'Slow Progress': Cowboys Push for Offensive Consistency in Crushing Win vs. Patriots
Complementary football. When it works, it looks superb, and on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys played it to a tee as they blew out the New England Patriots 38-3 to bounce back emphatically after last week's loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
With coordinator Dan Quinn's defense rediscovering its thirst for taking a quarterback's soul (Mac Jones was benched late in the second half as he had a QBR of just 14.8), Dak Prescott and the much-maligned offense again proved that they could play consistent football.
While the defense, which managed to intercept Jones twice (hello, DaRon Bland) and sacked him twice while also forcing a fumble, which Leighton Vander Esch took to the house, Prescott and company got over last week's troubles (sort of) and were as efficient as ... well, efficient enough.
“It’s slow progress, but slow progress is good progress at the end of the day,” running back Tony Pollard said. “We’re moving in the right direction. It’s early in the year, so I feel like we’re right where we need to be.”
Yes, the red-zone issues are still there (although Dallas finally managed to punch one on thanks to Hunter Luepke's first NFL touchdown), but for the most part, Dak looked every bit of the capable quarterback we know him to be ... oh, and there wasn't an interception for those following along at home.
On eight of the Cowboys' offensive drives, 23 points were scored (two touchdowns, three field goals), and the unit was only forced to punt twice all game. That seems good.
The Cowboys are the No. 1 team in the NFL in getting to the red zone (19 times in four games, tied with Buffalo Bills). But ... they've converted those trips into TDs just 35.7 percent of the time - third-worst in the NFL.
In the end, Prescott would finish his day by completing 28 of his 34 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown while having a QBR of 83.2. A little more "slow progress'' and ... That'll work.
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While Dak and the offense playing complementary football was good enough, so too was Michael Gallup's form and the play of Jalen Tolbert.
Gallup will be able to enjoy his efforts this week after hauling in five of his six targets for 60 yards as he backed up his six catches for 92 yards vs. the Cardinals.
Then there is Tolbert. After an impressive preseason, Tolbert saw his biggest workload on Sunday. He hauled in all four of his targets for 53 yards, which included three first downs ... not to mention his fine special-teams play that was made simply due to the effort he showed to make a bone-crunching tackle. He WANTED to make that play.
There is no such thing as "perfect" in the NFL, but in terms of being "complementary'' - a coach Mike McCarthy pet word - the Cowboys got awfully close on Sunday as they rediscovered their mojo. ... Which, as it turns out, returns just in time as the San Francisco 49ers are next on the Cowboys' schedule - for "all the marbles,'' as owner Jerry Jones put it.
