Grading the Cowboys and five thoughts: Pass defense a disaster and Dallas appears poorly coached

[bbgun]

SEATTLE -- It was another late comeback attempt for the Cowboys. Instead of watching a spinning ball during an onside kick on their home turf, they watched Dak Prescott throw a desperation pass to Noah Brown in the end zone that was picked off, sealing another wild Sunday for Dallas. Seattle held on to beat the Cowboys 38-31 at Century Link Field.

Here are five things on Cowboys-Seahawks.

Dak vs. Russ
Russell Wilson is an elite quarterback. That’s pretty clear with his two Super Bowl appearances and one title. Prescott is still trying to get there. Prescott had the passing yards but not the W. Wilson threw for five touchdowns, short and long, and got the clutch two-point conversion pass to beat the Cowboys. Wilson threw for 315 yards on 27 of 40 pass attempts. Prescott had the numbers. He threw for 472 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. It was the second consecutive game in which Prescott threw for more than 400 yards. But unlike last week against the Falcons, Prescott took the L.

Secondary woes
The calls from Cowboys fans for safety Earl Thomas will be louder and louder and louder this week. There were numerous coverage breakdowns, and on one scoring drive three penalties were called -- two on Jourdan Lewis. You can’t blame missing Anthony Brown (ribs) and Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring) for some of the problems. On a Tyler Lockett touchdown reception, he ran a drag route untouched into an open space of the end zone to make the catch. Lockett caught his first touchdown running through the secondary with deep safety Darian Thompson letting him go past him. The only good news from the unit was rookie corner Trevon Diggs chasing down and knocking a pass from D.K. Metcalf’s hands at the Cowboys' 4 after he was beaten deep.

Special teams problems
Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein missed two PATs, hitting the right upright in one end zone and getting another blocked in the opposite end zone. It was the first time Zuerlein had missed a PAT since 2018. This was not a great showing for the special teams unit. Tony Pollard muffed a kickoff and then he was late getting onto the field on a punt that forced the Cowboys to take a delay of game penalty. John Fassel’s group regressed in this contest. In the third quarter after a punt return by CeeDee Lamb to the Cowboys' 12, an illegal block in the back penalty against Saivion Smith pushed the Cowboys back to the 6.

Offensive line changes
The Cowboys made some offensive line changes in the midst of the third quarter. Right tackle Terence Steele was benched and Zack Martin took over for him, which triggered more moves. Joe Looney moved to right guard from center. Rookie Tyler Biadasz became the center. On the series when the changes occurred, Prescott completed a 52-yard sideline pass to Michael Gallup and later a 42-yard touchdown pass to Cedrick Wilson. The Cowboys trailed 30-22 after the Wilson score with 5:47 remaining in the third. That drive kept them in the game.

Aldon Smith has a day
If you want to pinpoint when the Cowboys started their comeback, check what defensive end Aldon Smith did. Faced with a third-and-8, Smith sacked Russell Wilson with 7:12 left in the third quarter. It was a big momentum builder because Dallas trailed 30-15 at the time. From there. the Cowboys stormed back thanks to Prescott. Smith finished his day with three sacks, four quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and a pass breakup. He’s playing as if he hadn’t missed any time.

 

[bbgun]

Jean-Jacques Taylor’s grades from the Cowboys' 38-31 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon at CenturyLink Field:.

Run offense
Ezekiel Elliott’s longest run of the game was 9 yards, and he was essentially a non-factor on the ground once the Cowboys fell behind by 15 points early in the third quarter. Seattle dropped Elliott for a safety in the first quarter when he slipped and was tackled for a 1-yard loss. For the game, he rushed for 34 yards, the third-lowest rushing total of his career.

GRADE: F


Pass offense
At times, it was brilliant. Other times, it was awful. Michael Gallup (six catches, 138 yards) and Cedrick Wilson (five, 107) each had more than 100 yards. Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 472 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. The turnovers led to 14 points. He completed nine passes of 20-plus yards, but that wasn’t enough to overcome the turnovers.

GRADE: C


Run defense
Chris Carson didn’t do a whole lot, but who cares when Russell Wilson is putting up big numbers and the Cowboys have no clue how to cover Tyler Lockett or D.K. Metcalf. Carson finished with 64 yards on 14 carries. Seattle averaged 4.5 on 26 carries, with Wilson contributing 22 yards on six carries.

GRADE: C-

Pass defense
It was a disaster. Again. Who’s surprised? The Cowboys have a collection of average cornerbacks who play like average cornerbacks aside from rookie Trevon Diggs, who has flashed potential. The Cowboys' secondary was penalized four times in the first half -- three on one drive leading to a touchdown -- and gave up a 29-yard game-winning touchdown with 1:47 left. Aldon Smith’s three-sack day was one of the few positives.

GRADE: F

Coaching
Mike McCarthy presides over a team that appears poorly coached. He hired John Fassel to fix the special times, but they were raggedy Sunday with a muffed kickoff that set up a safety, a missed extra point, a blocked extra point and two penalties. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s unit makes so many mistakes that seeing receivers running wide open no longer surprises us. Three games each decided by one drive means mistakes matter, which puts the Cowboys at a disadvantage.

GRADE: F

Overall
If Seattle had lined up and beat the Cowboys, then fine. But Dallas made so many mistakes and poor plays, giving Seattle every opportunity to win. Prescott had the ball and an opportunity to win for the second time this season, and failed to deliver. Dallas rallied from a 15-point deficit but without a litany of mistakes, they wouldn’t have been that far behind.

GRADE: D

 

[theoneandonly]

Sad state of affairs when your best defender is coming off a 5 year hiatus. Defense would suck way worse without him.

 

[theoneandonly]

A change is DC or scheme is necessary pronto. Your average taxi squad would light up this defense right now. I thought the decision making on the final drive and some of the throws were awful. Too much of the usual throwing behind the sticks and expecting guys to make plays or get out of bounds. And its only a matter of time before one of those throws gets a receiver hurt. The usual shit. Dak is now 1-8 on game deciding drives? Not putting it all on him but there is plenty of blame to go around.

 

[Doomsday]

Would somebody -please explain to me how completely changing the defensive scheme and terminology, without an offseason to speak of and no preseason games even, is any way a responsible thing?

These defenders are confused. They don't know where to line up and they don't know what to do. They hesitate while trying to compute their responsibilities on any given play and are timid most of the time. Teams are rolling up points on us like a pinball machine. It's not in any way useful.

 

[kwcoolk619]

I have no idea why Nolan was hired. Why was he hired? Has he ever won anything of significance?

 

[bbgun]

I have no idea why Nolan was hired. Why was he hired? Has he ever won anything of significance?

he's making me miss Marinelli and Richards

 

[dbair1967]

I have no idea why Nolan was hired. Why was he hired? Has he ever won anything of significance?

McCarthy knew him from a long time ago and IIRC he tried to hire him in green Bay too at one point.

 

[Creeper]

Just for the record, Dak's fumble occurred when a defender hit his arm as he was about to throw. The Cowboys OL could not block the really unproductive Seahawks DL. At the end of the game Dak was sacked, then almost sacked before he threw the 2nd INT. He made a miraculous escape to get the pass off. At that point there were only seconds left. If he ran, he would have run the clock out.

The first INT was all Dak and he almost threw at least 2 others that were on him. He tends to throw behind receivers and that will allow more interceptions over time.

But this loss was on the defense. Heck, Seattle gave them back 7 points when Metcalf pulled a Leon Lett running towards the end zone. I got the feeling Wilson could have dropped back and thrown deep all day for 100 TDs if he wanted to.

 

[Jerseycowboysfan]

Jean-Jacques Taylor’s grades from the Cowboys' 38-31 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon at CenturyLink Field:.

Run offense
Ezekiel Elliott’s longest run of the game was 9 yards, and he was essentially a non-factor on the ground once the Cowboys fell behind by 15 points early in the third quarter. Seattle dropped Elliott for a safety in the first quarter when he slipped and was tackled for a 1-yard loss. For the game, he rushed for 34 yards, the third-lowest rushing total of his career.

GRADE: F


Pass offense
At times, it was brilliant. Other times, it was awful. Michael Gallup (six catches, 138 yards) and Cedrick Wilson (five, 107) each had more than 100 yards. Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 472 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. The turnovers led to 14 points. He completed nine passes of 20-plus yards, but that wasn’t enough to overcome the turnovers.

GRADE: C


Run defense
Chris Carson didn’t do a whole lot, but who cares when Russell Wilson is putting up big numbers and the Cowboys have no clue how to cover Tyler Lockett or D.K. Metcalf. Carson finished with 64 yards on 14 carries. Seattle averaged 4.5 on 26 carries, with Wilson contributing 22 yards on six carries.

GRADE: C-

Pass defense
It was a disaster. Again. Who’s surprised? The Cowboys have a collection of average cornerbacks who play like average cornerbacks aside from rookie Trevon Diggs, who has flashed potential. The Cowboys' secondary was penalized four times in the first half -- three on one drive leading to a touchdown -- and gave up a 29-yard game-winning touchdown with 1:47 left. Aldon Smith’s three-sack day was one of the few positives.

GRADE: F

Coaching
Mike McCarthy presides over a team that appears poorly coached. He hired John Fassel to fix the special times, but they were raggedy Sunday with a muffed kickoff that set up a safety, a missed extra point, a blocked extra point and two penalties. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s unit makes so many mistakes that seeing receivers running wide open no longer surprises us. Three games each decided by one drive means mistakes matter, which puts the Cowboys at a disadvantage.

GRADE: F

Overall
If Seattle had lined up and beat the Cowboys, then fine. But Dallas made so many mistakes and poor plays, giving Seattle every opportunity to win. Prescott had the ball and an opportunity to win for the second time this season, and failed to deliver. Dallas rallied from a 15-point deficit but without a litany of mistakes, they wouldn’t have been that far behind.

GRADE: D

Pretty spot on

 

[Doomsday]

Also -who's ever heard of a DC working from on high in the booth? I haven't. Is it due to his age and covid? Possibly age and a risk factor in his health? Ok now who the fuck does he talk to down on the field? How are they handling in-game adjustments if there even are any? The whole thing is fucked up and it shows on the field.

You can't be giving up 38 ppg and consistently expect to fucking win. This shit needs fixed now. Not tomorrow, not after breakfast. Now.

We took a dude with the sniffles (last year's defense) and made him an invalid. We threw the baby out with the bath water. It's criminally negligent homicide in the making. It's fucking malpractice.

 

[bbgun]

Also -who's ever heard of a DC working from on high in the booth?

Wannstedt was always in the box. Same with old fogeys like Dom Capers. Maybe sideline D coordinators are a new thing.

 

[Doomsday]

Wannstedt was always in the box. Same with old fogeys like Dom Capers. Maybe sideline D coordinators are a new thing.

I remember the on-field guy making the calls and adjustments in-game was Butch Davis in the Wannstedt years and I recall now he did have a headset.

So who's that guy for us now?

 

[bbgun]

I remember the on-field guy making the calls and adjustments in-game was Butch Davis in the Wannstedt years and I recall now he did have a headset.

So who's that guy for us now?

Can't Nolan call in the plays like Moore does using the audio receiver in the helmets?

 

[Doomsday]

Can't Nolan call in the plays like Moore does using the audio receiver in the helmets?

That might indeed be. I think teams get to designate one guy who's getting the signals?

So, how then are we making in-game adjustments? Nolan radios this stuff down to whom?

 

[Doomsday]

Maybe sideline D coordinators are a new thing.

Belechick - down on the field winning the super bowl with Parcells in NY. Seeing his game plan for that day going in the PFHoF.

I want the DC on the sideline, man. Especially when you've made wholesale changes in the scheme, terminology, and so on.

 

[bbgun]

That might indeed be. I think teams get to designate one guy who's getting the signals?

So, how then are we making in-game adjustments? Nolan radios this stuff down to whom?

come to think of it, maybe the receiver is only in the QB's helmet

 

[Doomsday]

come to think of it, maybe the receiver is only in the QB's helmet

A quick search found what we both remember:

Starting in 2008, the league changed the rules to also allow one defensive player to have a helmet with a receiver in order to get defensive play calls. Those helmets are also identified with a green dot. Usually, it is a middle linebacker who will have the radio helmet but it can be any player the team designates

 

[bbgun]

Belechick - down on the field winning the super bowl with Parcells in NY. Seeing his game plan for that day going in the PFHoF.

I want the DC on the sideline, man. Especially when you've made wholesale changes in the scheme, terminology, and so on.

OTOH, you can see things overhead that you can't see at ground level. but if you're saddled with injuries and bad players, nothing will make a difference.

 

[Doomsday]

OTOH, you can see things overhead that you can't see at ground level.

I'd have an assistant up there with the defensive QC guy. The assistant can tell me what's up. He can also put shit on my little thinkpad dealy.

I want the DC on the sideline, bub.

if you're saddled with injuries and bad players, nothing will make a difference.

The DC right there making adjustments and compensating? Or up in the fucking booth sitting back on his fat ass eating cheetos?