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Week 6 Film Notes: All-22 Takeaways of Cowboys Offense

Erik Turner
10/16/2018
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The Dallas Cowboys’ unlikely domination of the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Sunday was something no one thought possible.

But here they sit at 3-3 with a chance to take the lead in the NFC East in Week 7. So, how did this win happen? Is it a fluke? Below are my All-22 film notes of Dallas’s 40-7 victory over the Jaguars.

First Half

-Opening play of first drive was a bootleg pass to Geoff Swaim out of an offset I-formation. No. 93 Calais Campbell was completely sold on the run fake.

-Jaguars defensive coordinator, Todd Wash, is from the Pete Carroll and Monte Kiffin coaching tree. So, they’re a mostly single high safety defense.

–Michael Gallup 27 yards on 3rd-and-9 came against Man-Free robber coverage. Gallup was the X-iso receiver opposite a close bunch set. Dallas sent two crossers over the middle. Gallup caught a back-shoulder throw over AJ Bouye along the sideline.

-Two plays later was Dallas’s first read-option. Prescott kept the ball off counter-sweep action. He fumbled but recovered for a five-yard gain.

-Campbell sack on 3rd-and-8 came from a Man-Free blitz. Jaguars had three DL to one side and showed pressure from both nickel LBs. Gipson forced Dak off his spot, and he ran into Campbell.

–Cole Beasley 15 yards on 3rd-and-5 was an over route from the inside slot of trips vs. Man-Free lurk. AJ Bouye in coverage. Set up Cowboys’ first touchdown four plays later.

-Gallup almost had a 17-yard touchdown on an out route vs. the Cover-2 side of a Cover-6 defense. Dallas ran a variation of the drive concept, sending two crossers from the field side, but Dak looked to Gallup on the boundary the whole time. He just couldn’t get that second foot on the ground.

-Next play, Prescott 17-yard touchdown was a QB keeper on a read-option run. Well-executed fake and run by Dak.

-Dallas has utilized all three of Elliott, Prescott, and Tavon Austin in the run game their first two drives.

-Jacksonville’s D-line did not maintain good backside containment on the Cowboys’ bootleg passes in the first half. Prescott wasn’t pressured when he rolled out.

-Zeke 20 yards early second quarter was a counter-sweep to the boundary. Zack Martin and Connor Williams were the pullers. The tight ends did a better job run blocking in this game.

-The incomplete deep pass to Allen Hurns on the next play was the one I advocated them “borrowing” from the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason. Essentially involved deep crossers off play-action. Jaguars defended it well this time, but the concept has future value.

-Dak targeted his intermediate and deep targets early and often.

-Beasley another critical conversion, this time on 3rd-and-11. From an offset stack, Beasley ran a deep out underneath Hurns’s go route against the quarters side of a 2-high zone. Dak showed poise in the pocket while Beasley was wide open because both defenders stayed with Hurns.

-Two plays later, Rico Gathers for 14 yards was a fake-toss bootleg pass against zone coverage.

-Beasley’s 17-yard touchdown was from the same play as Gallup’s missed touchdown from the last drive. This time, Jaguars were in a Cover 3 look. The combination of Swaim’s over and Beasley’s shallow crosser defeated the defensive scheme. Gipson stayed in his hook/curl zone and didn’t follow Beasley.

-Dallas’s run blockers had a fair number of plays where they overpowered the Jacksonville defensive line. They were the more physical team overall.

-Dak executed frequent rollout passes from various run actions.

-Many of the Cowboys’ runs involved pulling linemen.

-The Jaguars didn’t double Beasley in the slot. He was frequently matched up with Bouye or Tyler Patmon, neither could contain him one-on-one. His third conversion on 3rd-and-5 was an option route against Patmon in 2-Man.

-Beasley’s second touchdown three plays later was on a mirrored pivot concept in the low red zone. Jaguars only rushed two and dropped nine in a 2-high zone coverage. Beasley’s route easily beat former Cowboy Barry Church.

-Scott Linehan used more crossing routes, and they were a frequent fixture on the field. That and the uptick in stack and bunch formations were the biggest differences between the first half and previous games.

Second Half

–Yannick Ngakoue’s sack to open the second drive of the third quarter was the first time the Jaguars maintained backside containment on a rollout pass.

-Prescott’s 28-yard scramble on 2nd-and-8 mid-third quarter came against Man-Free lurk. Jaguars had excellent coverage, but rookie Taven Bryan got turned around on his rush and lost containment.

-The Jaguars tightened up their coverage in the third quarter. Cowboys also didn’t call as many crossing routes.

-Prescott’s pockets have been mostly clean. Combined with well-designed route concepts and a relatively strong run game, he showed more poise and appeared to have an easier time seeing the field.

-Elliott 21 yard run to end the third quarter was a split zone run. The constant bootlegs took Dante Fowler out of the play as he stayed with Dak. And Myles Jack was drawn inside by the inside zone blocking before Zeke cut to the back side.

-Next play was Elliott’s 15-yard touchdown on a well-designed and executed trap run with jet sweep motion. Zeke displayed excellent acceleration to beat Jack in space.

Conclusion

Although many felt a win against a Jacksonville Jaguars team with an elite defense was possible, no one thought they could be dominated so thoroughly by this offense. Scott Linehan and his staff developed an excellent gameplan. They frequently utilized intermediate and deep crossing routes and added a steady diet of bootleg passes thanks to their strong ground attack. Dak Prescott also made his presence felt with his legs, both as a timely scrambler against man coverage and as a read-option keeper.

The offensive line deserves a lot of credit as they created stable pockets. Cole Beasley was unstoppable. The fact that the Jaguars didn’t double him, especially on 3rd downs, was a clear advantage for the Cowboys. All of this, along with the route concepts that exposed Jacksonville’s zone coverages, were a significant part of Prescott’s best performance of the season.

However, one unexpected, explosive performance doesn’t fix all of this team’s shortcomings. Perhaps this staff now knows this squad’s identity and will maximize this unit’s potential. They could prove me and many others wrong about the team’s prospects in 2018, or they could regress as they normally have on the road. Week 7’s matchup at Washington will tell us more.

 

You can follow Allan on Twitter at @AllanUy22

#nfl | AJ Bouye | Allen Hurns | bunches | Calais Campbell | Cole Beasley | Cover 2 | Cover 3 | Cover 6 | Dak Prescott | Dallas Cowboys | deep crossers | Ezekiel Elliott | Geoff Swaim | intermediate crossers | Jacksonville Jaguars | man coverage | Michael Gallup | Myles Jack | over route | pivot route | Rico Gathers | Scott Linehan | slot | stacks | Taven Bryan | Tavon Austin | Todd Wash | Tyler Patmon | Week 6 | Yannick Ngakoue | zone

Erik Turner

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