Busters
RT Brandon Parker
Micah Parsons was abusing Parker all game long. He got through Parker to lay a hit on Carr on the first pass of the game. Then the first play of the second drive, Parker gave up a run stuff to lead out a three-and-out.
Parker gave up two QB hits, both on incompletions before being called for holding that would lead to a failed conversion on third and 12. Then on the drive in overtime, he gave up a sack for an eight-yard loss that nearly killed the Raiders’ chances. It put them in third and 18 and the Raiders were bailed out by a pass interference penalty. And just to put a cherry on top, he was flagged for a false start on the first would-be game-winning field goal attempt.
CB Brandon Facyson, CB Casey Hayward
Dak Prescott started out the game pretty slowly, missing a lot of open targets. But he still managed to light up Facyson on a few throws. Two of those coming on their first scoring drive. That drive saw Facyson give up a 15-yard catch and the ten-yard touchdown catch at end of it.
Along with a pass interference penalty, Facyson would give up a 51-yard catch on the Cowboys’ second touchdown drive in the second quarter.
Hayward was flagged for holding on a third and ten in the third quarter.
Come the fourth quarter, Prescott started heating up and Facyson and Hayward were getting burnt.
He led the Cowboys on their third scoring drive, first by completing a 15-yard pass with Facyson in coverage and two plays later lighting up Hayward on a 41-yard completion. Facyson got very lucky Prescott missed his receiver later in that drive, because Facyson had fallen down on what should have been a touchdown. A holding penalty would ultimately force the Cowboys to settle for a field goal.
The next time they got the ball, they were down eight and Prescott didn’t miss. Hayward was beaten to give up a 32-yard catch on their way to score and convert the two points to tie the game at 30-30.
A score by the Raiders would put them back up 33-30 with 1:52 remaining. They moved into scoring range on a 17-yard completion to Michael Gallup with Hayward covering. A few plays later, they tied up the game to send it to overtime.
LB Cory Littleton
The longest play on the Cowboys’ first scoring drive was Littleton giving up a 17-yard catch.
On their second touchdown, Littleton was unable to fill his gap from one yard out. The next drive he missed a tackle to give up a 12-yard run. Then on the drive to start the fourth quarter, he gave up a 7-yard catch and 12 yards on a screen play to set up a field goal. He gave up four catches for 46 yards in the game.
He had nine tackles, but just one of those was on a play that was less than six yards. That play was a three-yard first-down run.
RG Alex Leatherwood
Moving Leatherwood to guard has mostly only served to make his mistakes less devastating than when he was the right tackle. And while he has his good games, more often than not, he’s a liability.
Early in the second quarter, he gave up two run stuffs on consecutive plays, the second for no gain. Later in the second quarter, the Raiders lined up in third and seven and Leatherwood was flagged for illegal hands to the face. They were unable to make up for the lost yardage on the next play and had to punt.
First possession of the third quarter, Leatherwood gave up a tackle for loss on third and one and the Raiders went three-and-out.
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