Tag: 2022 Dallas Cowboys

Commanders, Wentz disappoint again vs Dallas

It’s another disappointing week for the Commanders, who, quite simply, aren’t very good.

For the third consecutive week, Carson Wentz and the Washington Commanders didn’t get the job done, falling 25-10 to the Dallas Cowboys.

The game was in Texas; everything is big in Texas. Or so some of the Washington brass thought anyway. The Commanders thought it a big deal they were wearing an alternate black uniform, going against the tradition of wearing some combinations of burgundy and gold. You know, the actual team colors for the 90-year history?

Daniel and Tanya Snyder were front and present, seen lapping up the atmosphere down on the field with Jerry Jones in his “JerryWorld” stadium.

It was a football game, and in the end, the story is never the uniforms, the owners showing up, the point spread, or the mass of media predictions and pregame shows.

Plain and simple, the Commanders (1-3) are not as good as the Cowboys (3-1). You know, the team who lost Dak Prescott in Week 1 and was written off as eliminated from playoff contention? It’s a team game, and the Cowboys quarterback and Cowboys defense are better.

Washington’s quarterback Carson Wentz had some sort of aversion to stepping up into the pocket (when there was one). He preferred to fall back, not plant his feet on throws and thus suffered (again) from a lack of accuracy.

Wentz attempted 42 passes and only gained 170 yards for an anemic 4.0 yards per attempt. Wentz’s counterpart Cooper Rush attempted 27 passes completing 15 for 223 yards for a much more efficient 8.3 yards per attempt. Wentz had two more interceptions and a touchdown pass. Rush countered with two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

The Washington defense came into the game giving up big plays. So, on the first drive, they gave up a 31-yard pass to Ezekiel Elliott. They also permitted a 30-yarder to CeeDee Lamb and a 45-yarder to Noah Brown.

If you watched the two games last season, one single glaring characteristic remained true in this first game between the two teams this season. The Dallas pass rush is visibly accomplished by much more explosive athletes. Thus, the Cowboys recorded 11 QB hits, 6 TFL and 2 sacks. Washington looked much slower choosing to rush Casey Toohill and James Smith-Williams instead of Shaka Toney in passing situations.

Washington outrushed Dallas 142-62 providing balance, yet the offensive line several times didn’t protect Wentz well. When the line did protect well enough, Wentz simply was not good enough.

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NFC East Week 4 preview

We preview Week 4 around the NFC East.

  • Eagles 3-0
  • Cowboys 2-1
  • Giants 2-1
  • Commanders 1-2

 

PHILADELPHIA

The Eagles sit atop the division and this week play host to the surprising Jaguars who went out to Los Angeles in Week 3 and crushed the Chargers 38-10.

Jalen Hurts leads the Eagles passing offense which is currently 3rd in the NFL with 296.7 YPG.

The Eagles display effective offensive balance ranking 7th earning 150 YPG.

DALLAS

After losing Dak Prescott, the Cowboys have won both of their games and are understandably favored this week at home against Washington, who has lost their last two, being outscored 46-0 in the first half of those two games.

In addition, the Cowboys have received great news as Michael Gallup, Dalton Schultz and Connor McGovern are expected to return for the offense while Jayron Kearse is expected to be back on the defense.

Cowboys QB Cooper Rush has the eighth-highest DVOA overall at 18.8% while Washington’s Carson Wentz ranks 26th at -19.8%.

The Cowboys are fourth in the NFL in rushing offense at 16.2% with both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard placing in the top 10 in DVOA. The Commanders are far behind in rushing the ball, ranking 25th with a -24.8%.

Yet, the most glaring difference in the two teams thus far might actually be the Cowboys’ front 7 on defense has looked and performed far superior to Washington’s offensive line.

NEW YORK

The Giants are hosting the Bears in a contest between two 2-1 teams. The Giants are going to be without wide receivers Kadarius Toney and Wan’Dale Robinson. Even more, they will miss the play of defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who was also listed out.

The Giants defeated the Titans and the Panthers the first two weeks before falling to the Cowboys on Monday night at home.

The Bears upset San Francisco in Week 1, then fell to the Packers in Week 2. This past Sunday, the Bears defeated the Texans 23-20.

WASHINGTON

The Commanders’ offense yielded an embarrassing 17 QB hits to the Eagles in a 24-8 romp in Week 3. That same offensive line now must face the Dallas Cowboys front 7 which includes Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Dorance Armstrong, Jr.

Even more, Wes Schweitzer is out for Sunday, and Charles Leno has been battling a bad shoulder and is questionable.

Carson Wentz was sacked 9 times by the Eagles and endured 17 QB hits. He has thrown 7 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. However, Wentz has apparently not seen the field well, taking 15 sacks and his QBR is down to 40.4.

 

Commanders will get large test from Cowboys’ front seven

It’s the Dallas front seven that is Washington’s biggest challenge in Week 4.

“Dak Prescott is going to be out of action at least four weeks with an injury to his throwing hand? Oh, Dallas is absolutely going to go 0-4 in that stretch.”

So, thought most everyone that isn’t a diehard Cowboys fan. Two weeks later, the Cowboys defense has shown it they who are the backbone of the team in Dallas.

No doubt, Commanders, Eagles and Giants fans wrote off the Cowboys, and now at 2-1, winning both games started by Cooper Rush at quarterback, we now know we wrote off the Cowboys too soon.

The Commanders travel to Dallas for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff in Week 4. In the last two weeks, it is the Commanders who have looked nothing short of terrible in the first half of both games being outscored 46-0 by the Lions and Eagles. The Commanders yielded 17 QB hits to the Eagles.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ front seven defense has led the way in their victories over the Bengals and Giants. Often in team sports, it is matchups that are crucial in making a difference. If the Commanders’ offensive line is no better than they were the first two halves against the Lions and the Eagles, it will be the third consecutive halftime blowout the Commanders will suffer.

On the flip side, the Cowboys running game splitting time between Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 178 yards in 28 carries prior to Cooper Rush taking a knee on the last two snaps. That means Dallas averaged 6.35 yards each time Pollard or Elliott carried the ball. Consequently, the clock was running, and the Dallas defense was getting rested, permitting Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence to be energized to rush Daniel Jones for 5 sacks and 9 QB hits.

The Eagles’ Brandon Graham was the NFC defensive player of the week because of his huge success against the Commanders in Week 3. DeMarcus Lawrence against the NY Giants accumulated 6 solo tackles, 3 QB sacks, 3 TFL and 3 QB hits.

The Commanders’ offensive line will also have to prepare for and execute well against the explosive Micah Parsons.

What can offensive line coach John Matsko do to improve the Commanders’ performance enough in one week?

Around the NFC East in Week 3

The Eagles stand alone atop the NFC East with a 3-0 record.

The Eagles and Cowboys were big winners in Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season, as the four NFC East teams faced off against each other.

Both the Eagles and Cowboys not only won their games against the Commanders and Giants respectively, but both wins were on the road.

  • Eagles 3-0
  • Cowboys 2-1
  • Giants 2-1
  • Commanders 1-2

 

 

 

 

Who has the best tight end in the NFC East?

While the division may not contain any of the biggest names at the position, there is still a ton of talent at tight end. @CDPiglet ranks the teams based on their stables.

The tight end position has five superstars hovering above the crowded field in the NFL. Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, San Francisco’s George Kittle, Baltimore’s Mark Andrews, and Las Vegas’ Darren Waller were joined last season by Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts.  Ranked underneath them the position is filled with solid players who could still be enormously important to offenses even if they aren’t game changers.

Whether big red-zone threats, seem stretchers, quarterback security blankets, or even just good blockers, tight ends impact offenses more than most other positions. Doing any of those jobs at a high level can create headaches for defensive coordinators, but ones who can do it all can be nightmares.

The NFC East as a whole has some very productive starters, but where do they rank versus one another? This series is a position-by-position breakdown of what each organization is bringing to the competition and the focus in this edition are the tight ends.

 

Ranking NFC East quarterbacks for the 2022 season

How do the NFC East quarterbacks stack up? @CDPiglet feels it most likely will determine how the division standings look when all is said and done.

For all the bad things said about the NFC East last season, the division produced two playoff teams as both the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles made the dance. All four teams made big off-season moves as well, in hopes of securing a division title that has rotated homes every year since 2004. The Giants used high pedigree draft picks to select cornerstones, the Eagles made big trades and free agent acquisitions, the Commanders found a new QB and Dallas re-signed multiple impact players from a division winner.

The first goal of every team is to win their division. This is the easiest way to ensure a playoff berth and a chance at a run for the Super Bowl. Which team built the best roster though? This series is a position-by-position breakdown of what each organization is bringing to the competition. The most important players in the game, the quarterback position, kick things off.

Offseason full of risks brings Cowboys to precipice of pivotal 2022 campaign

That’s thin ice the Cowboys are skating on by taking so many risks this offseason. @CDPiglet wonders just how sharp are those blades?

On October 17, 2021, the Dallas Cowboys walked into New England and beat the Patriots behind a record-breaking performance from quarterback Dak Prescott. The win improved the team’s record to 5-1, a streak of five straight victories that included two blowout victories over division opponents. Headed into their bye week, Dallas was flying high, however Prescott suffered a calf injury on the game-winning play, and the Cowboys’ season went downhill from there.

The Cowboys went on to go 7-4, but only 3-4 against non-division opponents. The better teams figured out they could stifle the Cowboys’ offense by playing a coverage shell and forcing Dallas to try and run the ball against lighter boxes. Dallas was unable to run efficiently though, and they struggled blocking four-man rush concepts. This spiral culminated with a disappointing home playoff lost to the San Francisco 49ers, and led to another offseason of decisions for the Joneses-led front offense.