Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys found a way to win for the first time this year in a nail-biter against the Giants. Many are understandably disappointed that it took overtime to beat this team, but the Cowboys had several encouraging facets of the game. With that in mind, let’s hand out some grades from this one.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Dak Prescott would have received a poor grade. Not quite an F, but borderline passing for the passer. He had been erratic for much of the first half, and an ill-advised throw got picked off to start the third quarter.
But man, did he turn it on in the fourth quarter and overtime. Prescott completed 16 of his 21 passes to finish the game out, including the clutch touchdown to George Pickens and the scramble to set up the game-winning field goal for Brandon Aubrey. You can’t ignore his early struggles, but Prescott played inspired ball when it mattered most.
Grade: A-
Remember when we were concerned about the run game? That was funny. Javonte Williams picked up where he left off in Week 1, running low to the ground and bowling over defenders. He finished the night with 97 rushing yards on 18 carries and averaged 4.9 yards after contact per attempt.
Miles Sanders proved to be a good complement, too. His 15 yards on five carries won’t blow anyone away, but he added seven rushing yards over expected and scored a touchdown. It’s still fair to wonder what Jaydon Blue could add to this rotation, but it’s hard to argue with the rushing results through two games.
Grade: A
This game offered a glimpse into just how potent this passing attack can become. CeeDee Lamb finished with 112 yards on nine catches, Jake Ferguson added 78 yards on as many catches, and George Pickens racked up over 100 yards when including pass interference penalties.
And yet, does it all feel a little underwhelming? The numbers all look good, but the passing game was really slow to start out this one. Part of that is on Prescott, but the pass catchers also had four drops in this one. Overall this bunch probably could’ve added a bit more.
Grade: B+
This was not the best game for the offensive line. The run game put up numbers, but there were several plays where they got beat bad by the Giants. In fact, the Cowboys were stuffed on 21.4% of their run plays, fifth-highest in Week 2, pending Monday Night Football.
Pass protection was worse, though. Prescott was pressured on 36.8% of his dropbacks and the Giants led the league in total pressures this week. Tyler Smith, fresh off becoming the highest paid guard in the NFL, was the only starter to not give up multiple pressures. Three of them gave up 4+ pressures. Hardly ideal.
Grade: D
Jerry Jones watched this game and decided to call up...
