Tag: 2021 Week 16

WATCH: Amari Cooper gives Cowboys first-half 40 burger

The Cowboys have scored 42 points in the first half. Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper combined to cap off the half with a 13-yard touchdown. | From @CDBurnett7

Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper expressed his frustration about limited targets in recent weeks, and it appears quarterback Dak Prescott heard his words and it’s paying dividends in Week 16 against Washington.

Cooper had seven catches for 84 yards in the first half, with the final being a touchdown grab on a signature toe-tap in the front corner of the endzone. Dallas has now scored an absurd 42 points in the first half and nailed in the coffin for the Football Team early.

The touchdown pass from Prescott is his fourth of the night and the defense forced another punt late in the first half to create the opportunity for the Cowboys’ offense.

Prescott had a first-half that is considered an incredible game in four quarters. 27-for-35, 321 passing yards and four touchdowns for Prescott. Dallas added insult to injury with the score from Cooper and it’s 42-7 at halftime from AT&T Stadiun.

WATCH: Terence Steele makes big-man TD catch for Cowboys

The Cowboys have themselves a big-man touchdown. Terence Steele joined the scoring fun with a touchdown catch, the third TD from Prescott. | From @CDBurnett7

35 points is a lot in an entire game from an NFL team. The Dallas Cowboys have reached that number in a half with a few minutes to spare. What’s the catalyst for success? Quarterback Dak Prescott looks like the Prescott from early in the season and is on pace for a career night, but Dallas likely won’t need it to seal the win.

Prescott had a fourth straight impressive drive and he capped it off by throwing to an unlikely eighth receiver of the night for the touchdown, backup right tackle Terence Steele, who was surrounded in the celebration.

The Cowboys franchise quarterback is now 21-for-23 for 245 yards and three touchdown passes in the first half. Washington is literally punching themselves in AT&T Stadium, and it’s getting ugly for the Football Team.

WATCH: Cowboys’ Elliott carries defenders for his second TD of the game

Ezekiel Elliott has battled injury, but he’s dominating Washington early with his second touchdown of the game, this time on the ground. | From @CDBurnett7

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has dominated in home games during the 2021 season and he’s keeping the mantra alive against Washington in Week 16. Prescott is 16-for-17 for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

On top of his impressive performance early in AT&T Stadium, running back Ezekiel Elliott looks healthy and is punishing the Football Team defenders for trying to bring him down. For a third-straight offensive drive, Dallas has scored a touchdown and Elliott has his second score of the game, carrying multiple defenders into the endzone.

Elliott’s 11 -yard touchdown scamper is his 10th rushing score of the year and 12th from scrimmage. Following a Washington score, the Cowboys offense responded and Dallas holds a 28-7 lead with plenty of time left in the first half to add onto it.

WATCH: Cowboys offense has Washington DL fighting each other on bench

How bad are things for Washington? They brought in heated benches only to watch the benches get heated as Dallas runs out to an early lead. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys offense has returned with a vengeance. After struggling to put up points and consistent drives over the last several months, they have returned home for the first time since Thanksgiving and found the confines of AT&T Stadium rather friendly. Dallas’ first drive stalled after allowing back-to-back sacks, but since then they have reeled off three consecutive scoring drives.

Apparently, those three scores combined with watching their season effectively come to an early end has Washington defenders fuming. So much so that Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, two defensive linemen who have been teammates since their days at Alabama, got into an argument over something on their bench. Their copy-the-Cowboys-custom-benches-with-much-different-result benches. Even a punch was thrown.

Dallas leads 28-7 midway through the second quarter.

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WATCH: DeMacrus Lawrence becomes 17th Cowboys to score TD on wild Pick-6

Demarcus Lawrence added to the early pair of touchdowns with a highlight pick-six, rumbling through Washington players for the score. | From @CDBurnett7

Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence saw cornerback Trevon Diggs make his 11th interception of the year and joined the party. Lawrence read Taylor Heinicke perfectly and intercepted a quick pass. Following the catch, Lawrence did his offensive impression and rumbled down the field and through Washington players for a touchdown.

He became the 17th different Cowboys player to score a touchdown this season on the club’s sixth defensive score of the year.

Lawrence spent a large majority of the season on injured reserve after a broken foot early in the year but he’s wasted no time getting back to form. The pick-six is just another play on his impressive reel since returning to the field for Dan Quinn.

Dallas wasted no time dominating the Football Team at home after failing to bury them on the road. It’s a 21-0 lead for the NFC East champions in the first quarter and it’s panic early for Washington.

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WATCH: Dak-to-Dalton connection extends Cowboys’ early lead

The Cowboys’ offense has scored two straight touchdowns, with Dalton Schultz capping off another impressive drive. | From @CDBurnett7

The Cowboys’ offense has been struggling in recent weeks but it appears they heard the criticism. After an ugly first drive with two sacks and a circus play that failed on third down, cornerback Trevon Diggs ripped down interception No. 11 and it sparked an offensive explosion.

The first drive after the takeaway was quick and capped off by running back Ezekiel Elliott making a touchdown catch from quarterback Dak Prescott. After a quick defensive stop, the offense got back to work and Prescott was impressive. The franchise quarterback marched down the field and capped off a second-straight touchdown drive with a nine-yard pass to tight end Dalton Schultz.

Prescott is red-hot against Washington after a sloppy first game in Week 14 against the Football Team with a 13-for-14 start and two touchdowns against the division rival.

WATCH: Diggs’ record-tying INT leads to Elliott TD for Cowboys

Trevon Diggs needed just a single play to get interception No. 11 and the Dallas offense caught fire, quickly scoring a touchdown. | From @CDBurnett7

In the first contest between Dallas and Washington in 2021, cornerback Trevon Diggs limited Terry McLaurin to no catches and completely took him out of the game. The Football Team knew they needed to get their star receiver hot to compete with the Cowboys in the second tilt.

On the first offensive play for Washington, Taylor Heinicke targeted McLaurin deep downfield. The issue? Diggs was in coverage and ripped down interception No. 11 on the season.

The early interception for Diggs ties him with Hall of Fame cornerback Everson Walls for the Cowboys franchise record of interceptions. Diggs has the rest of the game versus Washington and two more regular-season games to break the record and move his name to historic company, with the NFL season record at 14 interceptions.

On the ensuing Dallas drive, quarterback Dak Prescott had a perfect completion percentage and running back Ezekiel Elliott added a pair of strong runs of eight and nine yards to push the Cowboys deep into the red zone.

It’s been a rough point for the Dallas offense in 2021, but Prescott and Elliott executed in the redzone with a touchdown pass. The star running back high-stepped into the endzone for good measure.

The Cowboys now hold an early 7-0 lead after an impressive drive from Prescott and the offense.

Tyron Smith, William Jackson headline list of Cowboys-Washington inactives for Week 16

The Cowboys will be without their LT for a second-straight week while Washington is trying to compete with a limited roster in Dallas. | From @CDBurnett7

The Dallas Cowboys will be without Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith for a second straight week after the veteran lineman missed practice all week due to an ankle injury he suffered in New Orleans.

Dallas has a total of four inactives versus Washington with quarterback Will Grier, cornerback Kyron Brown and safety Israel Mukuamu rounding out the list. While inactive list doesn’t look too concerning, the Cowboys have big defensive pieces on the COVID list. Defensive tackle Trysten Hill and cornerback Jourdan Lewis are the biggest of those missing, with Osa Odighizuwa being activated earlier in the week.

The Football Team has a long list of seven inactives on top of a heavy COVID outbreak that struck the team over the last few weeks. Washington is now without four defensive starters for the road contest in Dallas, defensive end Chase Young, linebacker Jamin Davis, cornerback William Jackson III and safety Landon Collins.

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Cowboys secure NFC East title before taking field in Week 16

The Cowboys have now clinched the division for the 24th time in club history. Here’s how Sunday’s results led to it all. | From @KDDrummondNFL

For the first time since 2018 and the 24th time in the history of their franchise, the Dallas Cowboys are once again NFC East champions. Although they have yet to take the field for Week 16, combined results from the Sunday afternoon contests completed the formula for the currently 10-4 Cowboys, as two of the six needed results came through to eliminate the Philadelphia Eagles from the race.

Dallas is guaranteed at least one game at AT&T Stadium in the coming playoff tournament. No team has repeated as NFC East champions in the last 17 tries, dating back to the Eagles in 2004.

While Philadelphia won their contest, handily, against the New York Giants and first-time starter Jake Fromm, the ridiculous number of things that would’ve been necessary for them to beat Dallas in a potential tiebreaker scenario fell flat on its face Sunday.

While Dallas didn’t mathematically clinch prior to the weekend, one was hard-pressed to find any of hundreds of thousands of simulations that came up with an example of the necessary wins to happen. As it stood, victories by the Atlanta Falcons and  Las Vegas Raiders sealed the deal on Sunday.

If Dallas were to lose out and Philly win out, they’d have a head-to-head split and similar division records, conference records and common-opponent records, leading to Strength of Victory winning percentages. A combination of two results comprised of victories by Minnesota, New England or the L.A. Chargers or losses by the Detroit Lions, New York Jets or Denver Broncos would be necessary for Dallas to be officially secure. This could happen over any of the final three weeks, which was all but assured even if the math said it was technically possible.

The football gods decided not to draw anything out.

The Falcons took down Detroit, 20-16 in the early game, but Dallas had to wait until the Raiders sealed their win over the Broncos in the late-afternoon window.

In more important matters, the Cowboys are eyeing as high a seed as possible in the NFC playoffs and while they didn’t get the ultimate help they craved, they did get the push result they at least needed.

Because Dallas lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1, Dallas can only finish with a higher seed if they have a better record or if there is a three-or-more team tie which would bring conference record into the equation. While the Arizona Cardinals lost and the Green Bay Packers won on Saturday, the Los Angeles Rams kept pace with Tampa Bay on Sunday as both teams won to improve to 11-4.

Dallas will need to handle their business over their final three games, but if the Rams also don’t lose, then the Cowboys will finish ahead of both L.A. and the Bucs in a playoff scenario.

Dallas would also defeat Green Bay in such a tiebreaker, but the Packers have escaped the last two weeks and now have a 12-3 overall record, requiring them to lose one of their final two games.

The Cowboys will take on the Washington Football Team on Sunday night to help close out the Week 16 slate of games.

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Twas the Night Before Cowboys Christmas…

Gather round the fireplace, children. Jerry Claus has a story to tell. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Twas the night before Christmas ay fam gather round,
Your Cowboys run the East- no lies to be found.

Division been clinched, whomped Belichick too,
Not a city in either conference Dem Boys ain’t ran through.
North Texas put all’em kiddie squads in their beds,
While nightmares of Micah sack danced in their heads.
The defense elite, first time in some years,
It took just a rook’n kickin’ Nolan in the rear.
Ran him outta town one year after The Clapper,
In comes Quinn for the win, boy stay quotin’ rappers.
Matter fact, update. Witherspoon coordinate,
Swap Cover 3 for Man Free, can’t afford to be late.
The pundits, those dummies didn’t see sleighs approach,
Now Stephen A and Orlovsky got Christmas sticks in they throats.
Jerry Jones bringing gifts with a salesmanesque shtick,
So slick homie sold the North Pole to St. Nick.
No reindeers in sight, just a bad backseat driver,
By Xerox, by fax, buy a bench it’s Dan Snyder
While Mara and Rooney conspire with commish,
WTF, WFT… your owner’s a little bit
of Yuletide cheer is what’s needed, ol’ boy got me heated,
Division champions stand up! Eagles and Giants stay seated.
Since Christmas is a time for joyful celebration,
Y’all can rep for your city, Cowboys rep for Nation.

So up to the house-tops in Jerry’s chopper they flew,
To prepare for a clash with a dash of what’s new
At a strong disadvantage was old Lil’ Snyder,
Jer grinned single-malted, more fried than Ore Ida.
As he drew in his head, started turning around,
“We’ll dominate with defense,” pouring another to down.
“Now Randy, Now Tank, Now Neville, let’s gittem!
Now Osa and Dorance, Now Parsons, let’s blitz’em!
The rotation’s intact so it’s time to attack
Pass gets off? 10-pack of Diggs’ picks in my sack!
Jourdan and Brown make a real pressure cooker
Safety off, I’m Jerry Jones someone get me a Hooker!
“Don’t think for one minute the D is the only show,
Make it plain, Kellen makes it Rayne on ho ho hos!
“On Prescott! On Elliott! 2-1-4 is a sign!
The combo is sublime with our offensive line!
There’s Gallup and Dalton! Pollard stock to the moon
Put McGovern at fullback and don’t forget {crowd yells} Cooooop
Run’n shoot, Coryell, West Coast ain’t no slump
Take this sleigh to the playoffs then L.A.- turn that up!
Coach McCarthy in charge, McClay put things together
This sleigh ride is built to withstand any weather!
These no names getting knocked out, they ain’t come to fight,
“So Merry Christmas, Cowboys Nation, only y’all a good night!”

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