Plankton
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Situational awareness.
Bad teams lack it, average teams fluctuate on it, good teams have it, and great teams take advantage of it.
While there were some mind boggling moments where the Dallas Cowboys lacked it, when the chips were on the table in today’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cowboys took advantage of their situational awareness, and the Steelers lost the game because of it.
Situational awareness is an aspect that one would expect young teams to struggle with. In the game today, the young Cowboys did indeed struggle in this area. For example:
The Steelers, perhaps showing desperation as their season is on the brink, made two costly errors that aided in their defeat. First, with the Cowboys trailing 24-23, Steeler CB Ross Cockrell hit Cowboy WR Lucky Whitehead out of bounds, gifting Dallas 15 yards to help jumpstart a drive that gave the Cowboys the lead again. The second error was deadly, and ridiculous in its lack of discipline and awareness. It was a routine Witten catch for five yards that became a 20-yard play when Steeler rookie Sean Davis grabbed Witten’s facemask when Witten was stood up by multiple Steeler defenders. This error put the Cowboys into field goal range, but it was for naught when Elliott broke cleanly up the middle for the final dagger, a 32-yard sprint that provided the final margin – 35-30, Cowboys.
While people continue to say, just wait for this team to slip up, they just seem to march on, on schedule. This team has done a remarkable job of staying even keeled, and in the moment. It starts with the coach, who has done an excellent job of getting his team ready to play each week, but is fed even more from the two rookie stalwarts.
Prescott had some erratic moments in the first half, but when the stakes were the highest, he was his coolest. He hit 10 of his 11 passes in the fourth quarter, leading two touchdown drives that gave the Cowboys the lead. He was confident, precise, poised and decisive – everything that he had been through the first eight games of the season. If there is any doubt remaining that he is the future of this team (not that there should have been), then tonight eliminated it, with Prescott achieving a road win in a very difficult stadium in a very high leverage situation. A game winning drive of 75 yards with :42 remaining on the clock? Insane.
And, once again, Elliott showed that not only is he a front runner for the Rookie of the Year award, but he should be at the front of the line for NFL MVP. He showed his pass catching ability with his 83-yard touchdown catch and run on a screen play, and played a physical game. With the game in the balance, Elliott popped off two touchdown runs that showed his burst through the hole.
On a night when the defense allowed 448 yards, 30 points, and did not create a turnover, the offense carried the team across the finish line. The Cowboys continued their franchise best streak of 400+ yard efforts, extending the streak to seven games. Most importantly, they notched their eighth consecutive victory, and kept pace in the division, maintaining their two-game lead.
And, when they needed to be, they maintained their situational awareness, and let their veteran opponents lose theirs.
Other notes on today’s game:
Bad teams lack it, average teams fluctuate on it, good teams have it, and great teams take advantage of it.
While there were some mind boggling moments where the Dallas Cowboys lacked it, when the chips were on the table in today’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cowboys took advantage of their situational awareness, and the Steelers lost the game because of it.
Situational awareness is an aspect that one would expect young teams to struggle with. In the game today, the young Cowboys did indeed struggle in this area. For example:
- On the game’s first possession, Dak Prescott, facing a blitz up the middle, sidestepped it, but held the ball for too long. Anthony Chickillo stripped Prescott as he was attempting to throw, and the Steelers had an early turnover and a short field that they converted into the game’s first touchdown.
- On the Steelers' third possession, following a Cowboy TD, RB Le’Veon Bell was hit hard on a run by DeMarcus Lawrence, and fumbled. Cowboy FS Byron Jones had an easy avenue to fall on the ball and secure a turnover for the Cowboy defense. Instead, he tried to run with it, and didn’t secure the ball as it ultimately went out of bounds. It didn’t hurt the team, but it wasn’t smart on his part.
- DT Terrell McClain, lined up over the football, jumped offside trying to time the snap. This eliminated a 2nd and 15 situation into a more manageable 2nd and 10 on a drive where the Steelers took the lead before the half with a field goal.
- On a key drive in the 4th Quarter, on the first play following the two-minute warning, Ezekiel Elliott, who outshone the heralded Bell in this game, broke into the clear on a run off right guard. With the Steelers holding two remaining timeouts, and nursing a one point lead, the smart play would have been to slide down after getting the first down, but they converted for the touchdown anyway.
- Following the Elliott TD, the defense allowed themselves to fall asleep, and be lulled into being fooled by a fake spike, which Ben Roethlisberger converted into a touchdown pass to Antonio Brown to regain the lead.
- The Cowboys held Elliott to eight touches in the first half, and 15 through three quarters of play. He is their most dynamic player – he needed to touch the ball more in a game that promised to be a close battle.
- Mike Tomlin shows a tendency to go for two early in the game, no matter the situation. It cost him today. The Steelers failed to convert four separate conversions, and were chasing points all day that came back to bite them in the end.
- The Cowboys mismanaged the clock at the end of the first half. After receiving a punt from the Steelers with :45 seconds remaining in the first half, and the Steelers holding three timeouts. Three Dak Prescott incomplete passes later, the Steelers still had three timeouts left, and the Cowboys only took :25 off the clock. The Steelers ended up with a chance to tack on a field goal at the end of the half, and missed it, but it never should have come to that.
The Steelers, perhaps showing desperation as their season is on the brink, made two costly errors that aided in their defeat. First, with the Cowboys trailing 24-23, Steeler CB Ross Cockrell hit Cowboy WR Lucky Whitehead out of bounds, gifting Dallas 15 yards to help jumpstart a drive that gave the Cowboys the lead again. The second error was deadly, and ridiculous in its lack of discipline and awareness. It was a routine Witten catch for five yards that became a 20-yard play when Steeler rookie Sean Davis grabbed Witten’s facemask when Witten was stood up by multiple Steeler defenders. This error put the Cowboys into field goal range, but it was for naught when Elliott broke cleanly up the middle for the final dagger, a 32-yard sprint that provided the final margin – 35-30, Cowboys.
While people continue to say, just wait for this team to slip up, they just seem to march on, on schedule. This team has done a remarkable job of staying even keeled, and in the moment. It starts with the coach, who has done an excellent job of getting his team ready to play each week, but is fed even more from the two rookie stalwarts.
Prescott had some erratic moments in the first half, but when the stakes were the highest, he was his coolest. He hit 10 of his 11 passes in the fourth quarter, leading two touchdown drives that gave the Cowboys the lead. He was confident, precise, poised and decisive – everything that he had been through the first eight games of the season. If there is any doubt remaining that he is the future of this team (not that there should have been), then tonight eliminated it, with Prescott achieving a road win in a very difficult stadium in a very high leverage situation. A game winning drive of 75 yards with :42 remaining on the clock? Insane.
And, once again, Elliott showed that not only is he a front runner for the Rookie of the Year award, but he should be at the front of the line for NFL MVP. He showed his pass catching ability with his 83-yard touchdown catch and run on a screen play, and played a physical game. With the game in the balance, Elliott popped off two touchdown runs that showed his burst through the hole.
On a night when the defense allowed 448 yards, 30 points, and did not create a turnover, the offense carried the team across the finish line. The Cowboys continued their franchise best streak of 400+ yard efforts, extending the streak to seven games. Most importantly, they notched their eighth consecutive victory, and kept pace in the division, maintaining their two-game lead.
And, when they needed to be, they maintained their situational awareness, and let their veteran opponents lose theirs.
Other notes on today’s game:
- Very uneven game in terms of officiating. It hurt the flow of the game at some key times, and they missed a number of calls, especially Cole Beasley nearly getting his head screwed off by a Steeler defender on the game winning drive.
- I think the demise of Dez Bryant has been greatly exaggerated. Bryant played a terrific game today with a heavy heart. His route running today was the best that he had done all season.
- Tyron Smith struggled a bit with leverage when trying to block James Harrison on occasion, but his sealing block on Elliott’s game winner was outstanding.
- Ron Leary struggled a lot today.
- DeMarcus Lawrence was the one defensive lineman today who showed up. He made a couple of big plays behind the line of scrimmage, forced a fumble by Bell, and had the Cowboys’ only sack.
- Byron Jones was active today – 11 solo tackles.
- The coaching staff did a great job of keeping timeouts in the second half. Having them for the game winning drive was huge, and allowed the Cowboys to use the whole field in the passing game.
- This was a stressful, physical game that I’m sure took a lot out of this team. With the Ravens coming off of a Thursday night game, and having extra rest, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see the Cowboys have a letdown next week. The coaching staff will have to pull out all of their tricks to have this team ready.
- The Drew Pearson throwback is now 8-0. Need to keep this one in safe keeping.
