Plankton
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If there were ever a week where the Dallas Cowboys needed a win, this was it.
If there were ever a week where the wait until a Monday night game was interminably long and unbearable, this was it.
And, in a week that featured varying forms of demonstration and protest following the words of the president, and a week where the season appeared to be on the brink for this Cowboy team, the men from Dallas united in an act of acknowledgement of the social tenor of the country, honored the flag, and proceeded to get punched in the mouth at the beginning of the game by the Arizona Cardinals.
The Cardinal offense went through the Cowboy defense like a hot knife through butter, sailing to an easy touchdown on their opening drive. The Cowboy offense, in response, still seemed to have taken a knee as the team did prior to the national anthem. Following a punt, the Cardinal offense picked up where it left off, this time methodically driving the ball down the field, and ending the quarter with a 140-3 edge in yards, and possessing the ball for over 13 minutes.
At the rate this was going, the Bronco contest was going to look like a heroic performance by the Cowboys compared to this.
As the Cardinals punched in what looked to be their second touchdown in as many possessions, the cracks began to form in their play. A holding penalty by RT Jared Veldheer wiped out a Carson Palmer to Ja’Ron Brown touchdown pass. Good coverage and a solid pass rush forced Palmer to scramble on third down, setting up a field goal attempt by the normally reliable Phil Dawson, signed by Arizona to provide stability at a position that had been an inconsistent mess for them.
It's at this point that we should harken back to a time in the Cowboys past, where the result here mirrored a similar momentum swing in a must win road game on Monday night.
Five days short of 21 years ago, Monday September 30, 1996, the Cowboys went into Philadelphia limping as a 1-3 team. They were a team missing their inspirational leader, Michael Irvin, who was serving the fifth and final game of his suspension for off the field issues. The offense was coming off of a dreadful performance in Buffalo, where they could only manage 192 total yards and 7 points, allowing a team led by Todd Collins to beat them.
That Cowboy team, embarrassed as they were, and as seemingly united as they were, proceeded to fall behind the Eagles 10-0. The fans at the Vet were in full throaty roar, as Tommy Hutton kicked the ball off to the Cowboys.
On a team where the stars were the Triplets, Deion Sanders, Leon Lett and Charles Haley, it was a play on special teams, by none other than Herschel Walker, that turned the game around and saved the season. Walker’s 49 yard kickoff return silenced the crowd, and led to the first Cowboy touchdown of the game. The Cowboy pass rush then rose up in that game, and the offense made enough plays to win a game that turned the season around for Dallas.
Fast forward 21 years, and it was again a special teams play that turned the game the Cowboys way, and with a pass rush that took the Cardinals offense out of rhythm, and an offense that made just enough plays, the Cowboys won a game that has the real potential to stabilize the ship for the 2017 season.
This time, it was a missed field goal by Dawson that shifted the tide to the Cowboys.
With that missed kick, and more importantly, the holding penalty by Veldheer that eliminated a touchdown, the Cowboy defense found the weak spot in the Cardinal offense to attack. And, attack they did. DeMarcus Lawrence, easily the MVP for the Cowboys thus far, put his stamp on the game. Lawrence was a game wrecker all night long, finishing with three sacks, six quarterback hits, and opened up opportunities for his cohorts on the line. The Dallas defense, on their heels at the game’s outset, planted their feet, and overwhelmed the Cardinal offensive line with pass rush force. Maliek Collins finished with two sacks of his own, Tyrone Crawford chipped in with a sack. The Cowboys had 11 quarterback hits to go along with their six sacks. This pressure invigorated the youthful back end, with rookies Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods, and three year veteran Byron Jones enjoying solid performances. The Cardinal offense had 144 yards after their first two possessions. In their remaining 10, they gained 188 yards.
On offense, the Cowboys struggled for most of the first half, but two touchdowns showing strong effort and desire provided the fuel to lift up the rest of the offense.
Dak Prescott’s somersaulting touchdown run, and Dez Bryant’s will-not-be-denied touchdown reception showed a spirit and mentality of a team that would not be defeated. In a week where the word quit was thrown around quite a bit, the offense, despite struggling for the second consecutive week, persevered and grinded their way to 28 points. Ezekiel Elliott, killed by the masses for his conditioning and effort a week ago, fought hard for his 80 yards, but kept the chains moving in the second half enough to allow the Cowboys to hold the ball. Effort was not an issue this week.
And, it was a redemption of sorts for Prescott, the subject of whispers that his success is wrapped in the ability of the Cowboys to run the football. Despite a running game that still is not clicking on all cylinders, Prescott used his feet to make plays out of the pocket, and put the Cowboys over the top. His two throws to Brice Butler on roll outs to the right were throws demonstrating arm strength and accuracy – two things that had been a question with Prescott on throws down the field. The dimension of making plays with his feet is in stark contrast to that of Palmer, whose inability to move made him a sitting duck in the pocket against the determined Cowboy pass rush.
It's too early to tell whether this performance is the type that will turn a season around as it did back in 1996. The performance was needed though, and the unity demonstrated in the lead up to the game was apparent on the field when the going got tough.
It was definitely a week where a win was needed.
And, the week very much resembled a moment from the past where the needed win was a springboard for the remainder of the season.
Other notes from last night’s game:
If there were ever a week where the wait until a Monday night game was interminably long and unbearable, this was it.
And, in a week that featured varying forms of demonstration and protest following the words of the president, and a week where the season appeared to be on the brink for this Cowboy team, the men from Dallas united in an act of acknowledgement of the social tenor of the country, honored the flag, and proceeded to get punched in the mouth at the beginning of the game by the Arizona Cardinals.
The Cardinal offense went through the Cowboy defense like a hot knife through butter, sailing to an easy touchdown on their opening drive. The Cowboy offense, in response, still seemed to have taken a knee as the team did prior to the national anthem. Following a punt, the Cardinal offense picked up where it left off, this time methodically driving the ball down the field, and ending the quarter with a 140-3 edge in yards, and possessing the ball for over 13 minutes.
At the rate this was going, the Bronco contest was going to look like a heroic performance by the Cowboys compared to this.
As the Cardinals punched in what looked to be their second touchdown in as many possessions, the cracks began to form in their play. A holding penalty by RT Jared Veldheer wiped out a Carson Palmer to Ja’Ron Brown touchdown pass. Good coverage and a solid pass rush forced Palmer to scramble on third down, setting up a field goal attempt by the normally reliable Phil Dawson, signed by Arizona to provide stability at a position that had been an inconsistent mess for them.
It's at this point that we should harken back to a time in the Cowboys past, where the result here mirrored a similar momentum swing in a must win road game on Monday night.
Five days short of 21 years ago, Monday September 30, 1996, the Cowboys went into Philadelphia limping as a 1-3 team. They were a team missing their inspirational leader, Michael Irvin, who was serving the fifth and final game of his suspension for off the field issues. The offense was coming off of a dreadful performance in Buffalo, where they could only manage 192 total yards and 7 points, allowing a team led by Todd Collins to beat them.
That Cowboy team, embarrassed as they were, and as seemingly united as they were, proceeded to fall behind the Eagles 10-0. The fans at the Vet were in full throaty roar, as Tommy Hutton kicked the ball off to the Cowboys.
On a team where the stars were the Triplets, Deion Sanders, Leon Lett and Charles Haley, it was a play on special teams, by none other than Herschel Walker, that turned the game around and saved the season. Walker’s 49 yard kickoff return silenced the crowd, and led to the first Cowboy touchdown of the game. The Cowboy pass rush then rose up in that game, and the offense made enough plays to win a game that turned the season around for Dallas.
Fast forward 21 years, and it was again a special teams play that turned the game the Cowboys way, and with a pass rush that took the Cardinals offense out of rhythm, and an offense that made just enough plays, the Cowboys won a game that has the real potential to stabilize the ship for the 2017 season.
This time, it was a missed field goal by Dawson that shifted the tide to the Cowboys.
With that missed kick, and more importantly, the holding penalty by Veldheer that eliminated a touchdown, the Cowboy defense found the weak spot in the Cardinal offense to attack. And, attack they did. DeMarcus Lawrence, easily the MVP for the Cowboys thus far, put his stamp on the game. Lawrence was a game wrecker all night long, finishing with three sacks, six quarterback hits, and opened up opportunities for his cohorts on the line. The Dallas defense, on their heels at the game’s outset, planted their feet, and overwhelmed the Cardinal offensive line with pass rush force. Maliek Collins finished with two sacks of his own, Tyrone Crawford chipped in with a sack. The Cowboys had 11 quarterback hits to go along with their six sacks. This pressure invigorated the youthful back end, with rookies Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods, and three year veteran Byron Jones enjoying solid performances. The Cardinal offense had 144 yards after their first two possessions. In their remaining 10, they gained 188 yards.
On offense, the Cowboys struggled for most of the first half, but two touchdowns showing strong effort and desire provided the fuel to lift up the rest of the offense.
Dak Prescott’s somersaulting touchdown run, and Dez Bryant’s will-not-be-denied touchdown reception showed a spirit and mentality of a team that would not be defeated. In a week where the word quit was thrown around quite a bit, the offense, despite struggling for the second consecutive week, persevered and grinded their way to 28 points. Ezekiel Elliott, killed by the masses for his conditioning and effort a week ago, fought hard for his 80 yards, but kept the chains moving in the second half enough to allow the Cowboys to hold the ball. Effort was not an issue this week.
And, it was a redemption of sorts for Prescott, the subject of whispers that his success is wrapped in the ability of the Cowboys to run the football. Despite a running game that still is not clicking on all cylinders, Prescott used his feet to make plays out of the pocket, and put the Cowboys over the top. His two throws to Brice Butler on roll outs to the right were throws demonstrating arm strength and accuracy – two things that had been a question with Prescott on throws down the field. The dimension of making plays with his feet is in stark contrast to that of Palmer, whose inability to move made him a sitting duck in the pocket against the determined Cowboy pass rush.
It's too early to tell whether this performance is the type that will turn a season around as it did back in 1996. The performance was needed though, and the unity demonstrated in the lead up to the game was apparent on the field when the going got tough.
It was definitely a week where a win was needed.
And, the week very much resembled a moment from the past where the needed win was a springboard for the remainder of the season.
Other notes from last night’s game:
- While many will continue to debate the issue, despite a quintessential Dez Bryant touchdown, it’s apparent that he is not capable of imposing his will on top cornerbacks at this juncture of his career. Bryant can and will beat up on the LaDarius Gunter’s of the world, but the Patrick Peterson’s, Aqib Talib’s and Janoris Jenkins’ will make him largely disappear. He does help in making teams adjust their coverage somewhat, but he just doesn’t take over games against that caliber of corner.
- It’s also readily apparent how much Jason Witten continues to slip as a blocker. He cannot adjust to a defender that is quicker than him at all anymore, and the stretch running plays are being blown up by his inability to seal off his defender. Clearly, he’s not going to come off the field, but his declining blocking skills are a contributing factor to Elliott’s slow start.
- Speaking of struggling, the offensive line has in no way resembled the “best line in the league” moniker hung on it the last two weeks. It’s very surprising, though, to see that Tyron Smith is playing the worst football of his career. He has missed more blocks in the last two weeks than I can recall in his time as a Cowboy. Travis Frederick hasn’t been much better. Whether it’s the presence of Chaz Green in between them that is causing their play to be spotty, the two All-Pro blockers need to step their games up and fast.
- I noted last week that the team was missing a wide out who can take the top off of a defense. Tonight, Brice Butler stepped up and made two plays down the field. He needs to build on it, and stop being the perpetual tease that he has been for his career.
- Jourdan Lewis has shown a real willingness to stick his head in and tackle, and is aggressive on the ball. He is playing far better than anyone had a right to expect considering he basically missed training camp. The future looks very bright for the rookie corner.
- On the other side, the knock on Anthony Brown coming out of Purdue was that he tended to be very grabby on other receivers as he would travel down the field. This was definitely on display last night. That was one game tape that will not be kind to Brown, who has otherwise been a good player for the Cowboys.
- Chris Jones had an awful second punt tonight, and one that made you wonder whether this was going to be the Cowboys night. The Cardinals inserted Patrick Peterson into the game to return punts after that, and Jones responded with 3 punts inside the 20 yard line, and allowed Peterson only one return for zero yards, that coming on a terrific open field tackle by Kavon Frazier. Tremendous response by Jones following a shank.
- Watching Dawson miss that kick reminds us how fortunate the Cowboys are to have Dan Bailey.
- While he is a member of the opposition, I could watch Larry Fitzgerald play football all night. He’s a remarkable football player who never quits on a ball. His play in stealing a pass from Orlando Scandrick was as good an effort as you will see. For a guy who isn’t a burner, Fitzgerald manages to get separation with his ability to disguise his routes, and his hands are likely the best in the league. Bryant can learn a thing or two from Fitzgerald on how to set defenders up and get separation.
- It’s a tough week ahead for the Cowboys, facing the Rams on a short week when they are coming off of 10 days off. The Rams will not be the same easy out as they have been in the past, and Sean McVay probably spent last night dissecting the first two Cardinal drives to figure out ways to attack the young Cowboy secondary. DeMarcus Lawrence has another favorable matchup this upcoming game against Rob Havenstein, and will need to play big again.
