Tag: 4 Downs

Cooks cooking, Jourdan Lewis’ olympic dive among Cowboys key Week 17 moments

From @ToddBrock24f7: It wasn’t just the obvious plays or usual stars that told the story of Dallas’ 20-19 win. Jourdan Lewis and Brandin Cooks were huge, too.

Saturday’s thriller at AT&T provided no shortage of plays that have been relentlessly discussed and will still be talked about for quite some time. But the Cowboys’ 20-19 win was about far more than just a bizarre tackle-eligible snafu in the closing seconds.

One can’t recap the Week 17 nailbiter without also including several other key moments; like the phantom tripping call against Peyton Hendershot, the 92-yard bomb to CeeDee Lamb, several overly-aggressive play calls by Detroit head coach Dan Campbell, and multiple big stops from Dan Quinn’s Cowboys defense.

Dive a little deeper, and there are still more plays that help tell the full story.

In this edition of 4 Downs, we look at how a Mike McCarthy decision, a clutch takeaway from an especially-motivated veteran, a field-flipping highlight (and the ensuing defensive response), and a routine sideline catch (that was anything but) were just as critical to the Cowboys’ dramatic win as any last-minute two-point try… and re-try and re-re-try.

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4 Downs: Cowboys beaten by personal fouls, brutal fumble, offense’s ‘dead spot’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys shot themselves in the foot over and over on Sunday in a game they nevertheless almost won. These four plays decided the matter.

For all the doom and gloom that’s beset Cowboys Nation over the past two weeks, the team nearly won Sunday’s matchup with Miami. It may not have felt like it, but Dallas truly was one or two plays from escaping South Beach with a win that would have dramatically changed the narrative surrounding the Cowboys heading into the playoffs.

But if you want to pick out four plays that decided the 22-20 loss, you have to point at the mistakes that ultimately doomed Dallas. And there were plenty to choose from. Had the Cowboys come out on top, the four biggest plays would be highlights like CeeDee Lamb’s long scoring catch-and-run, Dak Prescott’s contortionist throw to Michael Gallup as he avoided a sack late, the defense’s stoning the Dolphins on a 4th down in the second quarter, a clutch catch by Jalen Tolbert in the third, or a fourth-down completion to Jake Ferguson that helped set an encouraging tone early.

Instead, it was costly penalties and a devastating turnover that ultimately proved to be the difference. Here are the four plays that best sum up Week 16’s heartbreaker at Hard Rock.

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4 Downs: Dak’s botched bomb, punt penalty, missed challenge doomed Cowboys

From @ToddBrock24f7: Week 15’s no-show was over in a hurry. Four plays in particular told the whole story of the Cowboys’ embarrassing 31-10 loss.

Some games are a roller coaster, with ups and downs and twists and turns all along the way. And some games are that ride that takes you straight up with all the anticipation in the world, gives you just long enough to spot your car in the parking lot, and then drops you in a stomach-turning freefall that’s over before you know it, checking your pockets to see what- beside your lunch- you’ve lost.

Sunday’s visit to Buffalo was nothing short of a disaster, with six days of big-game hype crashing down in a matter of minutes. All of the tide-turning plays went the Bills’ way, and all happened before halftime, leaving the entire second half for Cowboys fans to stew in their latest plummet from lofty expectations.

The best that can be hoped for is that there are lessons learned from the 31-10 no-show, and that the Cowboys can use them to better navigate the challenges to come.

Here are the four biggest plays that defined Dallas’s low-water mark at Highmark Stadium.

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Ferguson’s rumble, Gilmore’s dip into fountain of youth define Cowboys’ win

From @ToddBrock24f7: Stephon Gilmore personally showed the Eagles he still has it, and Jake Ferguson’s key catch-and-run helped seal Week 14’s 33-13 victory.

It takes a village, as the saying goes. In the NFL, though, it takes a team, and the Cowboys demonstrated that Sunday night. While it’s always satisfying to see the marquee superstars shine brightly on the primetime stage, Week 14’s massive divisional win over Philadelphia wasn’t the result of Dak Prescott or CeeDee Lamb or Micah Parsons putting the entire roster on his back. No, this most recent victory came as the result of true complementary football and multiple players in all three phases making a single play here or there (or two plays, in one veteran’s case) when it mattered most.

The entire 33-13 dismantling of the Eagles is worth a re-watch, even if only for pure enjoyment purposes, but take a moment to stop and zero in on these four plays that proved especially momentous. Each represents the kind of effort that will be needed- from every player wearing the star- to finish the regular season strong and take the Cowboys on a deep playoff run.

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4 Downs: Parsons, Pollard return to form; dumb penalties play big role in Cowboys win

From @ToddBrock24f7: Micah Parsons and Tony Pollard got back to what they do best, but dumb penalties were also among the plays that determined the outcome.

Week 11’s trip to North Carolina was closer than many observers expected for much of the afternoon, but in the end, the 33-10 Dallas win also allowed several Cowboys players to perform closer to what fans have been expecting.

Micah Parsons looked more like his usual game-wrecking self after a rare quiet performance the week prior, and Tony Pollard found the end zone once again after a surprisingly long absence.

Sunday’s game provided several other highlight-reel moments — Luke Schoonmaker scores! DaRon Bland does it again! — but NFL games are also decided by the plays that find the world’s greatest athletes called out for screwing up.

Here are four plays, both unforgettable and a little regrettable, that went a long way in deciding the outcome of the Cowboys-Panthers tilt in Charlotte.

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4 Downs: Lamb, Gallup plays among most important of Week 10 rout

From @ToddBrock24f7: CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup made big-time catches, Dak Prescott listened to his feet, and the Dallas D got stout at the goal line.

32 first downs. 640 yards of offense. 61 passing yards allowed. Not a single third-down conversion by the opponent. Touchdowns by six different Cowboys players. Oh yes, there were plenty of plays to remember in the 49-17 pummeling of the New York Giants.

But the highlight-reel scores aren’t always the most important moments of the game. In this edition of 4 Downs, we’ll look at an early defensive stand that may have altered the course of the entire contest, as well as the one-handed feat of amazement that forecasted the rest of CeeDee Lamb’s record-breaking day.

For those Cowboys fans wondering if Dak Prescott’s legs are really going to continue to be an integral part of the offensive attack, we have an answer. And one play should give provide an encouraging update for the rest of the schedule regarding one Cowboys playmaker who hasn’t been his usual self.

Here are four plays that not only shaped the Week 10 win over New York but should also help set the table for what to expect over the team’s remaining seven games.

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Gallup’s drop, missing Ferguson on 4th among Cowboys loss-defining plays

From @ToddBrock24f7: Beyond the plays everyone is talking about, don’t forget about Jake Ferguson wide open and Michael Gallup’s dropped pass in key moments.

When picking the plays that defined the Cowboys’ 28-23 loss to Philadelphia in Week 9, there are the obvious choices. Luke Schoonmaker not getting into the end zone on his 1-yard catch. Dak Prescott stepping out of bounds on his 2-point conversion. The final play in which no one was following CeeDee Lamb toward the end zone to receive a last-gasp lateral.

But a final score in the NFL almost always comes down to more than just a handful of larger-than-life plays. It’s all the countless little things, tiny details, seemingly inconsequential moments along the way that lead up to those gotta-have-it highlights.

For this edition of 4 Downs, we’ll bypass the no-brainers on which the game very visibly shifted and instead dive into four lesser plays that just as importantly swung the momentum in what ended up being a rollercoaster clash of NFC East rivals.

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4 Downs: Little moments trigger big plays as Cowboys steamroll Rams

From @ToddBrock24f7: Despite an afternoon of splashy highlights, it was a 1st-quarter penalty and a two-point conversion and that helped define the Cowboys’ day.

It’s better to be lucky than good, the old saying goes. But being both is best of all, and that’s what the Cowboys were on Sunday. Their 23-point win over the Rams provided plenty of splashy big-play highlights— on offense, defense, and special teams — with the team’s top playmakers delivering the kinds of performances that fans have been waiting for. With Philadelphia on deck in Week 9, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

But the Cowboys’ 11th-straight home win was also defined largely by a few seemingly small moments. It was an easily-overlooked penalty flag that gave Dak Prescott a second chance at his first drive of the day, and it was an arguably meaningless two-point play that snuffed out any hope of the visitors climbing back into things in the second half.

A mix of both the big and the small, here are the four plays that told the tale in Dallas’s 43-20 victory to complete the L.A. sweep.

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4 Downs: Browns protect Deshaun Watson, Myles Garrett is still a freak and celebrating a huge road win

This week’s victory edition of 4 Downs looks at Myles Garrett’s incredible athleticism, the Browns protecting Deshaun Watson and how this stretch could propel the Browns into the playoffs.

It was a wild day in Indianapolis in which things started looking very bleak for the Cleveland Browns. But the offense and quarterback P.J. Walker came through when the Browns needed them the most and a late score helped propel the Browns to a thrilling 39-38 victory over the Indianapolis Colts to move to 4-2 on the season and keep pace with and stay a half-game behind the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.

The Browns avoided a letdown following their huge Week 6 win over the San Francisco 49ers and now have won two straight and three of their last four as they now prepare for a trip to Seattle next week to take on the Seahawks.

Welcome to the latest (and special guest) edition of 4 Downs and another fun one following a big win.

Here are the 4 biggest plays from Cowboys’ crucial win over Chargers

From @ToddBrock24f7: Dak Prescott put the team on his shoulders (and legs) in L.A., but iffy game management and special teams nearly cost the Cowboys.

Monday night’s nail-biter ended the weekend slate with a hard-fought back-and-forth slugfest. And while it was frequently anything but pretty, it did end with a Cowboys victory to send them into their bye week with a 4-2 record.

It was Dallas’s first win of the season that didn’t come by way of a landslide; in fact, the Cowboys team that came off SoFi Stadium’s turf winners by a 20-17 margin looked nothing like the squad that demolished the Giants, Jets, and Patriots.

There were signs of life, however, for the offense. Mike McCarthy’s play calling has not lived up to expectations by any stretch, but Dak Prescott was able to take matters into his own hands (and feet), re-establish a connection with CeeDee Lamb, do some ad-libbing with Tony Pollard, finally got Brandin Cooks involved, and turn in a solid game that should quiet the haters… somewhat.

Don’t expect the seat under McCarthy to get any cooler, though; there are still plenty of questions about an offense that has yet to come out firing on all cylinders, and Dan Quinn’s defense clearly has some work to do during the off week to clean up penalties and tighten up their tackling.

In a rollercoaster affair that provided ample twists, turns, and loop-de-loops, here are four plays that helped tell the story of the Cowboys’ Week 6 win.

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