Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys put in a statement performance on Monday night and came away with a huge win, scoring four touchdowns and keeping things stingy on defense. How did the Cowboys rookie class perform during the lopsided win? Let’s break it down and find out.
(Game stats- Snaps: 67, Pass Blocks: 32, Pressures: 2, Sacks: 0, Penalties: 1)
Booker’s night was mostly rock-solid, with one big lapse in discipline late in the game. Going into this game, Booker was at 432 total snaps with 288 pass-block reps, allowing just 12 total pressures, four QB hits and only one sack, plus three penalties on the year, which is very efficient volume for a rookie right guard. On top of that, PFF’s now charts him with a run-block grade of 77.2, which ranks 12th among guards in the NFL. He now has only seven pressures allowed on true pass sets, putting him in the top-20 among guards, meaning he’s among the top blocking guards this season which is impressive for a first-year interior lineman.
Against Las Vegas, the box score and flow of the game backed up the idea that he did his job. Dak Prescott went 25 of 33 for 268 yards and four touchdowns and was sacked only once all night, while the Cowboys rushed for 114 yards, including 93 from Javonte Williams. Nothing in the postgame breakdowns tags Booker with a blown protection on the lone sack, which came on a Maxx Crosby strip early on, and the interior seemed largely steady while Dallas strung together five straight scoring drives. The way the Cowboys leaned on inside runs and long, methodical drives suggests Booker held up well in both the run and pass game, in line with his season-long PFF efficiency numbers rather than standing out for any major mistakes in protection.
(Game stats- Snaps: 32, Total Tackles: 5, Pressures: 0, Sacks: 0, TFL: 2)
Ezeiruaku’s game against the Raiders was impactful without gaudy pass-rush stats. Las Vegas held him to a season-low pressure rate of 4.3%, so as a pure pass rusher this was one of his quieter outings of the year even though his season-long rate has him at 15.7% this year, making him among the better rookie edge defenders in the league.
The box score shows how he made up for that in the run game. He finished with five total tackles, two tackles for loss, and he wasn’t credited with any penalties on the night. The headline moment was the fourth-quarter safety with the Raiders backed up at their own one-yard line. The Raiders handed the ball to Ashton Jeanty and Ezeiruaku knifed straight through the right side to stone him in the end zone, with Sam Williams helping finish the play. Multiple recaps single that play as the dagger that killed any late Raiders momentum.
Overall, you’d call Ezeiruaku’s performance quiet as a rusher but big in moments. He had limited impact on Geno Smith’s dropbacks,...
