Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys got back onto the football field and back in the win column, coming out of their bye week with a victory over the struggling Raiders. In truth, this game was never close, and the 33-16 final score doesn’t reflect how lopsided this one really was. These five plays were instrumental in the Cowboys pulling ahead early.
The Cowboys offense did not start the game off right. After going three-and-out on their first drive, the second drive resulted in a strip-sack that set the Raiders up in the red zone. An already maligned Dallas defense was backed up in their own territory to start the drive.
What happened next was huge. Geno Smith dropped back to pass and was quickly swarmed by both Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams, who both brought him down. It was a loss of seven that immediately backed Las Vegas up and directly led to a third and long pass, which fell incomplete.
That sack was monumental in forcing a field goal from the Raiders on this drive. Without that big loss of yardage, the Raiders may very well have marched in the short distance needed for six. Instead, they got only three.
When the Cowboys finally woke up offensively and scored their first touchdown of the game, it put them up 10-6. At that point, the defense had given up consecutive field goals, playing well overall but not getting off the field quickly.
The next drive started similarly. A couple big runs got the ball to the Dallas 47, threatening another score. But on second and 10, Williams flew through the line of scrimmage and brought down Smith for his first full sack as a Cowboy.
That immediately led to a third and long, which in turn led to a punt. The sack from Williams blew up what was looking like another scoring drive and ultimately bought time for the Cowboys to rip off their second of three straight touchdowns.
Speaking of that touchdown, it almost didn’t happen. Dallas moved the ball fairly well after the punt set up by Williams, but two straight plays were stopped for no gain at the Las Vegas 14. Dak Prescott then dumped off the third down pass to Hunter Luepke, who rumbled forward for nine yards, coming up just shy of the marker.
That turned out to be just enough to convince Brian Schottenheimer – who has been one of the most conservative coaches in the league this year with fourth-down decisions – to go for it. Prescott found an uncovered Jake Ferguson in the endzone for a touchdown, paying off the gamble in a big way.
Luepke deserves credit for making the fourth-down decision easier, and Schottenheimer deserves credit for doing what needed to be done. A field goal here would have kept the game a one-score affair, but the touchdown marked...
