of an emphasis on ball security through the hole as the weather conditions worsened.
- With weather being the great equalizer in games such as these, credit L.P. LaDouceur, Travis Frederick, Dak Prescott and Chris Jones for their handling of the football during the game on snaps. The Cowboys managed to stay clean and fumble free on these exchanges in awful conditions, and the Commanders had issues throughout. This was no small factor in the way the game played out.
- Prescott played a smart game yesterday, not forcing the ball at all in the game. Before the weather conditions disintegrated completely, he made strong throws to Terrance Williams and Geoff Swaim for first downs on the first touchdown drive, and when the weather was at its worst, made an underrated tight window throw to the sideline to Ryan Switzer on third down to move the chains, and a short pass to Dez Bryant to convert another first down in the fourth quarter.
- Speaking of Switzer, he didn’t have the best of days in tracking and fielding punts, allowing a couple of kicks to roll deep into Cowboy territory, costing the team field position. While this is better than a fumble, Switzer seems a bit gun shy on returns since his game changing fumble against the Rams in Week 4.
- Anthony Brown had another tough day at the office on Sunday, allowing a long completion to Jamison Crowder to set up the first Commander touchdown, and a tough pass interference call to set up their second touchdown. While the call was at best suspect, Brown’s reputation of being grabby downfield likely did him no favors in garnering the benefit of the doubt. Brown’s play has regressed this year, and with the upcoming teams on the schedule, needs to improve and fast.
- While a win on Sunday is always important, a win during the week could be the most important one for the Cowboy hopes in the 2017 season. Elliott has a hearing this week in New York Federal District Court on his request for a preliminary injunction to prevent his suspension for alleged domestic violence. With an injunction, Elliott will likely be available for the entire season. Without it, Elliott will miss six games starting Sunday. As the offense has picked up its pace with the running game getting back on track, losing Elliott would obviously be a crippling blow to the Cowboys ability to defend their NFC East title. The ruling this week will be a critical one that will shape the remainder of the season for the Cowboys.
- The concussion suffered by Cole Beasley bears watching. While his numbers have been down this season, it’s largely due to extra attention from opposing defenses, which has opened up opportunities for others. Without Beasley in the lineup, more pressure will fall on Bryant and Jason Witten to help carry the passing game. It would also be an opportunity for Switzer to show his ability to contribute on offense.
- The schedule ahead continues to be a hard slog. The Chiefs will put a lot of pressure on the Cowboy defense with their innovative spread option concepts on offense, but their defense has been susceptible to being gashed on the ground. The Falcons continue to struggle offensively, but still are sitting at 4-3 on the season. The Eagle defense continues to be formidable, and their offense does present problems for the Cowboys with the abilities of Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz. And, on a short week, the Chargers present arguably the best pass rushing tandem the Cowboys will see all season in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. No layups over the next month, which made the win on Sunday all the more critical.
