FRISCO, Texas – Nothing speaks louder about football and how you performed as a team and individually than the tape. After a 44-24 loss on Sunday, the Cowboys' tape had a lot to say.
From allowing 7.5 yards per play to the Broncos offense to not finding a consistent rhythm on offense, there wasn't a lot of positive to take away for Dallas from their third road trip of the last four weeks.
In our new series called "Tape Talk," we'll dive into certain plays from the game and look at what went right and/or wrong for the Cowboys.
Let's go ahead and begin with a look back at Denver:
Dallas' missed goal line opportunity on their first possession
After a Trikwese Bridges interception on the Broncos' opening drive, the Cowboys offense was in business early and had a chance to capitalize with a touchdown after a big play from CeeDee Lamb and a two-yard carry from Javonte Williams on first and goal set up second and goal from the one.
Instead of running the ball again and looking to punch it in, Brian Schottenheimer elected to go to the play action passing game to catch the defense off guard. Denver instead was all over it, quickly taking away Prescott's first read (CeeDee Lamb, who came across in motion and went into the flat). There's a chance Prescott can layer that throw out to Lamb, but it would've been tough with the corner Riley Moss (21) crashing down.
So that leaves Prescott with two options going the other direction: George Pickens and Luke Schoonmaker. The goal for Schoonmaker looked to be laying a block, getting off it and slip free, but he instead had to run into a block mid-route and the Broncos stuck with him the rest of the way. That makes Pickens the best option for Prescott, which is where he goes with the throw, but reigning DPOY Pat Surtain is draped all over him and is easily able to break the pass up, bringing up third and goal. Dallas would go on to have a false start on third and goal from the one, have a Prescott crosser intended for Lamb broke up on third and goal from the six, and then settle for a 24-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal.
Lots of questions on RJ Harvey's 40-yard touchdown run
Tackling has been an issue for the Cowboys defensively since the start of the season. That has continued to be the case for Dallas in the run game, especially when it comes to getting off the blocks of offensive linemen when they climb to the second and/or third levels of the defense.
Denver runs a quick toss on this play to speedy rookie RB RJ Harvey. First, the left tackle Garett Bolles gets out and blocks DaRon Bland, and Kaiir Elam is blocked on the perimeter as well, but they look to be doing their part in the sense that they forced Harvey to go inside, where the heart of Dallas' defense was waiting (they lined up seven defenders in the box pre snap.) The issue came in that most of those defenders were either already behind the play or engaged in a block downfield, and not in a position to make a tackle.
The player who was closest to Harvey was LB Kenneth Murray, who gets taken out of the play by the left guard, Alex Palczewski. Palczewski made first contact on Murray before Harvey was even heading forward, and Murray could not disengage the entire time as Harvey ran towards him. It looked like Murray may have been trying to bide his time to shake off the block and make the tackle, but by the time Harvey got near him, he just ran right behind Palczewski, who was blocking Murray inside leaving the outside open, and the rest was history.
Why couldn't the Cowboys get the run game going?
All day, it was tough sledding for the Cowboys to get their run game going. When it's on, it helps not just in the ground attack but opening things up in the play action game too. When it can't find a rhythm, things sputter and get much more difficult to put into place.
Part of the issue on Sunday could have been miscommunication. Brian Schottenheimer talked after the game about how Denver's defense aligns itself super wide, wider than most teams, and you see the side effects of dealing with that on a play like this. Talanoa Hufanga is lined up at the opposite hash, and has his eyes in the backfield the entire time even through KaVontae Turpin's motion, which is instead picked up by rookie slot CB Jahdae Barron.
At the snap, Hufanga crashes down and there's no one to block him. Wait, the Cowboys had two tight ends out there making it 7 on 7 in the box, where did everybody go? Well, Luke Schoonmaker takes away Nik Bonitto. That's one defender out of the equation. Brevyn Spann-Ford comes across to pick up Malcolm Roach, who Tyler Booker let by to get to the second level. That's two. Terence Steele handles Jonathon Cooper in his one-on-one assignment. Up to three. Tyler Smith takes his 1 on 1 out of the equation and makes a path for Blue, with Tyler Guyton and Tyler Booker getting up to the second level and taking out the linebacker. Two more defenders gone.
The last two left are Hufanga, who was unaccounted for, and Eyioma Uwazurike, who got off of Brock Hoffman's block and helped Hufanga make the tackle. Despite all the other assignments being picked up and accounted for, the one that was left open and Hoffman not being able to move his man ultimately leads to no gain. That begs the question, should it have been Guyton's assignment? Rarely do you see two linemen, much less on opposite sides of the line, climb to the second level and double team to take out one linebacker. Denver's front on defense had a lot of those moments, which in part was why the Cowboys couldn't get their run game off the ground on a consistent basis.
