Tag: Jake Ferguson

WATCH: Former Wisconsin tight end has a career day in Cowboys’ blowout loss

WATCH: Former Wisconsin tight end has a career day in the Cowboys’ blowout loss

The Dallas Cowboys just did it again. There were high expectations, a high-flying team, a high-profile quarterback, the No. 2 seed and everything working in their favor. The result: another debilitating loss in the playoffs.

This year it came in the form of a 48-32 loss to the upstart Green Bay Packers.

Minus all the important storylines including Mike McCarthy’s possible firing, Dak Prescott now being on razor-thin ice, the possibility of Jerry Jones hiring Bill Belichick, Matt LaFleur’s masterpiece, Jordan Love’s arrival and Brian Gutekunst’s genius offseason, the Cowboys did end up wasting a really good game from former Wisconsin tight end Jake Ferguson.

Ferguson finished with 10 catches, 93 receiving yards and three touchdowns. In a game where the defense was brutal, Prescott threw multiple interceptions and even the rock-solid kicker missed, the former Badger may have been the only Cowboy to show up to work.

Ferguson and starting center Tyler Biadasz’s seasons came to an end with the Cowboys’ loss today. The Packers move on to face the 49ers in the NFL Divisional Round next weekend.

Cowboys’ Jake Ferguson quietly leading NFL TEs in key category

Jake Fergusson has been flying under the radar the past month but as the TE league leader in redzone targets, he’s primed to break out. | From @ReidDHanson

Jake Feguson has been a breath of fresh air in Dallas in 2023. The second-year TE out of Wisconsin picked up where he left off, turning a promising rookie season into a bona fide Day-3 draft success story for the Cowboys.

Averaging nearly eight targets per game over the last five weeks, Ferguson has been a cornerstone piece in the Cowboys gameplan. Graded as one of the better blockers in the NFL and one of the best all-around players at his position, Ferguson is primed for a big game in Week 18 and into the postseason.

One of the more surprising developments from this season is Ferguson’s target rate inside the red zone. At 22 red-zone targets and counting, Ferguson leads NFL tight ends in this high-impact category. Jason Kelce trails Ferguson with 19, David Njoku is third at 16 and Sam LaPorta is a distant fourth at 14.

Part of the reason the Cowboys’ rookie, second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker can’t get on the field much this season is because of Ferguson’s development. Entering this season, even some of his biggest supporters felt TE2 was his likely future. 16 games through the 2023 season and most will agree his ceiling has unquestionably risen and Ferguson is a true TE1.

The number of red-zone targets speaks volumes for the young TE. The Cowboys, and specifically Dak Prescott, trust him when the stakes are highest. Despite his inexperience, they aren’t afraid to target him inside the 20.

Entering the postseason, it’s a role that only stands to grow. Teams found success limiting the explosive Dallas offense with heavy shell looks in coverage. With two-deep safety coverage, defenses have been taking away the big play and asking Prescott and company to play a more patient game targeting short routes and the middle of the field. Big plays can be had here and on more than one occasion Ferguson and Prescott where a fraction of an inch away from connecting on big plays up the seam. It’s only a matter of time before these plays start to connect again.

It’s tough to call the man who leads his position group in red zone targets a postseason sleeper, but that’s exactly what Ferguson appears to be this year.

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What we learned in Cowboys 33-13 win over Eagles includes Dan Quinn’s big-game redemption

The Cowboys learned the defense is getting better, Ferguson is for real and Prescott doesn’t always need to be super man in Week 14

It was a game approached with eager anticipation. From the moment the final whistle blew in their 28-23 loss in Philadelphia five weeks ago, the Cowboys had the rematch circled on the calendar. Dallas felt they were the better team in their first match-up. A series of bad bounces, questionable calls, and fluke occurrences all seemed to rob them of a representative outcome that day. Week 14 was their chance to prove it.

And prove it the Cowboys did. Dallas scored on their first drive and never looked back. If it wasn’t for a Dak Prescott sack-fumble returned for touchdown in the third quarter, the game never felt close. They claimed a win probability of 75% in the first quarter and never let it drop below.

With the win, Dallas proved they didn’t just beat up bad teams, but showed they beat up really good teams as well. It added legitimacy to their efforts this season and put the NFL on notice that they are not the same team who stumbled through the dark earlier in the year.

Here’s how the Cowboys fix their most underperforming personnel groupings

It’s time for the Cowboys to lean into their strengths and away from their weakness which means addressing certain personnel groups.

In many ways the roster dictates the success rates of the various personnel groups and whether coaches like it or not, they have to embrace what’s working and ease off what isn’t. 12 games into the 2023, the Cowboys have a pretty good indication where their personnel groups rank on offense.

Overall, the Dallas offense ranks third in the NFL in EPA, fifth in yards, and first in points scored. Despite all that success, they have some personnel groups who aren’t just bringing down the average, but they are producing at negative EPA output. In many ways, these personnel groups are hurting the Cowboys more than helping and should be adjusted or used more sparingly if the Cowboys want to keep the good times rolling through December.

Every team has their own specific strengths and weaknesses. Some are by design. Other by sheer luck of the draw. If a coach who prefers a wide-open spread offense doesn’t have a deep WR room, he may not be able to run 11 (1RB, 1TE, 3WR) or 10 (1RB, 0TE, 4WR) personnel as much as he’d like. If an old school coach who like smash mouth football doesn’t have a very talented TE and/or RB room, he may not be able to play 12 (1RB, 2TE, 2WR or 22 (2RB, 2TE, 1WR) as much as he’d like.

Here’s how Cowboys can beat the Eagles: Avoiding laundry, stressing seams

Dallas will need to play with discipline and take advantage of the Eagles’ secondary in order to pull out a victory, says @cdpiglet.

The Dallas Cowboys extended their home undefeated streak to 14 straight games Thursday night, but it was unlike any game at AT&T Stadium thus far in the 2023 season. The Cowboys weren’t sitting their starters with a significant lead in the fourth quarter. Instead, they needed nearly every second to put away the Seattle Seahawks 41-35. The offense showed up like they have every game since their bye week. Dak Prescott continued to play like an MVP candidate, and CeeDee Lamb kept up his dominant performances in 2023.

The defense was a surprising letdown,  but they came up with big stops late to help seal the victory for Dallas.  That was enough against Seattle, but if the Cowboys want to beat the 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles, the offense must continue to carry a considerable burden, and the defense will also need to play much better. Here are some things the team must do to beat Philadelphia and take over the lead in the NFC East.

Jamal Adams doubles down on denigrating comment about reporter’s wife

Jamal Adams had the chance to back off the denigrating comment he made about a reporter’s wife. Instead, he doubled down with malice aforethought.

Seahawks safety Jamal Adams can be a dynamic player if he’s used as a forward-motion guy only, because his coverage skills are … well … iffy. Seattle might regret trading two first-round picks and giving a four-year, $70 million contract with $38 million guaranteed to a 220-pound box ‘backer, but that’s a separate issue. In any event, Adams had his worst game of the season against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13, allowing four catches on five targets for 48 yards, 10 yards after the catch, a touchdown and an opponent passer rating of 146.3.

The touchdown Adams allowed to tight end Jake Ferguson with 4:37 left in a game the Cowboys won 41-35 started things off.

Adams got greased on the crosser, Ferguson boxed him out, and that was that.

Connor Hughes, a reporter for SNY TV, posted a tweet with the play in question and a one-word review: “Yikes.”

Adams’ response was to post a picture of Hughes and his wife, obviously belittling Hughes’ wife.

Today, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll tried to defuse the situation, saying that he had spoken to Adams about it and that “we don’t want to be a part of that.”

But when Adams was asked about it at his locker room by reporters, he certainly wanted to be a part of that.

“It’s always the athlete that crossed the line when he responds,” Adams said, via Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune. “But at the end of the day, disrespect is disrespect, however you want to take it. So, I responded. I knew when I did hit that tweet, I wasn’t in it to win it. At the end of the day it was to get him to understand, ‘Leave me the hell alone.’”

“When others go low, I go lower.”

Adams was then asked if he had any regrets about what he did, which opened up another can.

I mean, you can sit there and have regret. But I don’t live that way in my life. … We’ve had history, Connor and I. …We’ve have never liked each other.

Obviously, hey, he responded to something that was uncalled for that he didn’t need to speak on. And, honestly, I’ve been letting him slide for too long and I just got fed up with it. I did what I did. I hate that I had to bring her into the situation, but at the end of the day the ultimate goal was to get at him.

I’m not here to say if it was fair or not. But at the same time, at the end of the day, it’s been personal with him and I ever since I’ve been with the Jets and even before that, since my rookie year. Like I said, it’s been going on for countless years. He’s always said some smart things toward my play, if I do make a mistake. And I just got fed up with it, bro. This was the end of it.

And I knew, this only thing right here, I was going to tweet was going to hurt him. Anything else I said wouldn’t have hurt him. But he got my point. And he knows not to continue to mess with me. Again, didn’t want to bring her in. But I just so happened I scrolled down and I seen what I seen, and I responded back with the same comment he made.

“At the end of the day, I knew that was something that he loved,” Adams concluded. “And this is something that I love, playing this game. I was fed up with the (stuff). So I gave him something back that, I guarantee he won’t respond back to anything else, going forward. And that was my whole point.”

So, Adams went out of his way to denigrate the wife of a reporter with malice aforethought, and he has no regrets. Good to know.

How every former Wisconsin Badger performed in NFL Week 13 2023

How every former Wisconsin Badger performed in NFL Week 13 2023

The calendar has turned to December, and it’s time for the final stretch of the 2023 NFL season. In other words: it’s officially the time of year each television network shows the ‘In The Hunt’ graphic during its broadcasts.

Former Wisconsin Badgers are in the middle of both the NFC and AFC playoff races. Russell Wilson has the Broncos in the hunt for a wild card, Jake Ferguson is dominating for the 9-3 Dallas Cowboys, a handful of former Badgers are willing the Steelers into playoff position and more.

Minus Colts star Jonathan Taylor being out with an injury, and Jack Sanborn and T.J. Edwards’ Chicago Bears having a bye week, here is how every former Wisconsin Badger performed in NFL Week 13:

Jake Ferguson’s adding extremely important elements to Cowboys’ identity

The Cowboys are loaded with playmakers and star power, but Jake Ferguson adds a layer of grit and crazy the Dallas offense sorely needs. | From @ReidDHanson

For the better part of the 2023 season, Jake Ferguson has been the No. 2 option in Dallas. He trails only CeeDee Lamb in targets and receptions and with five games yet to play, he’s already nearly tripled his output from 2022.

Even though he’s been a key cog in the Cowboys machine throughout the year, it took a big day on the Thursday Night Football stage to truly elevate him into the hearts and minds of the nation. Tony Gonzalez, a former NFL tight end and current TNF analyst, gushed over his six reception, 77-yard and one-touchdown performance, prompting many to call this Ferguson’s “coming out party.”

Those close to the team know better. The former fourth-rounder from Wisconsin has been that guy in Dallas all season long. And it didn’t take a couple flashy plays in primetime football to make it official.

As a blocker, Ferguson has quietly established himself in the NFL’s top tier. Of those with at least 300 snaps, Ferguson ranks sixth in run blocking and fifth in pass protection. With the same snap minimum, Pro Football Focus grades him seventh overall this season, making him the second-youngest TE in their top-10.

But while the pure blocking and receiving numbers are great, it’s the intangibles that seem to set him apart.

“He’s a baller,” Dak Prescott said. “His mentality is why he is the guy that he is. He expects to do what he did in tonight’s game and he’s no different than me.”

It wasn’t just what Ferguson did on Thursday, but how and to whom he did it. Jawing with All-Pro Jamal Adams early, Ferguson essentially went after the biggest bully in the yard. It was a beef only made beefier when Ferguson pulled in the go-ahead touchdown in the face of Adams in the endzone.

“He’s got a lot of swag, a little bit of craziness,” described Prescott. “You want a guy who can definitely get dirty but have some swag, be able to catch some passes, go get more, finish runs. He’s talented. A young guy – a bright, bright future ahead of him.”

While the swag is nice, it’s the grit that accompanies the swag that sets him apart from other playmakers on the team. Ferguson’s “tough guy” demeanor is the grit the Cowboys offense needs. It’s not only inspiring to others, but it’s arguably what’s been lacking in recent postseason campaigns.

San Francisco, the unofficial boogeyman of the Cowboys, has out gritted Dallas in consecutive postseasons. The Cowboys offense has repeatedly bogged down against ultra-physical teams like the 49ers and need players like Ferguson to not only step up in the playmaker department but also as a team leader and inspirational tough guy.

If something woke up on Thursday night against Seattle, it wasn’t Ferguson the playmaker, it was Ferguson the tough guy. It’s a personality trait the Cowboys have been missing in many ways, and something that could pay major dividends in the postseason.

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How Dak Prescott and the Cowboys built the NFL’s best passing game

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys have the NFL’s most dynamic passing game since their Week 7 bye. Here’s how it happened.

Before the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 7 bye, Dak Prescott had completed 132 of 190 passes for 1,333 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 91.0.

Since the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 7 bye, Dak Prescott has completed 127 of 180 passes for 1,602 yards, 17 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 124.8. Prescott’s completion rate has risen from 69.5% to 70.6%, and that’s especially impressive because he’s been throwing completing so many deep balls of late — before the bye, he attempted 19 passes of 20 or more air yards, completing eight for 194 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 92.9. Since the bye, Prescott has completed 20 of his 33 deep throws for 565 yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 144.3. When you’re just about perfect on the game’s toughest throws, you are indeed playing with house money.

So, what’s changed for America’s Team in the last few weeks? Why have the Cowboys gone from a 4-2 team led by their defense before the bye, and 100% Dak since?

After a 45-10 Thanksgiving Day win over the Washington Commanders in which Prescott completed 22 of 32 passes for 331 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 142.1 (and got Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio fired along the way), head coach Mike McCarthy talked about why it’s working so well on that side of the ball.

“We’re rolling through our menus. We’re not a ‘create the wheel’ system approach. I don’t believe in that. I mean, we don’t chase new ideas and concepts. If there’s a wrinkle that we feel helps us, it’s a variation of what we’ve already done. We have so many invested reps in the spring and training camp and that’s the foundation of who we are. Because it takes time to get the timing and efficiency where you want it each and every year and the fact of the matter is you have less time together. That’s why I give all these NFL players in today’s game an incredible amount of respect for what they do away from the building and that five weeks off a summer. That’s a critical time now in development of an offensive passing game. Which you were able to get that done in the past in the spring and training camp.

“There’s a lot that goes on and I just think that those types of adjustments and I think we looked like a first year offense a little bit the first four weeks. But we played the way we needed to play to win and won some games decisively too. We played to our defense, and it served us well. We want to complement each other. When they give us an opportunity, we need to go put it in the endzone. We need to get out in front, when we’re out in front our pass rush is lethal.”

Well, now the passing game is just as lethal, if not more so.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys went deep on all the improvements.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 13’s biggest NFL matchups, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Now, let’s dive into the tape to see why and how it’s all happened.

How every former Wisconsin Badger performed in NFL Week 10 2023

How every former Wisconsin Badger performed in NFL Week 10 2023

Week 10 of the 2023 NFL season concluded last night as the Russell Wilson-led Denver Broncos stole a win in Buffalo against the Bills.

A twofold takeaway from that game: the Bills are in trouble, and Wilson and the Broncos are playing much better than last season.

Wilson was not the only former Wisconsin Badger at the center of the action this weekend. Jonathan Taylor and Jake Ferguson both found the end zone again, T.J. Watt set another record and T.J. Edwards is on pace for two million tackles.

Here are stats from those performances, and from every former Wisconsin Badger in NFL Week 10: