Cowboys vs. Falcons: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes
Every NFL game is a challenge. Sometimes circumstances make a particular game an even more difficult challenge. The Dallas Cowboys faced such a challenge Sunday afternoon when the 2-0 Atlanta Falcons came to AT&T stadium.
When the Cowboys took the field, they did so without their starting quarterback, No. 1 wide receiver, starting left guard, top three right defensive ends, backup nose tackle and starting middle linebacker. Not to mention, there's the fact their best cornerback is out for the entire season. That’s nine of the Cowboys top players who weren’t in uniform. Add to that the in-game injuries suffered by Barry Church, Sean Lee and Nick Hayden, who all missed snaps, and it is pretty easy to see that Dallas was undermanned.
As the game opened, it appeared as though the Cowboys would have a chance to roll to victory, as they broke long runs, Brandon Weeden completed his first nine passes and the team jumped out to a 21-7 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
The offense took possession after an Atlanta three-and-out, with an opportunity to drive down the field and deliver a knockout blow to end the half up three scores with all the momentum. But with one errant throw, the entire game changed.
Weeden was flushed out of the pocket to his left, and rather than taking the underneath throw, or throwing the ball away, he attempted to force an intermediate throw to Jason Witten. The throw went far over Witten’s head and was intercepted by William Moore. Just a few plays later and it was 21-14.
Even after the Dallas offense drove down the field before the half to extend it to 28-14, there was a different feel to the game. Rather than a lopsided game, it was a contest.
In the second half, the lack of manpower caught up to the Cowboys, as the wide receivers couldn’t get open, and the Falcons clamped down on the running game and underneath throws where Weeden had success early in the game.
The Cowboys offense managed only three first downs in the second half and never held on to the ball more than four minutes, while the team's defense struggled to get off the field. The pass rush was nonexistent without the team's top three right defensive ends, and for the first time the absence of Rolando McClain’s physicality at linebacker showed up in a big way, as the Falcons ran for 106 yards in the second half.
Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman took over the game in the second half, and the Falcons scored 25 unanswered points on an exhausted Cowboys defense to win 39-28.
Read on for all the Cowboys grades, notes and quotes you need for the game.
Position Grades for the Dallas Cowboys
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Position | Grade |
QB | C- |
RB | A- |
WR | F |
TE | B |
OL | B- |
DL | D |
LB | C |
DB | C |
Special Teams | B |
Coaching | B- |
Quarterback
When you have to play with a backup quarterback you ask him to do a few things: protect the ball, take the easy completions when you can and make one or two big throws at big times. With the exception of two plays, Brandon Weeden executed this plan perfectly.
However, those two plays, the second-quarter interception, and a missed throw to Witten on 2nd-and-12 early in the third quarter resulted in him missing the mark and coming up short of what it took to win. Weeden finished 22-of-26 for 232 yards and a costly interception.
Running Back
Early in the game it looked like the Cowboys running backs could do no wrong. At halftime the three running backs had combined for 131 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries, along with 77 yards on six receptions.
However, in the second half, the Cowboys ran the ball only five times and lost four yards, as the group finished with a collective 126 yards on 21 carries. Lance Dunbar caught a total of 10 balls for 100 yards.
Wide Receiver
The only wide receiver who had any production was Cole Beasley who caught four balls for 49 yards. Terrance Williams dropped two balls and drew a defensive pass-interference penalty on the first drive of the game. Otherwise, the wide receivers were nowhere to be found on Sunday. This was a game in which Dez Bryant’s playmaking ability was missed dearly, especially as the team struggled to move the ball in the second half.
Tight End
Jason Witten wasn’t slowed much at all by his two sprained ankles, and sprained knee, as he caught six passes for 65 yards. However, it was Witten who was targeted on the two throws that will tell the story of the game offensively. The veteran executed his job perfectly on both plays, and his quarterback missed him, both of which cost the team valuable time of possession and possible points.
Offensive Line
The offensive line started the game in dominant fashion, opening huge running lanes for the backs in the first half, and giving Brandon Weeden plenty of time to feel comfortable in the pocket. However, as the game wore on, the Falcons started to get some penetration, stopping several runs in the backfield and sacking Weeden twice, including a vital 3rd-and-3.
Defensive Line
The battle of attrition took hold nowhere more than on the defensive line. The team went into the game without Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory and Jeremy Mincey, and for a period in the game the team lost Nick Hayden to injury.
Rod Marinelli likes to use a rotation of a lot of players along the defensive line to keep everyone fresh. But the Falcons ran too many plays in the second half for this to work out. As the snap count mounted, the holes in the defensive line got bigger, and the pass rush got slower, making it more and more difficult for the team to get off the field.
Linebackers
This game was the first in which the Cowboys really missed Rolando McClain, whose physical style of play would have been a major boost in the Cowboys attempts to stop the Falcons run game. Anthony Hitchens just doesn’t possess the physicality necessary to be stout enough to hold up play after play with offensive linemen getting to him. Sean Lee finished with 10 combined tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack, but he missed a couple of series in the second half as the Falcons were beginning to impose their will on the Cowboys.
Defensive Backs
There was little mystery about the challenge facing the Cowboys secondary in this game. Slowing Julio Jones for four quarters was a tall task and one which the Dallas defensive backs were not up to. At halftime Jones had three catches for 27 yards, as the defense stood tall.
However, in the second half as the pass rush wore down, and the Falcons set the tone; they were able to move Jones around in the formation to get him in position to get the ball, and the big receiver took over the game. He wound up with 12 catches on 20 targets for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
Special Teams
Chris Jones averaged 39.8 yards per punt, allowing zero return yards and putting three of his four punts inside the 20-yard line. Dan Bailey kicked off five times and put four balls out of the back of the end zone. Cole Beasley had a 12-yard punt return to set up good field position early in the third quarter.
Coaching
There were no particularly glaring problems with coaching in the game. You could argue that calling timeout late in the first half just before Joseph Randle's third touchdown left too much time on the clock, but it's understandable that the Cowboys wanted to get the right personnel on the field to score a touchdown.
Important Note No. 1: The (Lack of) Injuries
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For the first time in the 2015 season, the Cowboys didn’t come out of Sunday’s game wondering about the health status of one of their premiere players. Barry Church, Sean Lee and Nick Hayden each missed some time in the game, but all returned to action.
The injury story of this game revolved more around the players who weren’t available to play to start the game. Beyond the quarterback and the wide receiver, the starting left guard Ronald Leary, rotational nose tackle Terrell McClain, rookie pass-rusher Randy Gregory and defensive end Jeremy Mincey all sat due to injury, missing these players, along with the suspended Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain, led to a level of attrition the Cowboys couldn’t withstand.
Important Note No. 2: Playing with the Backup Quarterback
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People will point to Brandon Weeden’s stat line, cite his 84.6 completion percentage and say he played well enough to win. However, when you play with a backup quarterback, you ask two main things of him. First off, protect the football, and secondly, when a play presents itself, make the play that is there to be made.
In the middle of the third quarter, right after the Falcons had shrunk the Cowboys lead to three points, a play presented itself to Brandon Weeden. Jason Witten ran a seam route on 2nd-and-12 through the Falcons zone coverage and was wide-open for a big gain to put Dallas in Atlanta territory with a chance to sustain possession and potentially widen the gap back to 10 points.
Weeden overthrew Witten and the ball dropped incomplete. Two plays later, the Cowboys punted, and the Falcons drove 89 yards on 11 plays to take the lead 32-28, and they never looked back.
Overall, Weeden had good numbers in the game, but when his team needed him to make a play, he wasn’t able to do it.
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Quote No. 1: Jason Garrett on Julio Jones
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They know how to find him and they’re going to persist. They’re trying to get him the ball and certainly the success he had within the game was a big factor in this game.”—Jason Garrett
The role that Julio Jones plays in Kyle Shanahan's offense is the same one Andre Johnson played in Houston and Pierre Garcon played in Washington when each put up massive numbers. Jones is the most talented of the receivers Shanahan has had a chance to work with in that role, and he feeds him the ball. So far the results have been extraordinary, with no signs of slowing down.
Quote No. 2: Tyrone Crawford on the Defensive Performance
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"We didn't play our style of ball. We play better than that. We don't play like that. That's not what we want to put on film, and it's a shame that we did. We're just going to learn from it and try not to ever do that again." —Tyrone Crawford
The Cowboys defense looked like a major strength coming out of the Cowboys' dismantling of the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2; however, they suffered a definite setback against Atlanta. They will need to turn it around and string together several good weeks if they want to be in playoff contention when Tony Romo comes back from his injury.
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