Tag: Dallas Cowboys vs Los Angeles Chargers

4 Takeaways: Moore’s creativity, Parsons’ impact biggest impressions from Cowboys win

The Cowboys squeaked out win a win in LA. The biggest takeaways include the RB1 discussion and the coaching staff’s decisions. | From @CDBurnett7

Coming into the season, all the national predictions saw the Dallas Cowboys having a mediocre, at best, defense while quarterback Dak Prescott and his offense would be forced to win in big shootouts every week. Last season, that was the norm until Prescott went down but this is a much different team. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has changed everything, even without defensive end Demarcus Lawrence on Sunday.

Dallas switched it up completely against the Chargers, notably without a hefty list of starters and a couple of star players as well. Would anyone have believed the Cowboys would win if they were only going to score 20 points against Los Angeles? Probably not, but here they are with a 1-1 team that is able to change their identity based on the situation. Here are the biggest takeaways from the “road” win for Dallas.

Studs and Duds: Coaching staff struggles can’t mar Cowboys victory

Dallas escaped LA with a last second win over the Chargers, these are the Cowboys who helped or hurt themselves during the narrow victory. | From @AsaHenry_55

Cowboys fans have become accustomed to nail-biters, and Sunday’s narrow road victory over the Chargers was no exception. Neither club played their best football, in what was expected to be a much higher-scoring affair, but Dallas avoided the dreaded 0-2 start to the season on a last-second field goal, 20-17.

There were a number of excellent individual performances, but in a game marred by 20 accepted penalties for a combined 175 yards, it wasn’t beautiful effort by any stretch of imagination. The breaking of on-field rules weren’t the only mistakes being made, however.

Here’s a look at a number of players who stepped up and stood out to help the Cowboys secure the 3-point win, and a few of the things Dallas can hopefully improve upon moving forward.

‘See ball, get ball’: New-look Cowboys defense leads NFL in takeaways after 2 games

With 2 more picks on Sunday, the Cowboys now have six takeaways in their first two games as the ballhawking defense continues to impress. | From @ToddBrock24f7

It’s just Week 2. At the time of this writing, the Packers and Lions have yet to even play their second game of the 2021 season. But Cowboys fans may want to take a moment to celebrate the rarity of a feat that has seemed- in very recent years, at least- too fantastic to imagine.

The Dallas Cowboys lead the league in total takeaways. They top the rankings list for best turnover differential, too.

That is not a typo.

With a pair of interceptions Sunday off Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, the Dallas defense is up to six takeaways over the first two weeks of action. None was bigger in the 20-17 win than Damontae Kazee’s pick in the end zone as the third quarter concluded, turning Los Angeles away with nothing to show for an 11-play drive in a tie ballgame.

“See ball, get ball,” Kazee explained of the moment in his postgame comments. “That’s me. Just see it, go get it.”

The safety nearly tried to make a return out of the end zone, but thought better of it, with Chargers receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams closing in fast.

“I wanted to take it out. But I realized who was in front of me. I didn’t want to take any chances, putting the ball on the five-yard line instead of the 20-yard line, taking a touchback. It was a hell of a play. Got down and gave the offense another opportunity.”

Ten plays later, the Cowboys turned that opportunity into a critical field goal to take the lead.

“That’s probably the play of the game,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said of the well-timed pick. It was the second straight game in which the Cowboys intercepted a pass in their own end zone.

“Those, to me, are worth double,” linebacker Leighton Vander Esch offered. “Those are crucial turnovers for us. They’re huge point-savers. Heck of a job by those guys. It feels so good for us as backers, knowing that we have guys like that playing behind us and to the side of us, just the ballhawks they are. We almost had another one, too… Turnovers are coming, man.”

That would make good on what has been a definite point of focus for Dan Quinn’s defense this offseason. The Cowboys finished the 2020 season with a respectable 23 takeaways, but ended the year minus-3 in turnover differential.

Two games into 2021, they’re plus-four.

“We emphasize it every day: ball, ball, ball,” said linebacker-turned-defensive-end Micah Parsons.

“I’m working on my hands every day,” added cornerback Trevon Diggs, who recorded his second interception in as many games with a pick to end the Chargers’ first possession. “Trying to be around the ball as much as I can, get my hands on as many balls as I can, and make sure I catch it.”

Despite the small sample size of games, the takeaways are reason for optimism regarding the Dallas defense. After a historically bad 2020 for the unit, the Cowboys on that side of the ball this year are eager to reinvent the defense’s reputation.

“We haven’t scratched the surface on what we can do,” safety Jayron Kearse elaborated. “We just come out and play every week. We know the odds are against us. Everybody’s counting us out on that back end. We’re just coming out every week to do our job and prove everybody wrong. The only people that believe in us are in that locker room… Every week we’re going to be turnover-driven.”

Bunches of takeaways are great, and certainly a welcome change from Dallas defenses past. But the 2021 unit won’t stop there with finding room for improvement.

“We are going to look at the interceptions,” Kazee said, “but we’ve still got a lot of stuff to critique. Still too many passing yards out there.”

The veteran safety is right; the Cowboys are second-worst in that category so far this season. Call it another list to work their way to the top of.

[vertical-gallery id=679823]

[listicle id=679911]

[lawrence-newsletter]

‘Pick your poison’: Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elliott lead balanced attack in Cowboys win

After a pass-happy Week 1, the Cowboys RBs led the way on Sunday, with a fairly even split between Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott. | From @ToddBrock24f7

No one in their right mind truly believed that the Cowboys were going to throw it 50-plus times every game this season. But as good as quarterback Dak Prescott looked in his return to action on opening night, it certainly seemed as if the team might let their passer with the hot hand be the centerpiece a while longer.

Instead, the Cowboys offense practically went out of their way to show off their balance in Week 2 against the Chargers. Prescott threw 27 passes and handed the ball off 31 times on Sunday. The final box score shows 221 passing yards to 198 rushing yards.

Even the team’s one-two punch at running back divvied up the carries more evenly than expected; Ezekiel Elliott had 16 rushing attempts for 71 yards, while Tony Pollard went 13-for-109. And each found the end zone one time.

“We wanted to get the run game going,” head coach Mike McCarthy said after the 20-17 win, a game in which long, methodical drives were the order of the day. Dallas had just eight possessions on the afternoon; six of them took longer than three minutes, and four of them resulted in points.

“We feel that we can go the long way or the quick way,” McCarthy added.

The players agreed that offensive coordinator Kellen Moore found a different gear this week as compared to Week 1’s aerial assault in Tampa.

“He did a great job calling the plays this week,” Pollard noted outside the locker room, “especially after the game we had last week, with an explosive offense. We were able to show we could move the ball up and down the field. He did a good job switching it up but keeping the same energy.”

“I think we showed that today,” Elliott told reporters, “that we will have different gameplans, and we’re going to take what the defense gives us. If you’re going to load the box up on us, we’re going to throw it on you. If you play coverage, we’re going to run it. You’ve got to pick your poison.”

On Sunday, the Chargers got a slightly-heavier dose of Pollard, the third-year back out of Memphis. His 109 yards on the ground made for his second-best game as a pro; his 13 carries were one attempt short of his career-high.

“We just wanted to go with who was hot,” Pollard said in talking about the split between him and Elliott. “We both feed off each other. So if he was hot, we would have went that way. It just turned out that way for this game.”

“He ran his tail off today,” Elliott beamed. “He’s a great back, all-around: he can catch it, can run it. He’s smaller, but he runs hard, he breaks a lot of tackles. He had a hell of a day, so I’m proud of him. I’m glad he went out there and did his thing.”

Sharing a backfield with a two-time rushing champ with a magnetic personality sometimes leaves Pollard as an under-the-radar weapon in the high-powered Dallas offense. But his teammates and coaches know exactly what they have in the former fourth-round draft choice.

“Those guys are both special,” Prescott raved.

“Tony’s a heck of a player,” McCarthy added. “He’s a really good inside and outside player. I know where he came from, and his past at Memphis is as a slot player and so forth, but that, to me, is almost like an added dimension. He’s a natural runner, doesn’t waste any steps, can really put his foot in the ground and get vertical. I just think you’re seeing what I’ve seen for two years. Just to have a combination of both him and Zeke, we’re very fortunate to have two talented backs like that.”

And being the two in the Cowboys’ one-two punch is fine by Pollard.

“I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Pollard said. “Been the underdog, been overlooked. So I’m used to it. I’m used to grinding, work for everything I have. It comes natural to me.”

Some wonder if Pollard should be the lead back, but the 24-year-old has no problems with his role in the Cowboys’ multifaceted offense. Sunday showed that he’ll get his chances, and that he’ll usually make the most of them. So don’t look to Dallas for a running back controversy.

Especially not the week after a win.

“We’re good,” Pollard said of his relationship with Elliott. “As long as we’re getting Ws, winning, everything’s fine.”

[listicle id=679911]

[vertical-gallery id=679823]

[lawrence-newsletter]

McCarthy: Stadium clock snafu caused last-minute confusion in Cowboys win

The Cowboys coach says the clock he was watching “went off the board,” resulting in 24 wasted seconds and leaving a long field goal try. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has been roaming NFL sidelines for the better part of three decades, but there’s still a first time for everything. And the novel situation that presented itself at the end of Sunday’s Week 2 game in Los Angeles nearly cost Dallas their chance at a walk-off field goal win.

In the midst of what looked like a baffling bit of poor clock management, the Cowboys let 24 seconds tick off the clock without running a play. A timeout was finally called with just a few ticks left, the coaches seemingly content to let kicker Greg Zuerlein take a shot from 56 yards after going just 3-of-5 last week and taking the blame for the team’s season-opening loss.

Zuerlein’s kick won the game, but McCarthy revealed afterward that an issue with SoFi Stadium’s scoreboards led to the last-minute confusion. According to coach, as the offense scrambled to put the right personnel on the field for a third-down play call, the clock he was watching literally vanished from the video screens.

“One of our players came off who shouldn’t have come off, just communication there. Then we were just going to run it down, but the clock I was watching went off the board,” McCarthy explained in his postgame press conference. “And the clock Kellen had, he said he got blocked by a camera guy. So the communication was great from up top; obviously, you want to call that timeout between three and four seconds.”

“I’ve never had a clock go off the board on me like that,” McCarthy said. “The second down, we were trying to chip away and just get a shorter field goal. We were going to attempt a third-down play and then kick it on on fourth; [that] was the timeframe we were in. Seventeen seconds, I think, so we were right on the threshold. You get into these two-minute drills, you have thresholds: one-minute, thirty seconds, 17 seconds.  We were right at the threshold there of our operation.

“Once you get below 17 seconds, that’s a threshold. Just let it run down and take the kick there. But the initial plan at the 30-second mark was to run a third-down play.”

The snafu came as Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was commandeering the offense on a brilliant final drive, taking them 49 yards on ten plays and draining 3:50 off the clock before the final stoppage. Prescott went 5-for-5 on the series.

“You see the best of Dak Prescott in those situations,” McCarthy told reporters. “We put a lot of time into it. I just really love his demeanor, his poise in the two-minute drills.”

Turns out Prescott’s poise in the final seconds came because he thought everything was going according to the coaching staff’s plan. He had no idea there was ever any confusion about how much time was left.

“I’m looking at the end zone clock, so I saw the time,” Prescott said in his postgame remarks. “I just thought that we’re comfortable and we’re getting into field-goal range and that’s what they wanted to do… In a situation like that, you trust the [special] teams and Greg Zuerlein to put it through.”

Zuerlein did connect on the game-winning kick, so the SoFi Stadium clock issue is one that McCarthy and the Cowboys faithful can, thankfully, shake their heads about with a chuckle now.

[listicle id=679911]

[vertical-gallery id=679823]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Good, Bad, Ugly: Cowboys’ discipline, clock management nearly wasted epic two-headed RB attack

The Dallas Cowboys got key stops and ran the ball well to help beat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-17 on a last second field goal. Here’s a look at what was pretty, pretty good and pretty ugly from Week 2. From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys won their first game of the 2021 season in typical nail-biting fashion, beating the Los Angeles Chargers 20-17. Greg Zuerlein nailed a 56-yard field goal as time expired to help the Cowboys avoid the dreaded 0-2 start.

Nothing feels easy with this team, but Cowboys somehow won a game where they only forced one punt (which was negated by a penalty), gave up 408 yards on defense and scored just 20 points. Fortunately for Dallas, the Chargers were far from perfect, and the Cowboys escaped with a win to even their record before heading home to play their first game at AT&T Stadium this season.

Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Cowboys.

WATCH: Zuerlein makes game-winning 56-yard FG to get first win of 2021

The Cowboys got the final drive of the game with the score tied. Greg Zuerlein was given a 56-yard FG attempt and he drilled it for the win.

With 5:42 left in the game, the Chargers were celebrating a Jared Cook touchdown before an illegal shift penalty called it back. Linebacker Micah Parsons made a sack on third down and Los Angeles was forced to kick a field goal, which was made to knot the game at 17.

After the kick, quarterback Dak Prescott and the offense were set up at their own 13 with 3:45 left to close the game out with a game-winning score. After a scary third-down where running back Ezekiel Elliott made the catch to convert, the Cowboys began to chew the clock and only made it to the Los Angeles 38 thanks to some interesting clock management, giving kicker Greg Zuerlein a 56-yard kick to win it.

Zuerlein called game and the Cowboys escape from SoFi Stadium with a win to move to 1-1.

Cowboys squeak out last-second victory, win 20-17 over Chargers

Dallas evened their early-season record at 1-1 in the same fashion they lost their opener, on the foot of a last-second field goal attempt. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys’ offense exploded out of the gate in the first quarter. The club set a franchise record with 13 first downs en route to a 14-3 lead when the field direction switched. Playing without No. 3 wideout Michael Gallup and starting right tackle La’el Collins, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore had the offense humming under not just the direction of Dak Prescott, but the return of Zack Martin and the return of the run game.

Things slowed down after that, but an opportunistic defense was able to capitalize on two Justin Herbert interceptions and despite messing up their end-of-game clock management the team lined up for a 56-yard game-winning field goal. Greg Zuerlein, villain of Week 1 with three missed kicks, absolutely drilled the final kick with no time remaining and Dallas won their first game of the season, 20-17 over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Dallas was boosted by a two-headed monster at running back as Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott both scored touchdowns and had big games. On defense, Trevon Diggs got his second interception in two games and Damontae Kazee got his first pick as a Cowboy at the perfect time, thwarting a drive where the Chargers were set to take the lead at the end of the third quarter.

Dallas, coming off a mini-bye will now get eight days to prepare for the Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) on Monday Night Football.

Top Passer: Dak Prescott 23 of 27, 237 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT 87.8 rating
Top Rusher:  Tony Pollard 13 carries, 109 yards 1 TD, 3 receptions 31 yds
Top Receiver: CeeDee Lamb, 8 receptions, 81 yards
Top Defender: Leighton Vander Esch, 7 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL

Here are the game highlights.

Tony Pollard TD opens 7-0 lead

Trevon Diggs makes diving interception to stop Chargers drive

Ezekiel Elliott extends lead to 14-3

Kazee keeps the score tied with end-zone interception

Greg Zuerlein nails game-winning field goal with no time left

 

WATCH: Kazee silences long Chargers drive with end-zone pick, keeps Cowboys tied

The Cowboys had their backs to the wall on an 82-yard drive by the Chargers. S Damontae Kazee shut it down with an endzone interception. | From @CDBurnett7

The Chargers started on their own 9 in their sixth drive of the game late in the third quarter. Justin Herbert led a strong drive, partially thanks to a big one-handed catch by Austin Ekeler and an unnecessary roughness call Dallas on cornerback Trevon Diggs at the end of the play.

On third-and-six for Los Angeles at the Cowboys 9, Herbert looked into a crowded endzone. Herbert took the risk and safety Damontae Kazee came down with the interception. Kazee has now created two takeaways in as many weeks as a Cowboy and both came late in games with the defense having their backs to the endzone.

After the big takeaway, running back Tony Pollard opened with a big 28-yard run to get the offense rolling into the fourth quarter.

[vertical-gallery id=679775][lawrence-newsletter]

WATCH: Elliott scores TD to cap off creative play-calling drive for Cowboys

Dak Prescott had a turnover on the second Cowboys drive but got back to work on the next possession, which RB Elliott finished with a TD. | From @CDBurnett7

On the second Dallas Cowboys drive, quarterback Dak Prescott threw an interception a play that looked like a miscommunication between Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. The defense stepped up after the turnover and limited the Chargers to three points. Then, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore went back to his bag.

Prescott and Lamb got back to work and the second-year wideout had 36 total yards on the drive that started at the Dallas 25. After running back Tony Pollard kicked off the drive with three touches for 34 yards, the offense looked to running back Ezekiel Elliott in the red zone. He didn’t disappoint, giving Dallas a 14-3 lead.

Elliott and Pollard have worked together beautifully so far against the Chargers and Lamb even saw a big run out of the backfield. Moore is carving up the Los Angeles defense and they need to figure it out fast with the Dallas defense playing well.

[vertical-gallery id=679775][lawrence-newsletter]