WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY: Cowboys Nuggets
Welcome to WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY, where you can feast on a few nuggets of information as the Cowboys dropped to 2-1 on the season. After a road loss in Arizona, where the team struggled on offense and defense, they ready to face Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Here are some thoughts (1,600+ words worth) on red zone woes, the penalty problems, Brandin Cooks and more. Let’s get to it.
WHAT’S UP IN THE RED ZONE?
After scoring three touchdowns in four trips inside the red zone to open the season against the Giants, the Cowboys felt their red zone struggles creep back in against the Jets in Week 2 and then made themselves at home during Week 3 against Arizona.
The Cowboys scored two TDs in six red zone trips against the Giants, then followed that up with just one touchdown trip in five jaunts inside the Cardinals’ 20-yard line last week in the desert.
They are now just six for 15 this season and rank tied for 27th, with the NY Jets and New Orleans, and ahead of only Tampa Bay, Houston and Tennessee in the NFL’s red zone efficiency list.
“We will spend more time on the red zone this week,” McCarthy said. “That’s how I have always done it. When things aren’t right you work harder at it, and you spend more time on it. It’s Week 3 and we know what our numbers are.”
The good that you can take away from it, is that the Cowboys are getting the ball into the red zone. They lead the league in red zone trips, just ahead of Miami with 14 and Buffalo and Seattle with 13.
The Cowboys are moving the ball. They must get better at coming away with seven points, instead of a Brandon Aubrey field goal attempt.
“We were last in the league on third down a couple weeks into the season last year. It turned out pretty good,” McCarthy said. “So, we’re not going to overreact over it. The most important thing is we are getting down there more than anyone. We lead the league in 10-plus (play) drives, so we are moving the ball. That’s the hard part.”
Dak Prescott’s first, and only, interception this season came in the red zone with the Cowboys trailing by two scores late in the game last Sunday.
Not acceptable for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations.
WHAT’S UP WITH THE PENALTY PROBLEM?
The Cowboys were so out of sync on Sunday in all three phases, they committed 13 accepted penalties, out of 15 called, including 10 in the first half.
It’s a clear sign they weren’t prepared for what awaited them in the desert.
The offense was called for six, the defense five and they were flagged twice on special teams.
The offense was flagged for holding twice – T.J. Bass and Chuma Edoga, two false starts – both by Terrence Steel, one pass interference by CeeDee Lamb and the team was penalized for a delay of game.
The defense was almost as egregious, with two offside penalties – Osa Odighizuwa and Dante Fowler Jr., one holding call against Jourdan Lewis, a facemask by Jonathan Hankins and a pass interference committed by DaRon Bland.
“The combative ones, that’s part of our style and we live that knowing that we are going to play aggressive and try to push that edge as far as we can,” Quinn said. “But the pre-snap ones or a combative one that we can handle, we really gotta square that away. Knock on wood for us, we have been better in that space up until (Sunday). I surely anticipate that going back to the way we like.”
The special teams were caught twice, once for holding by Devin Harper on a punt and once for offsides by Juanyeh Thomas on a field goal.
With 11 different players being flagged, it was clear the Cowboys were not prepared for Sunday. The Cardinals were in their heads.
On the opening offensive possession, the Cowboys committed back-to-back pre-snap penalties – a false start and a delay of game, to push the Cowboys from third and six to third and 16. Dallas settled for a 1-yard pass to Rico Dowdle and a Bryan Anger punt to finish off the opening drive.
It is the third time under McCarthy that the team has had more than 13 penalties, adding Sunday’s to the 14 they were called for in a 36-33 loss in Las Vegas in the 2021 season and the 13 they were flagged for in a 28-20 win on Thanksgiving Day last season.
It’s the 14th time in team history that they have been called for 13 accepted penalties, and 25th time with 11 or more in team history.
WHAT’S UP THE OFFENSIVE CREATIVITY?
At the first sign of adversity, the Cowboys went right back to what got them in trouble so many times last season – vanilla play design and calls.
What happened to the creativity we saw against the Giants and Jets? Duece Vaughn had six carries and KaVontae Turpin had five touches – three carries and two catches, in the season opener in New York.
Vaughn had another six touches – three carries and three catches, in the Cowboys home opening win over the Jets in Week 2. Turpin wasn’t left out either, he had two carries and a catch on offense.
The duo played 19 offensive snaps in Week 1 and 29 in Week 2 but played just two plays – both by Turpin and didn’t touch the ball in Sunday’s loss to Arizona.
“Duece didn’t get the work I anticipated, as far as the package we had for him,” McCarthy said. “Part of that was just how the game went.”
They could have used some of the creativity Turpin and Vaughn bring to the offense, and equally the problems they cause the defense because of their versatility.
McCarthy and Schottenheimer only made it easier for the Cardinals to stop Dallas on Sunday.
WHAT’S UP WITH BRANDIN COOKS?
The Cowboys traded for Brandin Cooks because they needed a receiver that could take the top off the defense.
Cooks, who has world class speed with his 4.30 mark in the 40, has just four catches for 39 yards this season. After two catches for 22 yards in the season opening win over the Giants, Cooks sat out against the Jets before returning to haul in two catches for 17 yards against the Cardinals. He has a long of 17 yards, coming in Week 1.
“Brandin does a tremendous job,” McCarthy said. “We are playing him in some spots and doing some things that we can build off of moving forward – some of the routes we have run with him.”
The problem is that Cooks has been targeted 11 times this season. His seven targets were tied for tops on the team with CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and Jake Ferguson, but those guys had four, six and five catches, respectively.
A career of catching 65-percent of the passes thrown his way, Crooks has started this season at just 36-percent.
WHAT’S UP ON THIRD DOWNS?
Despite their struggles on Sunday in the desert, the Cowboys are still one of the best teams in the NFL on third down.
In fact, they are the third best team, finding success on just over 51-percent of their tries this season. They trail only Buffalo and Baltimore by fractions of a percent, with Houston (48%) and Green Bay (46.5%) rounding out the top five.
The Cowboys are 24 of 47 on third down, going a healthy nine of 16 in the loss to Arizona.
They have been successful on eight of 14 third downs by run and 16 of 33 by pass.
WHAT’S UP WITH LAMB’S STREAK?
I’ll tell you, it ended at six games.
CeeDee Lamb led the Cowboys in receiving yards for six straight games, but that streak ended on Sunday.
While Lamb had four catches for 53 yards, it was Michael Gallup who snapped the streak with 92 yards receiving on six catches. It was the first time someone other than Lamb led the Cowboys in receiving since Week 14 of last season when Dalton Schultz led Dallas with 87 yards.
In the six-game streak, Lamb had games of 126, 120, 100 and 143 yards.
Since being drafted in 2020, Lamb has led the Cowboys in receiving 25 times in 52 games.
As for Gallup, It is the first time he has led the Cowboys in receiving since he pulled down five catches for 106 yards in a 36-33 overtime loss to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day in 2021.
WHAT’S UP WITH THE NFL’S TOP KICKER
The biggest question mark coming into the season for the Cowboys was place kicker.
Three weeks into the season and rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey is one of the strengths.
Aubrey has kicked 10 field goals on 10 attempts, which leads the NFL in field goals made. He has made six of seven extra-points, with his only miss coming on his first kick of the season in New York.
He is second in the NFL in scoring with 36 points, tied with fellow rookie Jake Moody of the 49ers. Both trail Miami running back Raheem Mostert, who has 42 points after his four-touchdown day in Denver last Sunday.
NEXT OPPONENT: WHAT’S UP WITH NEW ENGLAND?
The dynasty of all dynasties is over.
The Patriots (1-2) are now just another team in the league, and like many others they have a real question at quarterback with Mac Jones.
The most interesting part of this matchup is the former Cowboys now with New England – specifically Ezekiel Elliott.
Yes, they did sign quarterback Will Grier this week so Bill Belichick can suck all the Cowboys new 2023 offensive knowledge from his brain.
But they signed Elliott in the offseason to get the real insight on Dallas and how things tick at the Star. I guess they also signed him to run, catch and block as well.
Elliott is second on the team with 122 yards rushing on 28 carries. He also has six catches for 21 yards, but has yet to find the end zone this season for the Pats. He has looked good as a complimentary back to Rhamondre Stevenson.
As for Grier, he probably won’t dress on Sunday, but if he does it will be as the clipboard holder who can’t enter the game unless Jones and Bailey Zappe both get injured.