I will spare you the speech about how difficult it is to win in the NFL – especially on the road in the division against arguably your most hated rival. By now, if you read what I write, either you disagree and offer a customary “meh, they are a 3-win team” or you agree with me that horrible things happen on the road for merely every team in pro football. The Cowboys have had to scratch and claw this year for anything and everything this season and you wouldn’t expect things to change at this point, right?
Clearly, my holiday schedule has burned me this morning, as
I planned on writing about the game against the Redskins and leave a look at
the Eagles for those who are not snowbound in a Wisconsin town, but the events
of Monday are certainly front and center now. Tony Romo’s status for Game #16 is now a central plot line
that must be addressed as well and we will attempt to visit about both this
morning before my wife scolds me for not really being on vacation if I am still
typing about football.
Let’s start with Sunday. I did not expect the Cowboys to win on Sunday going into the
game because I know that Jim Haslett and his defense has given the Cowboys fits
over the last several meetings with his endless array of blitzes and exotic
pass rushes. It isn’t just about
the blitzes in numbers, but it is the constant mental gymnastics that are
caused with his linebackers rushing from such close starting points that you
often have 7 players lined up across the line of scrimmage at the same
distance. Then, many times, 3 will
drop off, but you never know which 3 and this is what can allow for free
rushers to come through because of assignment confusion and they can still drop
up to 7 players in coverage which willl occasionally have a QB throw hit them
right in the numbers as he never expected them to be where they are.
If pass protection and blitz pickup is still the number one
kryptonite of this offense and Haslett seems to tailor his attack perfectly to
upset the Romo/Garrett attack, well then you can understand that once I factor
in the ineptitude of the defense – especially when Sean Lee is unavailable – it
seemed rather easy to offer some pessimism about this team’s ability to push
the season’s stakes ahead to the final week with a road win in Washington.
And, offensively, it did appear that the Redskins troubled
the Cowboys throughout the affair with a combo-platter of blitzes and pressures
that limited the Cowboys yardage to another pedestrian total that just barely
topped 300 yards on the game’s final play. But, that final play – all 10 yards of it – meant so much
that you can understand the team not caring about only 309 yards when they
hopped on the plane with 1 victory to show for their hard work.
If you consider that the first TD drive was just 3 yards
after a lovely Christmas gift from new and temporary return man Michael
Spurlock on his first touch with the organization, you really can see how
things were not very good for the offense from that point until the 4th
Quarter.
The 2nd drive ended because a free rusher was
bearing down on Romo and he had to unload the ball on 3rd and
long. The 3rd drive was
the rare 8 man blitz (something we have not seen in several years of tracking
the opponent’s blitz plans for the Cowboys) for a sack that brought on the punt
team again. Dallas then answered
the bell in the 4th drive with all heavy lifting performed by Romo,
DeMarco Murray for his huge run of 43 yards and then one of the best plays of
Romo’s career to stay alive under duress for long enough to deliver a touchdown
on a post to Dez Bryant late in the 2nd Quarter.
From there, the opening drive of the 2nd half
brought more pressure and shorter time in the pocket for Romo who then hit new
fullback Tyler Clutts in the flat for his first opportunity to touch the ball
as a Cowboy when a hit from Josh Wilson knocked the ball loose and the ball was
turned over. It was the worst
possible way to start the 2nd half by giving Washington life with a
short field and they immediately cashed it in for touchdown and the game was
back on.
Then, the very next drive showed promise until a back
shoulder fade to Dez appeared to lose all hope when Bryant slipped and the ball
that likely shouldn’t have been thrown anyway was now easily received by
Cowboys’ nemesis DeAngelo Hall for another giveaway. This, as expected, was also cashed in for a short-field
Touchdown and now a game that the Cowboys were steering all afternoon was
flipped with 2 turnovers and 2 touchdowns for Washington.
They had life, the stadium was rocking, and the Cowboys were
in trouble, down 20-14.
And now, with a 2nd half with composure slipping
away, the very next drive also would be marked under the failure heading as it
included an incompletion on 1st down to Dez against a blitz, an
incompletion on 2nd down to Dez against the blitz, and finally a
Ryan Kerrigan sack on a blitz that included a stunt and a big hit on Romo to
end the drive with a demoralizing punt with the game slipping away.
This, of course, is where you have to recognize that this is
very much a team sport that requires both sides of the ball (and special teams)
to pull their own weight and sometimes the weight of the other sides that are
underperforming. The much-maligned
defense has been struggling to do anything for the last several weeks and now
are in a spot where getting a stop is a rare occasion and worthy of
celebrations. The Redskins, with a
steady diet of Kirk Cousins to Pierre Garcon and Alfred Morris on the zone runs
were getting way too comfortable against the accommodating Dallas defense.
From the mid point of the 1st Quarter until early
4th, the Redskins had the ball 6 timed and scored on 5 of them with
the only unsuccessful drive being a missed throw to Santana Moss in the red
zone that Jeff Heath intercepted.
But, all 6 drives either ended with points or with a trip to the red
zone. That is more of the same
from Chicago and Green Bay and when JJ Wilcox inexplicably piled on Moss late
in the 3rd to extend a Redskins drive that was dead, the unraveling
was underway again. A few plays
later, Washington kicks another field goal, and now, with the 4th
Quarter left, they are up 23-14 and the heartbeat of the season was certainly
lacking strength in Dallas.
But, the 4th Quarter contained many, many talking
points of note. First, on a 3rd
and 4 play to start the Cowboys 9th drive (and first that would be
successful since the Romo to Bryant TD way back in the 2nd Quarter),
Terrance Williams made a wonderful catch before being hit hard by Brandon
Meriweather on the sideline to move the chains. But, the big moment here is that Brian Orakpo injured his
groin as he pushed against Tyron Smith with little success and was lost for the
remainder of the contest.
Orakpo is a fantastic pass rusher and someone who is not
always available due to injury to Haslett, and I found his response to his
absence to be interesting. From
that injury until the end of the game, Haslett almost completely stopped
blitzing. In fact, on 9 of the
last 11 passes, there was only 4 men rushing and this is where the Cowboys were
successful through the air.
In fact, Romo
went 7 for 11 on those final 2 drives for 125 yards and a touchdown all with an
injury that occurred on the very first throw of that sequence. Romo was clearly hurt and unable to move
very well, and yet Haslett stopped blitzing him when his mobility and perhaps
his mental resolve to hold the ball and make a play would have been at its
worse. This combination of events
really requires explanation from a Redskins’ coaching staff that has befuddled
on a regular basis this season.
The best moment on the drive that ended with a Dan Bailey
chip shot was the play to Cole Beasley on 4th and 6 that went for 20
yards. Beasley has really
developed this season for a QB who has a history of only trusting those who he
believes has earned it, and Cole clearly has that trust to get opportunities on
so many big 3rd and 4th down situations. Dez and Romo just missed on a replay of
the 2nd Quarter Touchdown as the ball could have been better delivered
and better received so they settle for the kick and it is 23-17 with 6 minutes
to play.
The defense has had very few moments to scream about in
December, but their stops late are worth mentioning. Alfred Morris scored a touchdown with 3:41 to go in the 3rd
Quarter and at the moment had 19 carries for 83 yards for a powerful 4.37 yards
per carry. But, in the 4th
Quarter as the Redskins are trying to kill the game with the ground and pound
approach, they limited Morris to 5 carries for 5 yards. This was an unexpected and impressive
stand over the final quarter that saved the game for the Cowboys, mostly due to
forcing repeated 3rd and longs in the final quarter. One was extended by JJ Wilcox’s poor
judgment, but the others were all longer passes that resulted in one conversion
and 2 stops for the Dallas defense that all started with run stops on early
downs, with particular credit going to Nick Hayden who has not had much nice
said about him this season, but crashed through at a few critical times late. Orlando Scandrick’s play on Garcon on a
3rd and 6 brought on the punt team and set the table for another
do-or-die drive for Romo and his troops.
The best way to stay out of 3rd Downs when you
are very poor at converting them is to convert early, and on 2nd and
10 Romo hit Williams for 15 and then on the next 2nd and 10, it was
a double move and a huge 51 yard pass to Williams again over the top as Romo
and Williams went to work on Josh Wilson again and his slip made it all
possible. From there, a quick pass
to Dez Bryant put the ball inside the 5 with a 1st and goal with
2:16 to play.
1st down showed DeMarco barreling down to the
1. But, after the 2:00 warning, 2
consecutive plays showed that while the offensive line is improved, they are
not bullies and the interior of the Redskins DL, led by Chris Baker and Barry
Cofield, pushed back Ron Leary and Travis Frederick on consecutive plays – the
2nd of which caused the incredibly rare 9 yard loss as Murray was
perhaps too eager to fight and not accept his moderate loss in exchange for a
gigantic loss.
So, now it was down to one play. 4th and goal from the 10. Again, Haslett, with the game on the
line allows Romo to only face a 4-man rush, perhaps playing the scenario out
that he cannot let Dez or Witten find any space on this 1 play that will decide
the game. And, dropping 7 worked
well for those targets in the endzone.
Lucky for Romo, it did not account well for DeMarco who was in a
check-and-release posture and after chipping Kerrigan on Doug Free, Murray
received the ball at about the 4 and beat DeAngelo Hall to the pylon.
The play, like the 4th down to Beasley earlier,
was a play that required perfection or the game and season was over and Romo
delivered in a situation that took some intestinal fortitude and determination
with the cynical football world watching and waiting for another wave of
judgment on his entire body of work.
It was a very big win and like I said, one I didn’t really
expect. They now set themselves up
to play for the entire divisional title in a home matchup with the Eagles that
will also allow them to complete a season with divisional sweeps of all others
in the NFC East. The rarest of
divisional sweeps that would certainly determine the best team in this rather
mediocre division.
However, the complications of Monday make this a bit more
difficult to decipher as the status of Romo has been declared “out” by many
respected media members (with their inside sources). Now, I cannot help but be skeptical because I know Romo’s
reputation of staying in the action even when in intense pain and because the
media assured us Dez Bryant was out last year and he played through it.
I have no idea if Romo can play, but I certainly want him to
do exactly that. Kyle Orton should
provide reasonable play, but this team needs Romo to function at their best and
he needs this moment as well.
But, with the wildcards of Jerry Jones and Cowboys drama
swirling all week, we will have to wait all week to find out who is under
center on Sunday night with the world watching Arlington, Texas.
It certainly is never dull around here. Why would it start now?
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