Plankton
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The Big Easy was anything but that on Sunday night.
In fact, the phrase, The Big Easy, could have been applied to the approach of the Dallas Cowboys on offense. In a city known for its fun, excitement and flavorful food, the Cowboys served up a dish of straight vanilla. Bland approach on offense, and as a result, little in the way of tangible results. If we didn’t know any better, the performance and style on the field looked like Scott Linehan redux rather than the imaginative stylings of Kellen Moore that the fan base had grown accustomed to over the first three weeks of the season.
In the 12-10 loss to the Saints, the Cowboys allowed themselves to be dragged into trench warfare and a slog of an affair. The Saints, ordinarily a high flying offense of their own, played to the limitations of their replacement quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater. Despite being a product of the 2014 draft, Bridgewater has less starting experience than that of Dak Prescott, selected two years later. Sean Payton recognized that his team was not equipped to get into a shootout, and slowed the pace offensively. The Saints were just effective enough on third down (43% conversion rate) to string out long drives. They weren’t able to finish those drives, due in some part to a stiffening Cowboy defense in the red zone, some in part to ill-timed penalties. The Saints played keep away (they won the time of possession battle 36:04 to 23:56), and forced the Cowboys to grind out drives.
In a man versus man, talent versus talent battle, you would think that the Cowboys would be well equipped, especially in this game, to win their matchups throughout the night. However, when you look at many of the big ticket players for the Cowboys on offense, their performances didn’t match their paychecks. Ezekiel Elliott? Averaged 1.9 yards per carry, and killed a potential drive with fumble on a fourth and one carry. This fumble was converted into a field goal just before the halftime gun, and contributed to the two point defeat. Amari Cooper? Had his lunch eaten by Marshon Lattimore all game long, held to 48 yards in receptions and committing two pass interference penalties. Zack Martin and Travis Frederick? The Pro Bowl interior tandem on the Cowboy offensive line were taken behind the woodshed by David Onyemata and Malcom Brown, losing the battle at the line of scrimmage time and time again in the run game.
It was this inability to run the football that led to the Cowboys fortunes living and dying on third down. Coming into the game, the Cowboys were a league best at converting on third down. In this game, their efficiency was way down. This was where the effect of the home crowd was most felt. On third down, the Cowboys had difficulty audibling out of their plays, and the need to go down the line communicating allowed the Saints plenty of time to counter the Cowboy changes.
Perhaps it was also a concession to the noise in the Superdome, but there was not nearly as much motion as had been seen in previous games. Gone also were the zone-reads that make Prescott a difficult quarterback to defense. The Saints squeezed the field without any fear of the Cowboys going deep on them. Entering the contest, Prescott had averaged 9.79 yards per attempt. In this game, the Saints reduced that number to 6.2 yards per throw. The Cowboys, who had largely dictated to their opponents over the first three games what they were doing on offense, seemed all too willing to submit to what the Saints were doing defensively, reducing them to a horizontal attack. Without the threat of throwing over the top, and with the running game stuck in the mud, the offense looked much like the sputtering unit seen in the first half of the 2018 season. Save for a pretty 35 yard pass to Blake Jarwin up the seam that set up the first Cowboy touchdown, and a desperation 32 yard toss to Randall Cobb to set up a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game, the Cowboys didn’t attempt to throw the ball down the field at all. With no deception in the attack, and being reduced to being one-dimensional, the Cowboys played like a unit resigned to their fate.
While the players lost their share of battles, no one was beaten more than Kellen Moore by Dennis Allen. Allen was one step ahead of the first time offensive coordinator all night, and forced the Cowboys to play the game on his terms.
While the defense bent, they never broke, and kept the team in the game in spite of the ineffective offense. Five sacks of Bridgewater helped hold the Saints to four field goals. Michael Thomas was held to a quiet 95 yards receiving, and Alvin Kamara fought to keep drives alive, but was below 100 yards of total offense himself. The Saints averaged a paltry 4.3 yards per passing attempt, and the defense more than held up their end of the bargain in this game. Allowing only 12 points on the road should have been a recipe for a road win.
Instead, it led to a difficult defeat due to the inability of the offense to stay out of third down. The inability of the offense to dictate to the Saints how the pace of play would go. The inability of the interior line to control the line of scrimmage in the run game. And, most of all, the inability of the coaching staff to vary the attack and force the Saints to defend the whole field.
Too much vanilla, not enough spice.
And, after a game where Tyron Smith went down in a heap late in the contest, and Leighton Vander Esch, DeMarcus Lawrence and Xavier Woods nursing injuries of their own, the Sunday tilt against the Packers looks a little more challenging.
Once again showing that nothing in the NFL is easy.
Especially in The Big Easy.
Other observations from Sunday’s game:
In fact, the phrase, The Big Easy, could have been applied to the approach of the Dallas Cowboys on offense. In a city known for its fun, excitement and flavorful food, the Cowboys served up a dish of straight vanilla. Bland approach on offense, and as a result, little in the way of tangible results. If we didn’t know any better, the performance and style on the field looked like Scott Linehan redux rather than the imaginative stylings of Kellen Moore that the fan base had grown accustomed to over the first three weeks of the season.
In the 12-10 loss to the Saints, the Cowboys allowed themselves to be dragged into trench warfare and a slog of an affair. The Saints, ordinarily a high flying offense of their own, played to the limitations of their replacement quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater. Despite being a product of the 2014 draft, Bridgewater has less starting experience than that of Dak Prescott, selected two years later. Sean Payton recognized that his team was not equipped to get into a shootout, and slowed the pace offensively. The Saints were just effective enough on third down (43% conversion rate) to string out long drives. They weren’t able to finish those drives, due in some part to a stiffening Cowboy defense in the red zone, some in part to ill-timed penalties. The Saints played keep away (they won the time of possession battle 36:04 to 23:56), and forced the Cowboys to grind out drives.
In a man versus man, talent versus talent battle, you would think that the Cowboys would be well equipped, especially in this game, to win their matchups throughout the night. However, when you look at many of the big ticket players for the Cowboys on offense, their performances didn’t match their paychecks. Ezekiel Elliott? Averaged 1.9 yards per carry, and killed a potential drive with fumble on a fourth and one carry. This fumble was converted into a field goal just before the halftime gun, and contributed to the two point defeat. Amari Cooper? Had his lunch eaten by Marshon Lattimore all game long, held to 48 yards in receptions and committing two pass interference penalties. Zack Martin and Travis Frederick? The Pro Bowl interior tandem on the Cowboy offensive line were taken behind the woodshed by David Onyemata and Malcom Brown, losing the battle at the line of scrimmage time and time again in the run game.
It was this inability to run the football that led to the Cowboys fortunes living and dying on third down. Coming into the game, the Cowboys were a league best at converting on third down. In this game, their efficiency was way down. This was where the effect of the home crowd was most felt. On third down, the Cowboys had difficulty audibling out of their plays, and the need to go down the line communicating allowed the Saints plenty of time to counter the Cowboy changes.
Perhaps it was also a concession to the noise in the Superdome, but there was not nearly as much motion as had been seen in previous games. Gone also were the zone-reads that make Prescott a difficult quarterback to defense. The Saints squeezed the field without any fear of the Cowboys going deep on them. Entering the contest, Prescott had averaged 9.79 yards per attempt. In this game, the Saints reduced that number to 6.2 yards per throw. The Cowboys, who had largely dictated to their opponents over the first three games what they were doing on offense, seemed all too willing to submit to what the Saints were doing defensively, reducing them to a horizontal attack. Without the threat of throwing over the top, and with the running game stuck in the mud, the offense looked much like the sputtering unit seen in the first half of the 2018 season. Save for a pretty 35 yard pass to Blake Jarwin up the seam that set up the first Cowboy touchdown, and a desperation 32 yard toss to Randall Cobb to set up a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game, the Cowboys didn’t attempt to throw the ball down the field at all. With no deception in the attack, and being reduced to being one-dimensional, the Cowboys played like a unit resigned to their fate.
While the players lost their share of battles, no one was beaten more than Kellen Moore by Dennis Allen. Allen was one step ahead of the first time offensive coordinator all night, and forced the Cowboys to play the game on his terms.
While the defense bent, they never broke, and kept the team in the game in spite of the ineffective offense. Five sacks of Bridgewater helped hold the Saints to four field goals. Michael Thomas was held to a quiet 95 yards receiving, and Alvin Kamara fought to keep drives alive, but was below 100 yards of total offense himself. The Saints averaged a paltry 4.3 yards per passing attempt, and the defense more than held up their end of the bargain in this game. Allowing only 12 points on the road should have been a recipe for a road win.
Instead, it led to a difficult defeat due to the inability of the offense to stay out of third down. The inability of the offense to dictate to the Saints how the pace of play would go. The inability of the interior line to control the line of scrimmage in the run game. And, most of all, the inability of the coaching staff to vary the attack and force the Saints to defend the whole field.
Too much vanilla, not enough spice.
And, after a game where Tyron Smith went down in a heap late in the contest, and Leighton Vander Esch, DeMarcus Lawrence and Xavier Woods nursing injuries of their own, the Sunday tilt against the Packers looks a little more challenging.
Once again showing that nothing in the NFL is easy.
Especially in The Big Easy.
Other observations from Sunday’s game:
- The acquisition of Robert Quinn is looking better and better by the day. Quinn is one player who won his matchup big time, dominating Terron Armstead. Quinn notched two more sacks, along with three quarterback hits and a batted pass. Quinn’s relentless energy, speed and bend around the edge is the best that the Cowboys have seen since DeMarcus Ware wrapped up his time in Dallas.
- Vander Esch continues to defy logic with his movement skills for a man his size. His play to defeat Erik McCoy to the spot and stuff Kamara short of a first down was a remarkable display of speed and explosion.
- Bad break on the roughing the passer call on Lawrence on third down toward the end of the first half. His impetus to the ground was forced by Ryan Ramczyk pulling him downward, but the officials are going to err on the side of caution, and call hits at the knee or lower every time as a foul.
- Elliott looked very sluggish on the field, and didn't play with much suddenness or explosion. There wasn't much in the way of running room in this game, but he didn't look like he played with a lot of energy. Elliott needs to deliver more than what he did in this game for the paycheck that he receives.
- All training camp, we heard of how Tony Pollard was going to be a real weapon for this offense. He rushed for 100 yards the previous week, and loomed as an option to be used in the passing game. Pollard only saw two snaps on offense last night. While the Cowboys were losing the time of possession game badly, two snaps for a potential weapon, especially when the offense and running game is sputtering, is mind boggling.
- While the interior of the Cowboy offensive line played poorly, at least in the passing game, Smith and La’el Collins were outstanding. Collins held Cameron Jordan to one quarterback hit, and that came when Jordan stunted inside of Collins, and Zack Martin was late to recognize this and adjust. You saw the value of Smith on the first play after he left with his high ankle sprain, where Marcus Davenport ran around Cameron Fleming and was a beat away from sacking Prescott.
- With Smith primed to potentially miss a few games, with the Packers, Jets and Eagles on the schedule prior to the bye week, the Cowboys will have to find ways to shore up the blind side protection for Prescott. Losing Smith not only impacts whomever is lined up at right defensive end, but it also impacts Connor Williams. Williams has had some difficult moments this season, and he will need to work on his communication with Fleming to ensure continuity on the left side of the line. This bears watching as an issue prior to the bye week.
- Now that Moore has skinned his knee for the first time as a play caller, he will have to work hard to ensure that he can counter what he is sure to see going forward. He needs to demonstrate that he can call an offense that will threaten a team down the field when they squeeze as much as the Saints were. He also needs to find ways to manufacture a running attack when they can’t run up the middle. The Cowboys didn’t challenge the perimeter much in this past game, and they never posed Prescott as a threat to run the football at all. It was surprising to see how submissive and passive the Cowboy offense was in this game given what had been seen the first three weeks.
