Tag: 2023 Week 16

Gifts and Coal: Lamb, Luepke opposite sides of Cowboys’ studs, duds

CeeDee Lamb’s record and Hunter Luepke’s fumble are among the impact events in the Cowboys’ Week 16 loss. | From @BenGrimaldi

Santa Claus wasn’t kind to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16 as they fell to the Miami Dolphins, 22-20, on a last-second field goal. The Cowboys spent most of the afternoon trying to crawl their way back into it after being down for much of the contest, but couldn’t hold the lead once they earned it.

This wasn’t the same old story for Mike McCarthy’s team on the road. They had plenty of fight in the Christmas Eve matchup of 10-4 teams. However, they couldn’t get the one thing they wanted for the holiday, a W in the win column.

In defeat, the Cowboys have their first losing streak since 2021 and now they’ve fallen behind in the NFC East race with two weeks remaining. Here’s the Christmas edition of the studs (gifts) and duds (coal) in Dallas’ Week 16 loss.

Scrooged: Cowboys fall to last-minute Dolphins FG, 22-20

The Cowboys were able to stymy the Dolphins’ high-powered offense, but not on the most important drive.

The Cowboys came into Miami with plenty to prove. Following their loss to the Bills in Week 15, Dallas faced questions about their toughness, their ability to stop the run and whether or not they could perform on the road against a quality opponent.

They responded to a couple of those challenges, except the most important one. Dallas’ offense made a hideous mistake to start the game and then the defense was unable to close things out at the end of it. An early fumble took what looked like a certain scoring chance off the board. Dallas battled back and took the lead late, but couldn’t stop Miami’s final drive that led to their fifth field goal of the game. Dallas fell, 22-20.

The loss dropped Dallas to 10-5 on the season, with two games left to go. They will return home for a Saturday game against the Detroit Lions in Week 17 before finishing their season Week 18 in Washington.

Dallas now has a 3-4 record against teams above .500; falling to San Francisco, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Miami – the last two over the last two weeks. They have wins over the Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle, with Detroit their final above-.500 opponent remaining.

Twitter erupts as refs call insanely bad penalty on Cowboys’ Micah Parsons

The refs continue to interject their way into the game, under the guise of safety. This one had Cowboys fans apoplectic.

Micah Parsons has had enough. It’s been 30-plus quarters since the NFL’s preeminent pass rusher has seen a holding call made against an opponent trying to block him. Things haven’t changed in their Week 16 game against the Miami Dolphins.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, now he’s getting hit with roughing the passer penalties when he clearly is within the rules with his hit late in the second quarter on Tua Taglovailoa. The Cowboys’ star came in from the blindside and hit the Dolphins QB in the back a split second after it was released. Pass rushers are given two steps towards the quarterback as long as they don’t strike them in the head or take them to the ground in an egregious fashion.

Parsons erupted at the call, the frustration of the one-sided nature of their calls clearly reaching the boiling point. He had to be backed off the referee by teammate DeMarcus Lawrence.

The call, on third down with under a minute remaining, gave the Dolphins a new set of downs and they scored a touchdown a few plays later to take the lead. Cowboys and national Twitter were besides themselves at the call.

Earlier in the game, the Cowboys were the benefactors to a questionable roughing call on Dolphins DT Christian Wilkins, but that was in the shadow of their own goal line and clearly wouldn’t have the same impact as this call did on the scoring.

Warning, some tweets contain NSFW language. 

Twitter reacts to CeeDee Lamb’s 8th TD in 7 games as Cowboys take lead

The Cowboys retook the lead in the first quarter with a sensational catch and run the star runner.

The Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb connection is alive and kicking. Early on in the important Week 16 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, the QB-WR combo is lighting up the opposing secondary. Still in the first half, Lamb already has topped 100 yards from scrimmage, with the last 43 coming on a beautiful touchdown run.

Dallas was trailing 3-0 after rookie FB Hunter Luepke fumbled at the goal line and the defense finally stopped the responding Miami drive and forced a long field goal. It took just three plays to respond. Prescott found Lamb for catch No. 3 outside the right hash for 22 yards. A Tony Pollard run later, the two connected again. Lamb took the catch and weaved through the Dolphins secondary for a 43-yard score. It was Lamb’s eight TD in the last seven games (six receptions, two rushes). Twitter reacted accordingly.

Cowboys-Dolphins Inactives: Zack Martin, Tyreek Hill to go in Week 16, Tyron Smith out

The Cowboys and Dolphins are set to square off in a battle of 10-4 teams. Here’s who won’t be in full gear, through injury or coach’s decision. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys will be with one, but without another key member of their offensive line. In doubt all week, left tackle Tyron Smith was ruled out of the contest on Saturday, staying behind in Dallas while the team boarded their plane for South Florida. Smith will miss his fourth game of the 2023 and first since the game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Dallas will however have right guard Zack Martin, who left last week’s loss to the Buffalo Bills with a quad injury. Dallas has announced their Week 16 inactives ahead of their matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Both teams are 10-4 and looking to improve their playoff seeding in their respective conferences.

For Miami, the biggest question mark would be whether or not Tyreek Hill, trying to become a 2,000-yard receiver, would play. He’s in the lineup as well after being marked questionable following the week of practice.

Here’s a look at all of the inactives from Dallas’ 55-man roster after they elevated a DT and RB this week.

 

TV coverage maps, stream Cowboys-Dolphins in Week 16, plus the top prop bets

Another broadcast A-team awaits the Cowboys as Guns, Jr. has the big whistle and the prop bet action is intriguing. Everything you need to enjoy Cowboys-Dolphins. | From @KDDrummondNFL

It’s been a long and trying week for Cowboys Nation, as is usually the case after an unacceptable performance. The football world in general has dismissed the Cowboys’ five-game winning streak as inconsequential, crediting their blowout win over then 10-2 Philadelphia as nothing more than divisional warfare, and their win over the scrappy Seahawks as nothing special. The blowout loss to Buffalo on national television put Dallas back in the category of teams that cannot win games against good competition, just now with the caveat of when on the road.

Sunday afternoon brings a chance at redemption, in some ways. The Miami Dolphins also have a reputation of not being able to beat good competition, entering the game 0-3 against teams currently at or above .500. Unlike the Cowboys there’s no caveat where teams they’ve defeated had a positive record at the time, the Dolphins haven’t faced anyone sitting above that line and emerged victorious.

Mike McDaniels’ team is certainly capable, of course. With one of the league’s great skill position quartets of Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle, Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane centered around speed, speed and more speed, they took back over the points-scored pinnacle from Dallas in Week 15. The defense under Vic Fangio is nothing to sneeze at now that Jalen Ramsey has returned.

It will be a formidable matchup when each team has possession, so there aren’t many downs the viewing public should miss. Want to stay in lock step with all of the action? Here’s how to watch, stream, gamble and enjoy the battle of two teams with Super Bowl dreams.

Cowboys adaptability on defense will be put to the test against Dolphins

If the Cowboys play their usual brand of coverage in Week 16, they’ll be playing into the Dolphins’ strengths, says @ReidDHanson.

To adapt or not adapt, that is the question. This Shakespearean-like conundrum torments all NFL coaches but in Week 16 of the NFL season, it’s likely especially applicable to the Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

On one hand, Quinn has the league’s No. 5 defense, by EPA standards. With depth in the secondary and strength in man coverage, he has a defense built to play nickel personnel, heavy man and single high safety coverage. Based on their ranking, it’s served him well.

On the other hand, Quinn is staring down an elite offense in Miami. It’s an offense that’s built to destroy man coverage, spread out defenses, and catch would-be tacklers out of position. It’s an offense that can win a number of ways which could mean following their season-long trends or following Buffalo’s blueprint that recently embarrassed the Cowboys.

 

 

The Cowboys adaptability on defense will be put to the test against Dolphins

If the Cowboys play their usual brand of coverage in Week 16, they’ll be playing into the Dolphins’ strengths

To adapt or not adapt, that is the question. This Shakespearean-like conundrum torments all NFL coaches, but in Week 16 of the NFL season, it’s likely especially applicable to the Cowboys defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn.

On one hand, Quinn has the league’s No. 5 defense (by EPA standards). With depth in the secondary and strength in man coverage, he has a defense built to play nickel personnel, heavy man and single high safety coverage. Based on their ranking, it has served him well.

On the other hand, Quinn is staring down an elite offense in Miami. It’s an offense that’s built to destroy man coverage, spread out defenses, and catch would-be tacklers out of position. It’s an offense that can win a number of ways, which could mean following their season-long trends or following Buffalo’s blueprint that recently embarrassed the Cowboys.

Quinn has a decision to make: Does he A) lean into his team’s strengths and do the same thing he’s done all season with the Cowboys defense? Or does he B) alter his traditional approach and play to the Dolphin’s weaknesses, besting them through strategy?

The answer would be easy if the strengths of the Cowboys defense matched the weaknesses of Miami, but unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Dallas’ favorite coverage this season, by a fairly significant margin, is Cover 1. In this coverage they’ve held opposing passing attacks to -0.21 EPA/play and -10.8% CPOE. Of their top coverages, it’s yielded the lowest yards/attempt, lowest YAC/reception, and the most interceptions.

Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa loves Cover 1 as well. Against it, he’s posted a +0.50 EPA/play and a +4.3% CPOE to go with a gaudy 8/1 touchdown to interception ratio in 2023. The Cowboys love closing off the middle of the field with a safety and playing man coverage on the boundary and Tagovailoa loves playing against it. In the infamous words of my plumber, “something’s gotta give.”

If Quinn decides to scheme to the Dolphin’s weaknesses he can employ Cover 4 or quarters defense. Tagovailoa has been producing positive EPA against all major coverages this season, but he’s generally been at his least effective against quarters. His EPA/play of +0.20 is good and his 77.2% completion percentage is elite, but his damage is far less against this than it is against the other coverages.

Cover 4 is the Cowboys’ fourth most used coverage in 2023. They are holding opponents to -0.05 EPA/play and -11.2% CPOE. They are giving up some deep passes but holding opponents to a 53.3% completion percentage. While the performance between the two teams is significantly different in Cover 4, it’s not as wide of a chasm as it is against Cover 1.

With Tyreek Hill set to play on Sunday, the Cowboys can ill afford to play into the Dolphin’s hands in coverage. Hill is a league leader against man coverage is automatic against press. Cover 1 has extra risk when Hill is on the field. Then again, Cover 4 opens up opportunities underneath and in the running game. The Cowboys can’t afford to gift easy yards again this week either.

The solution is likely a mix of coverages. Coverages that are well-disguised and not according to the typical script. Quinn has been predictable in his coverage in the past and will have to actively work to avoid such transparency in a matchup such as this.

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Cowboys 55-man roster for Week 16: Tyron Smith out, but no OL elevations vs Dolphins

The Cowboys are without their starting left tackle, but aren’t making any roster moves to account for it. Here’s what they did and didn’t do ahead of the clash with the water mammals. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have ruled left tackle Tyron Smith out for their Week16 game against the Miami Dolphins. The future Hall of Famer has been outstanding all season, but sometime during the loss to Buffalo last week, he tweaked his back. Unable to practice all week he was originally given a doubtful designation, but on Saturday he was ruled out.

He will not fly to Florida with the club. Chuma Edoga will replace him in the starting lineup. Dallas did not make any roster moves related to Smith, though, as second-year tackle Matt Waletzko was not activated from IR despite practicing for the last couple of weeks. The team did elevate two practice squad players, however.

Both DT Carl Davis and RB Malik Davis are being brought up to make it a 55-man roster. This is the running back’s final elevation for the season. Carl Davis is moving up in response to Johnathan Hankins’ leg injury, as the big nose tackle will miss his second-straight week.

In Week 15, Carl Davis saw 14 snaps on defense. Malik Davis saw 16 special teams snaps, but none on offense.

Here’s a look at the full roster, before Dallas announces their inactives list ahead of Sunday’s kickoff.

 

Quarterbacks (3)
Running Backs (4)
Wideouts (6)
Tight Ends (4)
Offensive Tackles (3)
Offensive Guards (4)
Centers (2)

Defensive Ends (4)
Defensive Tackles (5)
Linebacker (4)
Cornerbacks (6)
Safeties (6)

Special Teams (3)

Cowboys advance scouting the Dolphins’ personnel, tendencies, and strategy

Looking at what personnel groupings, tendencies and coverages the Cowboys can expect from the Dolphins in Week 16. | From @ReidDHanson

It’s not often the Cowboys have a matchup against the Miami Dolphins. The teams last met in 2019 where Preston Williams led Miami in receiving yards, Kenyon Drake led them in rushing, and Josh Rosen was their top signal caller. Dallas beat those Dolphins of yesteryear 31-6. Much has changed in Miami and it’s safe to say the 2023 version is nothing like those Dolphins of old.

The 2023 Dolphins enter Week 16’s showdown with a 10-4 record, fighting for playoff seeding and desperate to overtake Baltimore for the top spot and the obligatory bye week that accompanies it.

The Cowboys are in a similar situation. They are duking it out with the Eagles in the NFC East and realistically have their sights on the No. 2 seed. While the upcoming NFC games hold more value, every win matters and Dallas has something to prove after their pre-holiday cluster fudge last week in Buffalo.

But with no recent matchups to pull from, what is really known about this Dolphins squad from Miami? What are their strengths and weakness, which personnel groups do they prefer, and what might the Cowboys do to get the better of them?