Scout’s Eye: Vets Who Impressed; Rookie Growth

Dak Prescott is seeing the field well. There was a time early in his career where he would have forced the ball into coverage. The pass he completed to Michael Gallup was a great example of his growth. Prescott wanted to hit Tavon Austin on the slant, but that was covered tightly. If he had made that throw, it was going to be a deflected ball and an interception. The matured Prescott calmly pulled the ball back and took two steps to his left, which allowed Gallup to curl back to the inside. It was a perfect pass by Prescott and a nice finish by Gallup.

Watching the game live, I had a strong feeling that the Cowboys' starters in the secondary did a nice job of tackling in the open field. What I didn't see initially was the angles those guys took to the ball. Not one wasted step or motion by Chidobe Awuzie, Anthony Brown or Jourdan Lewis. As a matter of fact, on the tackle Awuzie had on Richie James in the flat, the 49ers were attempting to pick Awuzie with Jordan Matthews on the play -- but Awuzie was to the spot before Matthews even had a chance to adjust and couldn't do anything about it.

What a big-time adjustment by Cedrick Wilson to secure a pass across the middle from Cooper Rush. I initially thought Wilson didn't have a shot at the ball as he worked through traffic, but somehow he was able to pull it off. Wilson was running full speed and then completely turned his upper body back toward Rush to snatch the pass. The fact that he was able to extend his hands as well to meet the ball was beyond impressive as. Of those young receivers he jumped out to an early lead when it comes to game action.

Tremendous shot by Kerry Hyder into the ribs of Nick Mullens on the interception by Luke Gifford. Hyder was able to affect the throw with that blow. Dante Pettis had worked inside on C.J. Goodwin and had separation. The pass was likely going to be complete for a sizeable gain if Hyder had not won his matchup against Justin Skule.

It's a shame that Mike Weber missed the blitz pickup on Antone Exum, because Mike White was loading up to hit a deep shot to Reggie Davis -- who just blew by Emmaunel Moseley. Davis was able to escape off the line and had a good five yards on Moseley, and White was heading his direction. Weber took a blocking angle to the inside instead of staying wide. He tried to adjust back to the outside and cut him, but Exum avoided him and made the hit. Despite that missed block, the offense benefited from a defensive holding call as D.J. Reed grabbed Jon'Vea Johnson on the double move.

Everything about Cooper Rush's pass to Jon'Vea Johnson on the slant was perfect except the finish. Johnson's route was textbook. He planted off his right foot and exploded inside. Dontae Johnson had no chance on the move and there was inside separation. To make matters worse, Kellen Moore knew he was likely going to face an "A" gap blitz, so he moved Jordan Chunn up near the line of scrimmage to handle it -- and he was right. Chunn picked up David Mayo, which gave Rush all the time he needed. The problem for Johnson was he lost concentration. His eyes were looking at Tarvarius Moore instead of the ball, thus the result of a big drop.

As well as I thought Rickey Walker played against the 49ers, Daniel Wise was just as good. The numbers might not show it for Wise, but there were several snaps where he was holding up a blocker at the point, which allowed a teammate to make a tackle. If he wasn't eating up blocks, he was playing on the move with initial quickness off the snap and attacking the gap in the passing game. Wise is showing that flexibility to line up at both tackle and end and be a problem for blockers to handle.

I didn't like the call by Kellen Moore of the red zone fade to Reggie Davis on third down and I didn't appreciate it even more when I noticed how open Cedrick Wilson was underneath on the "whip" route. The "max" protection allowed plenty of time for Rush to survey the field, but he took the low percentage throw instead to a small receiver. Throwing to Wilson would have made better sense at worst to grab a first down and keep the chains moving. The pass wasn't even close and they had to settle for a field goal attempt that Brett Maher missed.

Nice call by Kris Richard on the run stunt, sending Dorance Armstrong around Daniel Ross in order to trap Austin Walter in the backfield. Ross was able to occupy two blockers, which gave Armstrong a free run at Walker. Armstrong was able to meet him just as Nick Mullens was putting the ball in Walter's stomach on the draw.

It's a shame that it took the final drive of the game for Mike White to get something going. His best pass of the night was a strike to Devin Smith on a deep out. Smith managed to keep perfect spacing between Tim Harris and Tarvarius Moore. The offensive line did its part by picking up the twist, which allowed White enough time to deliver the ball. It was one of the few times that White showed a sense of urgency when executing a play, which has been a problem for him.

Nice coverage down the field by the secondary on the Jalen Jelks sack of C.J. Beathard. Give an assist to Ricky Walker, as well, by winning inside and forcing Beathard to pull the ball down. That allowed Jelks to win against Tyree Mayfield, which put him in position for the sack.

I understand that Codey McElroy hasn't played much football at this point in career, but what was a decent night catching the ball turned into a poor missed block on fourth down to kill a drive late in the contest. It was McElroy's responsibility to come across the formation and seal Damontre Moore from the play, but he completely missed Moore and he was able to stop Mike Weber short of the sticks. Weber would have likely secured the first down with good blocks from Mitch Hyatt, Xavier Su'a-Filo and Adam Redmond.