WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY: Cowboys Nuggets
Welcome to WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY, on THURSDAY because of the Monday night matchup for the Cowboys with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Cowboys (3-2) would like to quickly turn the page after getting embarrassed in San Francisco but do so with concerns up and down the lineup. Here are some thoughts (2,100+ words worth) on play calling, the offensive line, the team’s health, the Chargers and lots more. Let’s get to it.
WHAT’S UP WITH THE PLAY CALLING?
Cowboys head coach and offensive play caller Mike McCarthy fell in love with the passing game on Sunday, and it hurt the offense from the opening possession.
Trailing 7-0 when they got the ball for the first time in the game, the Cowboys ran the ball with Tony Pollard for one yard on first down and then took deep shots on second and third down that were incomplete. The next drive it was three straight pass plays that resulted in two short completions, a sack and a punt on fourth down.
“We started slow, and I think that’s an area that we take a lot of pride in – moving the football early, going down and getting some points,” Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “We’ve done that some this year when we’ve taken the ball.”
Not in this one.
The Cowboys trailed 14-0 before earning their initial first down of the game. They finished the first half with seven points, 20 rushing yards on six rushes by running backs and 85 passing yards on 10 of 16 passing by Dak Prescott.
The second half didn’t get much better, as the Cowboys finished the game with 19 rushes and 26 passes for 197 total yards. They averaged 4.0 yards per snap, earned just eight first downs and went 3-for-11 on third down.
“Our biggest failure was third down,” McCarthy said. “We had favorable third down situations that we didn’t convert. The first four weeks of the season we were the best in the league, so I’m not going to sit up here and beat that drum. (San Francisco) played very well. … Our strength, as an offense, has been third down. It was not a strength (Sunday) night.”
Their main weapons were under-utilized, as Tony Pollard had just 12 total touches – eight carries and four catches, and CeeDee Lamb had four catches on five targets.
On 49 snaps, McCarthy and Prescott got the ball in the hands of their top two playmakers 16 times. That is not something that had been a problem through the first four weeks of the season, as Pollard led the league in touches and Lamb had been in the top 10 in catches and yards.
“We started this offensive approach back in April, I just think it’s a matter of who you want to be and who you think you are,” McCarthy said. “I coached a team for a lot of years that was offensive driven, but this team is about defense. Let’s make no bones about it. That’s not a slight against the offense, we want to score as many points as everybody. We’re not playing not to lose, so don’t mix the message here. We play to our defense. That’s the strength of our team. And by doing that, the time of possession, taking care of the football; those are two things that I thought (improved) from past years over the first month.”
The Cowboys were under 30 minutes a game in time of possession in 2022, while also turning the ball over an average of xx times in 2022. Both stats had improved through four games – 34:39 average TOP and just 1 turnover in four games.
“You want to have some balance throughout how you play,” McCarthy said. “When you get into these games, you have to get touches to certain individuals. … I like a lot of things that we’ve done, outside of (Sunday night), offensively. Outside of the red zone, we’ve definitely hit the mark.”
WHAT’S UP WITH THE DEFENSIVE GAME PLAN?
The Cowboys gave up 42 points on Sunday night, more than they had given up in the four games prior. Yet, they still gave the team a chance to win when the game was still in doubt.
After giving up a touchdown on the opening drive, the Dallas defense settled in and forced back-to-back punts and a turnover. They were on the field over 8 minutes during these three defensive stands.
But the offense rewarded that work by going three-and-out twice and then fumbling the ball back to the 49ers at the Dallas 16, taking up a whopping 2:51 off the clock.
The defense then proceeded to give up five touchdowns over the next six drives. The score went from 14-7 to 42-10 over the next 23:46 of game time.
“I thought they played at a high level,” McCarthy said. “It starts with the run and things that come off of that. I think (the 49ers) do an excellent job with the motions and the double shifts and motions. I thought (Brock) Purdy played extremely well. I thought he made some big-time throws.”
Hard not to blame a defense that gave up 42 points, but if had they gotten any help from the offense it might have been a different story.
But, time of possession and the injuries caught up with the defense early on Sunday night, and the worst ensued – a blowout.
Without Leighton Vander Esch going forward, and Jourdan Lewis and DaRon Bland playing with nagging injuries, this defense and its gameplans will look different.
Micah Parsons will see a lot more time at linebacker, while they will also get cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, linebacker Malik Jefferson and safety Juanyeh Thomas into the rotation at their respective spots.
WHAT’S UP IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM?
In the NFL, the injury bug comes for every team.
It came for the Cowboys on Sunday in San Francisco, only it wasn’t a bug and more like a grizzly bear. It ripped massive holes in the Cowboys’ defense and special teams.
The Cowboys lost starting middle linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who is second on the team in tackles with 30, to a neck injury, after he collided with teammate Micah Parsons and had his neck wrenched. Vander Esch had several tests, and it has been determined that he has a strained neck and will miss four to six weeks. Because of that diagnosis, the Cowboys plan to place LVE on the IR.
Vander Esch, who suffers from a condition called cervical spinal stenosis – a narrowing of the spine in the neck, has a history of neck injuries, with this one being his third since the beginning of the 2019 season. That year he missed seven games after having surgery to repair a herniated disk. He missed three more games last season with a stinger, or nerve issue, in his neck.
The team also lost special teams ace C.J. Goodwin to a torn pectoral muscle early in the game. The injury will require surgery at some point, it just depends on how it responds. Goodwin could choose to rest it and see if it heals enough over the next several weeks to get back in the lineup late in the season.
Other Cowboys banged up in the loss to San Francisco were safety Donovan Wilson, wide receiver/kick returner KaVontae Turpin, center Tyler Biadasz, safety Jourdan Lewis and corner back DaRon Bland.
All returned to the game on Sunday night except Turpin, LVE and Goodwin. Of these three, Turpin is the only one that has a chance to play on Monday night.
WHAT’S UP WITH INJURY REPLACEMENTS?
For now, the Cowboys will be turning internally to fill the spots in the starting lineup vacated by Leighton Vander Esch on defense and C.J. Goodwin on special teams.
On defense, Dan Quinn will turn to Damone Clark to fill the vacancy left by LVE’s injury. Clark already leads the Cowboys in tackles with 31 and has played quite a bit as the weakside linebacker. Because of Clark’s impending shift to the middle, Micah Parsons will probably see more snaps at weakside linebacker, but how much and exactly when is classified information at the Star. Hybrid linebacker/safety Markquese Bell will also get snaps in replacing Clark on the weakside.
The Cowboys selected linebacker DeMarvion Overshown in the most recent NFL draft, and he would have been the ideal player to slide in for Clark or LVE, but he tore a knee ligament during the preseason and will not be ready until training camp next season.
Dallas also has linebacker Malik Jefferson on the practice squad, but he will be seeing more time replacing Goodwin on special teams than getting any snaps at linebacker. Jefferson has been called up to the gameday roster the last two weeks, playing 40 snaps in the kicking game against New England and San Francisco.
The Cowboys could still go outside the organization to get help at middle linebacker, and there are options out there to be signed, including 31-year-old Anthony Barr, who has familiarity with Quinn’s defense, and 27-year-old Rashaan Evans.
WHAT’S UP WITH THIS OFFENSIVE LINE?
Sunday night was supposed to be a coming out party for this ultimate version of the Cowboys offensive line, instead it turned into an offensive nightmare from the opening possession.
It was a collective embarrassment in San Francisco, but the offense was non-existent.
While we can always talk about the skill players, this Cowboys team is supposed to have one of the NFLs best, or the best, offensive line in the game when they’re all on the field together.
Boasting two future Hall of Fame players, another first round pick, a center from a university known for its offensive linemen and an undrafted free agent that has played so well that he got himself a new $86.8 million dollar extension in the offseason, that included $50 million guaranteed.
Together, tackle Tyron Smith, guard, Tyler Smith, center Tyler Biadasz, guard Zack Martin and tackle Terrence Steele, gave up four sacks, nine quarterback hits and helped amass just 57 yards rushing. They led the running attack to just 3.0 yards per tote and blocked well enough for just a single 10-yard run in the game.
“It was great to see them all out there together,” Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “I though they played well in some regards. In other areas, not so well. Nobody should feel great about the way we played, but it was nice to see those guys out there.”
The only thing they did well, was avoid being penalized.
If the Cowboys offense is going to play well against good teams, then its offensive line must play much better than it did on Sunday.
WHAT’S UP WITH FIRST DOWNS?
The Cowboys earned just eight first downs in their loss on Sunday night in San Francisco.
It tied them for the least amount in Week 5 with the Patriots, who were shutout by New Orleans on Sunday afternoon.
It was the least amount of first downs in a game for the Cowboys since earning just nine in a 49-17 loss to New Orleans on Nov. 10, 2013. You have to go back to Dec. 30, 2007, to find a game where they had less than the eight first downs they had Sunday. That day, they had seven in a 27-6 loss to Washington.
The Cowboys and Patriots were the only teams in the NFL to have just single digit first downs this past weekend. The next closest was 15, gained by Arizona and the NY Giants.
All four teams were beaten by at least two touchdowns.
Key takeaway, if you don’t move the chains, you don’t win games.
NEXT OPPONENT: WHAT’S UP WITH THE L.A CHARGERS?
Not only do the Chargers get an extra day to prepare for the Cowboys, but they also get an extra week. The bolts are coming off their 2023 bye week and head into the game on Monday night with Dallas after winning back-to-back games to get to .500 after losing their first two games. LAC lost to the Dolphins and Titans, before beating the Vikings and Raiders before their week off.
Quarterback Justin Herbert is playing great, completing over 71-percent of his passes and averaging 276.5 yards passing per game. He has thrown for seven touchdowns and just one interception in four games.
Herbert will get his backfield mate back this week, as Austin Eckler is set to return after missing three games.
Eckler is one of just five players listed as questionable on the Chargers injury list that was released on Tuesday, joined by cornerback Deane Leonard, safety Derwin James, safety Alohi Gilman and linebacker Joey Bosa. All will have an extra day to be ready for Monday night’s game.
Where the Chargers are most susceptible is on defense. They are giving up 26 points a game this season. They have a league’s worst pass defense, giving up over 299 yards a game. They aren’t much better on the ground, allowing over 100 yards per contest.
It will be another tough test for the reeling Cowboys on the West Coast, but a chance to get the offense going back in the right direction.