With no Virginia game to talk about this past weekend, I thought I'd dive into my NFL team, the Cowboys, and share some of my thoughts on the season so far:
After a slow start, Ezekiel Elliott is beginning to assert himself as a dominant running back.
The rookie out of Ohio State had huge expectations after Dallas took him fourth overall in the draft, sometimes considered a reach for a tailback. And indeed, Darren McFadden was able to gain more than 1,000 yards behind Dallas' great offensive line last year. But after struggling in the opener against the Giants (20 rushes, 51 yards), Elliott has really come on as of late and is starting to show that he was a necessary upgrade at the position. He's leading the league with 546 rushing yards and also has five TDs and has caught nine passes for 81 yards for the 4-1 Cowboys. He's increased his yards per carry average each game (2.6, 4.0, 4.7, 6.0, 8.9) and showed off impressive and somewhat surprising speed on a 60-yard breakaway
touchdown against the Bengals on Sunday. A few games ago, he said he was working on his patience, and it seemed to pay off on a nice run around the corner against Cincinnati where it seemed like he was barely half speed, instead picking his way through gaps in the defense then turning it upfield for a nice gain for more than 10 yards. It is ironic to think that a running back can hit a hole too hard and fast, but that might have been the case with Elliott. The game could be starting to slow down for him, a potential problem for opposing defenses.
The defense is playing solidly.
The Cowboys' defense has yet to give up more than 23 points in a game, is ranked 19th in yards per game allowed via the pass, 11th against the run and 16th overall. With somewhat limited resources to work with, third-year defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is once again cobbling together a defense than can do enough for the Cowboys to succeed. In Dallas' 12-4 season of 2014, the defense was ranked 19th overall in yards per game and was 17th last year despite the team going 4-12. The defense was criticized last season for giving up crucial plays, but was overall pretty solid considering the lack of help received from the offense. This defense just put on its best performance of the season, allowing just 14 points to the Bengals, which were scored in the fourth quarter, also the first quarter that Cincy got into the red zone. Quarterback Andy Dalton was harassed all day and sacked four times. It helps that Dallas got out to a 28-0 lead and the Bengals were forced to throw, but it is encouraging that the pass rush showed improvement. Sean Lee is healthy (for the time being), Terrell McClain, also dogged by injuries in his career, is playing well, Demarcus Lawrence is expected to boost the pass rush even more and seemed to have an influence Sunday, and Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne seemed to have stepped up their games at cornerback. Claiborne had a nice breakup in the end zone defending A.J. Green on Sunday as did safety Byron Jones in the field of play. Barry Church, the other safety, had a key red-zone interception against Kirk Cousins and the Redskins in Week 2.
You didn't think I'd end this post without talking about Dak Prescott, did you?
The rookie quarterback out of Mississippi State was more of an afterthought than solid prospect when taken in the fourth round of the draft, and it seemed like he was destined for the practice squad. But he's been a revelation, easily taking command of the offense, showing great poise, solid accuracy, intelligence, and an ability to protect the ball Dallas sorely lacked behind Tony Romo last season. He finally had his first turnover of the season Sunday, fumbling in the second half, but still hasn't thrown an interception. Of course, everyone is talking about how well he is playing and the fact that he might be playing too well for Romo to take over again as starter when he's ready. An MRI revealed that Romo's back, which he hurt in the preseason, is healing nicely, and it sounds like he could be ready for the Sunday night game against the Eagles at home Oct. 30 after Dallas' bye. There was talk that the offense was limited for Prescott, which makes sense since he is a rookie who is just learning the scheme. But then the thought I heard this weekend was could the offense be limited when Romo comes back? Think about it. Romo has been prone to injury in recent
seasons. Prescott has some scrambling and running ability. Romo of course has been great at improvisation in his career, but at this point, the team is going to limit his potential for injury as best it can. Indeed, a little improvisation is sort of what hurt Romo against the Seahawks as he took off scrambling when he got hurt, instead of throwing the ball away. Prescott has three rushing touchdowns and has ran some read-option plays with Elliott. This is not something that Romo will be expected to do. Would the offense actually become more one dimensional with Romo? Surely, he knows the offense more in-depth than Prescott, but Prescott also has some playcalls, I bet, that would not be called for Romo. Every time Romo gets hit now, I wince, wondering if he will be OK. I don't have those sorts of worries with Prescott, who is solidly built at 6-foot-2 and 226 pounds, has had fewer injuries, and is 13 years Romo's junior. But for now, the Prescott-Romo saga is more curiosity than looming decision. I will say that my heart hopes Romo can come back, be healthy and effective, and lead the team on one more venture into the playoffs. But my head and eyes are telling me that Prescott is the future and does not look like some fill-in on the field. He looks good -- it is amazing how much better he looks than the backups last year almost to the point where it doesn't make sense -- and has the tools to possibly lead Dallas to the postseason this year. Let's wait and see what Prescott can do at Lambeau this weekend. The schedule thus far has been a bit lackluster but coming up, the Cowboys have the Packers, Eagles, Steelers, Ravens, and Vikings in four of their next seven games. There is plenty of time for this Prescott and Romo thing to sort itself out. At the very least, though, the Cowboys appear to have two capable quarterbacks that can be good options moving forward once Romo is able to play, a far cry from what was happening at this point last season. Like Jerry Jones alluded to, it is a good problem to have.
After a slow start, Ezekiel Elliott is beginning to assert himself as a dominant running back.
The rookie out of Ohio State had huge expectations after Dallas took him fourth overall in the draft, sometimes considered a reach for a tailback. And indeed, Darren McFadden was able to gain more than 1,000 yards behind Dallas' great offensive line last year. But after struggling in the opener against the Giants (20 rushes, 51 yards), Elliott has really come on as of late and is starting to show that he was a necessary upgrade at the position. He's leading the league with 546 rushing yards and also has five TDs and has caught nine passes for 81 yards for the 4-1 Cowboys. He's increased his yards per carry average each game (2.6, 4.0, 4.7, 6.0, 8.9) and showed off impressive and somewhat surprising speed on a 60-yard breakaway
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| Ezekiel Elliott has ran for more than 100 yards in each of Dallas' past three games. |
The defense is playing solidly.
The Cowboys' defense has yet to give up more than 23 points in a game, is ranked 19th in yards per game allowed via the pass, 11th against the run and 16th overall. With somewhat limited resources to work with, third-year defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is once again cobbling together a defense than can do enough for the Cowboys to succeed. In Dallas' 12-4 season of 2014, the defense was ranked 19th overall in yards per game and was 17th last year despite the team going 4-12. The defense was criticized last season for giving up crucial plays, but was overall pretty solid considering the lack of help received from the offense. This defense just put on its best performance of the season, allowing just 14 points to the Bengals, which were scored in the fourth quarter, also the first quarter that Cincy got into the red zone. Quarterback Andy Dalton was harassed all day and sacked four times. It helps that Dallas got out to a 28-0 lead and the Bengals were forced to throw, but it is encouraging that the pass rush showed improvement. Sean Lee is healthy (for the time being), Terrell McClain, also dogged by injuries in his career, is playing well, Demarcus Lawrence is expected to boost the pass rush even more and seemed to have an influence Sunday, and Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne seemed to have stepped up their games at cornerback. Claiborne had a nice breakup in the end zone defending A.J. Green on Sunday as did safety Byron Jones in the field of play. Barry Church, the other safety, had a key red-zone interception against Kirk Cousins and the Redskins in Week 2.
You didn't think I'd end this post without talking about Dak Prescott, did you?
The rookie quarterback out of Mississippi State was more of an afterthought than solid prospect when taken in the fourth round of the draft, and it seemed like he was destined for the practice squad. But he's been a revelation, easily taking command of the offense, showing great poise, solid accuracy, intelligence, and an ability to protect the ball Dallas sorely lacked behind Tony Romo last season. He finally had his first turnover of the season Sunday, fumbling in the second half, but still hasn't thrown an interception. Of course, everyone is talking about how well he is playing and the fact that he might be playing too well for Romo to take over again as starter when he's ready. An MRI revealed that Romo's back, which he hurt in the preseason, is healing nicely, and it sounds like he could be ready for the Sunday night game against the Eagles at home Oct. 30 after Dallas' bye. There was talk that the offense was limited for Prescott, which makes sense since he is a rookie who is just learning the scheme. But then the thought I heard this weekend was could the offense be limited when Romo comes back? Think about it. Romo has been prone to injury in recent
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| Dak Prescott has four passing and three rushing touchdowns. |
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