Cowboys vs. Redskins: Full Report Card Grades for Dallas
Somehow, someway, the Dallas Cowboys managed to win in Week 2 against the Washington Redskins on the road at FedEx Field. Despite a lackluster performance from the defense, the Cowboys managed to win in comeback form thanks to to a huge game from Dak Prescott. He didn't throw a touchdown, but he did rush for one that ended up being his first professional touchdown.
The game started out extremely well for the Cowboys. By the end of the first quarter, the score was 10-0 in favor of the Cowboys. In the second quarter, the Redskins got their offense going by running the football to open up the passing game. The teams went back and forth, but the Cowboys went into the half with a lead of 13-10.
The game looked over in the fourth quarter when the Redskins were driving down the field up three. But when the Redskins got near the goal-line, Cousins threw a pass intended for Pierre Garcon. The ball was intercepted by Barry Church. Dallas would go on to score on an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to go up four.
From there, the Redskins would take over with just around four minutes to play. After moving the chains once, the Redskins faced a 4th & 1. Cousins dropped back and looked to his slot receiver Jamison Crowder. Justin Durant, who was signed to be a replacement in Rolando McClain's absence, read Cousins' eyes and deflected the pass. The Cowboys would take over, but the drive was quick, as the Redskins used their three timeouts to get the ball back.
In the final drive, the Redskins would drive down the field in large part due to Chris Thompson's reception. With 18 seconds left inside the Cowboys' 35-yard line, a false start penalty created a 10-second runoff. In the final play, Cousins looked deep in the end-zone, but a plethora of Cowboys' defenders were in the area to bat it down.
Read on for full grades and analysis from the Cowboys' first win of the season.
Pass Offense
1 of 6
Dak Prescott is proving week after week that he is the answer to take over at quarterback once Tony Romo retires. Prescott displays all of the traits that are simply unteachable. As a rookie in his second professional game, he shows unbelievable poise and collectiveness in the pocket. Once pressure comes, Prescott's awareness level is also impressive.
I scouted Prescott before the draft and he was not as finished of a product as he is now. Scott Linehan and Wade Wilson should get a ton of credit for how they have made Prescott into what he is now. It's amazing to consider that Prescott was the eighth quarterback taken in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Prescott didn't throw for a touchdown in Week 2, but he did run for one. Despite having Josh Norman on the outside, one of the best cornerbacks in football, Prescott still looked Dez Bryant's way a bunch. Prescott didn't throw any questionable passes and he was, again, impressive. Prescott completed 22 of 30 passes for just under 300 yards. Maybe next week he will have his first passing touchdown.
Grade: A-
Rush Offense
2 of 6
Alfred Morris scored the game-winning touchdown against his old team. It truly does not get any better than that. In comparison to Week 1, the Cowboys were able to get a push in the run game, but there still seem to be some problems in the interior on the left side. That deficiency will be up to La'el Collins and Travis Frederick to fix.
It was a tail of two halves for Ezekiel Elliott. In the first half, Elliott looked comfortable by showing good patience and recognition on his runs. But in the second half, Elliott had trouble. He fumbled twice and that led to him being benched for Morris. Elliott carried the football 21 times for 83 yards and a touchdown. Besides Elliott, Morris carried the football 5 times for seven yards, Prescott had a 1-yard touchdown and Lance Dunbar had three carries for six yards.
The fact that Dallas' offense has looked good in these first two weeks is not because of the spectacular running game we thought we would see at the beginning of the year. Instead, it's been because of the play of Prescott. For the second consecutive week, I'm going to say, this unit needs to improve for the offense to reach its full potential.
Grade: C+
Pass Defense
3 of 6
Morris Claiborne is the MVP of this defense through the first two games of the season. Let that sink in for a second. It seems like Claiborne has always been the scapegoat of this secondary, but after Dallas brought him back for another year, it's been huge for his confidence and it's showing in his play.
Brandon Carr had his moments today as well, but there were some blown coverages on his end. If it weren't for Kirk Cousins' inefficient day, Carr's performance would've been worse. Orlando Scandrick had a quiet, yet productive day. He and Byron Jones were asked to continuously guard both Jordan Reed and Jamison Crowder, two extremely athletic players.
Dallas' lack of pressure upfront led to some breakdowns in the secondary. But for the most part, the Cowboys' secondary wasn't awful today and it wasn't supposed to be great in the beginning of the year. We will get a full view of how this unit will fare once Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence return upfront.
Grade: B-
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Rush Defense
4 of 6
In comparison to last week, Dallas' run defense improved. It didn't improve drastically, but it improved. Washington rushed for 82 yards on 17 carries. The running game was working in the first half, but once the Cowboys went into the half, adjustments were made to shut the running game down and it worked.
The one reoccurring problem at this point seems to be the impact of the linebackers. Sean Lee has been Sean Lee, making stops left and right. But besides Lee, Anthony Hitchens has struggled. He got benched last week and he wasn't spectacular this week either. Justin Durant made a ton of key plays late, but the linebackers aren't finishing well and that has led to some big gains.
Next week will be another interesting task. Similar to Matt Jones, Jeremy Langford is also a big, physical runner that runs in between the tackles. The Cowboys need to continue to get impact upfront from Terrell McClain and Jack Crawford or else the Bears could take advantage of this.
Grade: B
Special Teams
5 of 6
Another week and another solid performance from special teams. In the second half, the Cowboys decided to perform an onside kick, hoping to hold onto the ball on offense rather than having their defense give up more points. It failed, but special teams coach Rich Bisaccia continues to thrive in his role. This may be the case with any NFL team, but the Cowboys' special teams unit is by far and away the most consistent unit on the roster.
Dan Bailey had two chip-shot field goals. Both were straight through the uprights. In the punting department, Chris Jones looked great. In fact, when the Redskins got the ball back on the final drive of the game, Jones' punt made them start at their own 10-yard line. Jones booted a 56-yard punt earlier in the game as well. He averaged just over 47 yards on his punts.
Grade: A
Coaching
6 of 6
I was extremely bullish on the coaching last week, but this week I feel much different. With the players the Cowboys currently have, I'm not surprised that the defense has issues. However, the coaching staff is doing a great job with what they have to work with. Be advised that the team is currently without Tony Romo, Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence. The impact of those three players is huge.
Particularly on the play-calling, the coaching was good for the most part. In the first half, Dallas' offense ran efficiently. On the first play of the game, the Cowboys ran a play-action rollout that worked beautifully. With how well the Cowboys' offensive line plays, Scott Linehan can do a variety of things with the calls he makes. I'd like to continue to see that expanded playbook going forward. After watching two weeks of regular season football with Prescott, it's evident that he's capable of running the entire offense.
Grade: B
Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @RyanRattyNFL. I'm always willing to talk football.
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