Dak Prescott & Ezekiel Elliott vs. Bucs: As Of Halftime, Jason Garrett Cowboys Prediction Correct?

ARLINGTON - Jason Garrett, via his NBC studio seat, offered the Dallas Cowboys some advice on how they could beat the Tampa Bay Bucs in Sunday’s Week 1 NFL opener.

“They have to quiet the game down ... They have to hand the ball to Zeke Elliott time and time again in the middle of the defense,” Garrett said, via his first-year gig as part of NBC’s “Football Night in America” crew. “It might not be real productive, but they have to be patient …”

It sounded conservative. It sounded bland. It sounded boring. (Dez Bryant certainly thought so.)

But as of halftime of this game here at AT&T Stadium, with Tampa up 12-3, as it relates to Ezekiel Elliott and Dallas' approach?

Maybe Garrett, the former Dallas head coach, is also sounding ... right.

A year ago in Week 1, Dallas lost this matchup, 31-29, while Dak Prescott threw 58 passes, with Zeke totaling just 11 carries and 33 yards.

This time around? Early in the game - in fact, after just one quarter - Elliott had already accumulated five carries for 27 yards, doing damage by running right at Tampa's vaunted front.

Meanwhile, there is a paucity of play-making outside ... and Dak's most notable first-half play was a "jump-pass'' interception tossed into a bushel of Bucs.

Closer #TomBrady gets to end zone, more #Cowboys #MicahParsons gets to sack him. pic.twitter.com/cGrYmwKUfv
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) September 12, 2022

But then emerged another problem: Zeke's six-carries-for-32-yards halftime total. So it can be argued that the concept started right but ran out of gas. ... and Dallas (with CeeDee Lamb's one catch for 16 yards) is still starving for offensive playmakers.

We have documented in this space the problem Dallas might have in trying to run Elliott into the teeth of Tampa’s stout defense. But it has been effective enough, at least in the early going, and at least in the sense of keeping the game close against Tom Brady and the slightly favored Bucs.

Eventually, of course, a problem is brewing if a team is so conservative that it fails to ever score a touchdown. And while it might be important to avoid a shootout - Prescott threw for 403 yards and three TDs last year in Week 1 but needed 58 throws to do it - somebody on coach Mike McCarthy’s offense is going to have to make a massive play. ...

Closer #TomBrady gets to end zone, more #Cowboys #MicahParsons gets to sack him. pic.twitter.com/cGrYmwKUfv
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) September 12, 2022

Because they can't leave it up to Micah Parsons (two sacks as Brady twice flirted with the end zone) to make every massive play.

Said Garrett: “One thing they can’t do is throw it 58 times like they did last year. They have to be balanced. That’s the formula against this (Tampa Bay) defense.”

Dallas has largely followed that plan. Maybe the game is close as a result. But at some point, Dallas is also going to have to score touchdowns.

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