Tag: 2023 Week 6

Lessons Learned: 3 things we now know about the Cowboys offense

A tragic run game and a target deserving of more attention were among the key lessons taught on Monday night, says @ReidDHanson.

For the first time all season, the Cowboys were involved in a hotly contested battle which lasted deep into the fourth quarter. Brandon Aubrey’s 39-yard field goal with 2:19 remaining proved to be the winning points, after a Stephon Gilmore interception sealed the deal for Dallas.

In previous weeks, the Cowboys were either blowing teams out or playing a futile game of catch-up themselves. Week 1 through Week 5 offered very little to show how the Dallas offense operates in neutral situations. On Monday against the Chargers, it finally got the chance.

After a week of criticism and unrelenting scrutiny, Mike McCarthy was finally able to call the game he wanted to. The returns were modest, but also honest. A 20-17 game isn’t something McCarthy can be very excited about as a play-caller. But Dallas got the win, and the season goes on with renewed postseason expectations.

Heading into their bye week, the Cowboys finally learned some things about their offense. Proper review and analysis should help them make corrections and set them on a new path as they reassess strategies over their off week.

DT Osa Odighizuwa wins PFF Player of the Week in Cowboys win

The Cowboys top interior defensive linemen is getting the credit he deserves, winning PFF’s defensive player of the week. | From @ReidDHanson

At face value, a 17-point yield on defense isn’t much to get excited about. The Cowboys defense held their first two opponents in 2023 to 10 total points. And after getting embarrassed on national television against the 49ers in Week 5, they needed a dominate effort to repair their tarnished image.

A closer look showed it truly was the dominant performance the Cowboys were searching for. While the constant penalties made things needlessly difficult, some of that can be attributed to a flag-happy officiating crew and some overzealous individuals. When it counted, players came up huge and one of those players who posted an absolutely ernormous day was third-year DT, Osa Odighizuwa.

Odighizuwa has been the Cowboys top DT all season, but in Week 6, he posted arguably his best game of the year. He clocked a hit and five hurries in 33 pass rush snaps, earning him Pro Football Focus’s top grade of the game and Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Odighizuwa now ranks No. 6 amongst DTs. He’s in the NFL’s top tier in pass rush wins from the interior defensive line and a big reason opposing offenses can’t devote all resources to stopping Dallas’ onslaught of EDGE rushers.

Odighizuwa was popular choice as a breakout player to watch in 2023. While a case could be made the UCLA product had already broken out, he’d yet to be nationally recognized.

This could be a big step in his bid for Pro Bowl honors in 2023.

Playing on his rookie deal through the 2024 season, Odighizuwa represents one of the biggest bargains on the Cowboys roster. He’s established himself as one of the best young DTs in the NFL and shows an appreciation for both phases of the game.

Odighizuwa is Dallas’ top pressure player from the interior. He can penetrate inside gaps in a flash and stunt outside with defensive ends with ease. He’s also shown the ability to play inside and outside in odd-man fronts making him a versatile tool in Dan Quinn’s defensive arsenal.

Despite seeing double-teams 66 percent of the time in 2023, He’s ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s pass-rush win-rate.

Odighizuwa has shown improvement every season he’s played and he’s yet to plateau in his development. The sky is the limit for this 25-year-old linemen and he’s already become a cornerstone player on the Cowboys defense.

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40+ of the best pics from Cowboys escaping Chargers crunch in Week 6

A collection of some of the best snaps from Dallas’ fourth victory on the season as they head into the bye on a positive note. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Chargers defense clearly got some inside intel from Kellen Moore and Doug Nussmeier on how to attack Dallas’ offense on Monday night. They routinely harassed quarterback Dak Prescott, sacking the Cowboys’ signal caller five times and on numerous occassions forcing the signal caller to escape danger. Prescott came through though, leading Dallas to a game-winning fourth-quarter drive where rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey nailed a short field goal for a 20-17 lead.

The defense had to come through though, and they did in a big way with back-to-back plays. First Micah Parsons rattled QB Justin Herbert with a crucial sack and then the pressure on the next play led to Stephon Gilmore’s interception. All in all, it was a good day for the Cowboys who improved to 4-2 on the young season. Here are some of the great photo captures from USA Today Images and Getty.

Cowboys’ Dak Prescott impacts game on ground, through air in Week 6 win

The Dallas quarterback used his legs for the first time in what felt like forever, threatening the defense and buying time in the win. | From @TimLettiero

Dallas was backed up against the wall, cornered by narratives, coming into their Week 6, Monday Night Football matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers. They had a lot to prove after the prior week’s embarrassment, specifically in the execution department. While the defense held strong throughout and stepped up when it mattered most, Dallas’ offense was the focal point of the contest.

Already under a microscope as they took on their former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, fans and analysts opined about the regression shown by the Cowboys’ offense. So while the defense showed the shortcomings of Moore’s offense against a top-tier defense, the team would be judged by how the offense performed. Quarterback Dak Prescott carried Dallas to a victory. From the jump he was dealing through the air but also on the ground.

While there is still much to question about the play calling under HC Mike McCarthy, what is definitive is how much he got out of his QB on Monday.

The Chargers took the lead on their opening possession, but it didn’t take long for the Cowboys to respond. On 4th-and-1 in the red zone, Prescott kept the read option, taking it to the house for an 18-yard score.

It was his first rushing touchdown in the regular season since Week 8 last season, and was the first of several plays where Prescott showed mobility in the pocket. He was assaulted by the Chargers’ pass rush all game, and had numerous escapes to either minimize a loss, gain yardage or buy time to find open receivers.

With the game tied and the offense deep in their own territory in the fourth quarter, Prescott spun out of pressure, scrambled right, and found RB Tony Pollard for a first down that turned into a big gain after a broken tackle.

Later, this clutch third-down conversion set Dallas up in the red zone with a chance to take the lead. Prescott dropped back and floated a perfect ball into the end zone that WR Brandin Cooks came down with for his first score on the year.

Presott finished the game with a 109.3 passer rating, completing 21 of 30 passes for 272 yards. He was a perfect 11-for-11 when throwing to CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks, overcoming his lack of connection with Michael Gallup (10 targets, only three catches).

Instant Analysis: Cowboys back on track with sloppy win over Chargers

The Cowboys overcame 11 penalties to improve to 10-1 following a loss over the last three seasons. They now sit at 4-2 heading into the bye. | From @ArmyChiefW3

A pre-game scuffle turned into a penalty-filled yet hard-fought victory on Monday Night Football for the Dallas Cowboys. The Los Angeles Chargers interrupted their warmups and the Cowboys stood their ground, letting their opponent know they weren’t going to be pushed around. The Cowboys took advantage of the opportunity to make up ground in the NFC East and did so by grinding out a gritty, 20-17 victory over Los Angeles.

The Chargers couldn’t have had a better start to the game by forcing a three-and-out and marching down the field to take an early 7-0 lead. The Cowboys responded quickly, however, beginning a cat-and-mouse contest that wasn’t decided until a final defensive stand sent the traveling road fans into a frenzy.

 

Escape from L.A.: Cowboys D short circuits Chargers comeback in 20-17 win

It wasn’t pretty, but the Cowboys were able to return to the win column with a strong defensive effort and march into the bye on a positive note. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys defense started of the game in inglorious fashion, allowing the Chargers to convert a short field on their opening drive to take an early 7-0 lead. After their performance a week prior up the Pacific coast in San Francisco, it felt like the unraveling of Dan Quinn’s defense was underway.

But that wasn’t to be the case. The club shut down Los Angeles for the rest of the game, and when the contest was on the line, the defense came through in the biggest of ways. Micah Parsons burst through the Chargers’ protection to sack Justin Herbert and on the next play, more pressure led to a tremendous interception for cornerback Stephon Gilmore. The Cowboys performed their famed Landry Shift in the victory formation and escaped from L.A. with a 20-17 win.

The Cowboys are now 10-1 over the last three seasons following a loss.

The victory improved the club to 4-2 heading into their bye week. The Cowboys overcame several shots to their own feet and miscues and miscalculations by the coaching staff in clock management at the tail end of both halves.

Quarterback Dak Prescott used his legs again for the first time in what felt like forever, scoring a regular-season rushing touchdown for the first time since Week 8 in 2022. With his arm, he was perfect when targeting CeeDee Lamb (seven receptions for 117 yards) and Brandin Cooks (four catches for 36 yards, one touchdown) and finished the game with a 109.3 rating.

The Cowboys converted two of their four red-zone opportunities into scores, but the biggest story was how Quinn was able to corral his former counterpart and limit Kellen Moore’s offense.

The Chargers only two touchdown drives began in Dallas territory, with the first starting at the 42 after a huge punt return and the last starting at the 20 after a Dallas muffed punt. In between it was tough sledding all day for Justin Herbert and company, as the Cowboys’ defense was constantly in the backfield.

The win allowed Dallas to gain a game on San Francisco and Philadelphia, who both lost their first game of the season on Sunday to drop to 5-1.

Following their bye, Dallas will stay at home and host Matt Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8.

Cowboys Twitter erupts at McCarthy throwing in towel at end of 1st half

The Cowboys seem to have taken risk avoidance to new heights with their decision at the end of the first half.

In a tightly contested game, every point counts. That’s exactly what the Dallas Cowboys found themselves in on Monday night. After giving up an opening-drive touchdown to the Chargers, Dallas responded with a score of their own. Things bogged down after that though, and Dallas got the ball back with just over one minute remaining before half.

The club was able to put together a quality string of plays, aided by a boneheaded penalty by Chargers safety Derwin James, to get down to the Chargers’ 17-yard line with 14 seconds left and two timeouts. Most expected the Cowboys to make an effort to score a touchdown, especially with Los Angeles getting the ball to start the third quarter.

But on 1st-and-10, quarterback Dak Prescott settled for a short dump off to Tony Pollard for three yards. Dallas appeared to call a timeout with eight seconds left.

Then, all of a sudden, the field goal unit was on the field and the clock was down to three seconds. Apparently, the Cowboys waited to call the timeout, the dump off was to center the ball and rookie Brandon Aubrey was kicking a 32-yard field goal to give Dallas a 10-7 halftime lead.

The confusion of the viewing audience was matched by announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, as to why the Cowboys were basically giving up at an opportunity to punch it into the end zone. Twitter was unrelenting.

WATCH: Cowboys QB Prescott uses his legs for rare red-zone score

The Cowboys erased an early deficit with an impressive second drive culminating in a touchdown celebration for Dak.

One of the biggest knocks of the Cowboys’ offense in recent years has been their inability or unwillingness to use quarterback Dak Prescott as a runer. Early in his career, Prescott was a huge option on offense, scoring 18 touchdowns on the ground over his first three years. That has dried up over the last several years. with only two rushing scores over his last 33 games as a starter.

On Monday though, Dallas’ head coach and playcaller Mike McCarthy called a beautiful read option with CeeDee Lamb in motion at the snap that fooled the Chargers’ defense. Prescott almost lost it on the fake handoff, but had a clean lane to race 18 yards into the end zone for a red-zone score.

Dallas gave up a touchdown on the Chargers’ opening drive but evened up the score at 7.

Twitter has universal reaction to Cowboys-Chargers pre-game fight

Here are some of the best reactions to the two teams getting into a squabble near midfield before kickoff.

Before the two sides got to fighting it out on the field, they got to an actual fight. The Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers are both in need of a victory as the two teams are set to square off on Monday Night Football. With Dallas at 3-2 and the Chargers’ record at 2-2 coming off a bye, neither can afford to lose any more ground on the 5-1 teams atop their respective conferences.

The emotions spilled into fisticuffs with the two teams in pregame warmups. It appears that the Chargers were in the way of the Cowboys and some players took exception. The clearest videos see several players getting into it, including Dallas DE Dante Fowler catching Chargers RB Austin Ekeler with a right hand that knocked the latter’s helmet off.

Of course, after being embarrassed last week in San Francisco, the prevailing sentiments among observers on Twitter were a range of “oh now they want to show fight.” Here are some of the best reactions.

Cowboys-Chargers Inactives: Deuce Vaughn sits, Joey Bosa to play

The Cowboys are dealing with a plethora of injuries for their matchup with the Chargers, who are welcoming back their RB with DE in tow. | From @cdburnett7

The Dallas Cowboys come into their Week 6 bout with the Los Angeles Chargers far more hindered than before. It all starts with linebacker Leighton Vander-Esch, who moved to IR with a neck injury and it’s the same case for special teams ace C.J. Goodwin.

Fellow linebacker Juanyeh Thomas was doubtful heading into Monday night, and he’s out to make it a very thin room in the middle of the Dallas defense. With those losses, the Cowboys moved up a multitude of players to fill out the 53-man roster.  Running back Malik Davis and linebacker Malik Jefferson were called up Monday in reaction to the losses. There’s also a surprise with running back Deuce Vaughn inactive.

For the Chargers, it’s good news with running back Austin Ekeler back in the fold while pass rusher Joey Bosa is active after spending the the week on the injury report. Dallas heads into SoFi Stadium shorthanded for Monday Night Football against Los Angeles, kicking off at 7:15 p.m. on ABC and ESPN.