What We Saw: Week 12

The What We Saw team recaps a crazy Week 12 of NFL action

Ben Brown
What We Saw 6 Months Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Packers @ Lions
Commanders @ Cowboys
49ers @ Seahawks
Dolphins @ Jets
Saints @ Falcons
Steelers @ Bengals
Panthers @ Titans
Buccaneers @ Colts
Patriots @ Giants
Jaguars @ Texans
Browns @ Broncos
Rams @ Cardinals
Chiefs @ Raiders
Bills @ Eagles
Ravens @ Chargers

Washington Commanders @ Dallas Cowboys

Final Score: Dallas 45, Washington 10

Writer: Michael James (@MikeoftheFF on Twitter)

 

 

A warm Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at QBList to you and your family! Today marked the 11th time the Commanders have played the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.  Dallas has won eight of the previous 10 games played on this holiday against Washington.  This game would feature two of the top four QBs in fantasy going against each other (In fact, the NFC East has three of the top four QBs in fantasy, all behind Josh Allen).  This wound up being the third most-watched regular season game in NFL history.  Despite doubling the time of possession in the first half and running 13 more additional plays than the Cowboys, the Commanders would go into the locker room at halftime down 20-10.

The score would hold through the third quarter and the Commanders would play three-quarters of solid football, but unfortunately for Washington, the fourth quarter is where it all came apart turning the ball over on downs twice and capping that off with an interception and Dallas would roll on to another victory and some Cowboys would be literally eating turkey before the game was even over.  Tony Romo would give multiple reasons for why the Cowboys could win the Super Bowl and I have to wonder if there is a bit of bias to his outlook.  Regardless, history would be made with DaRon Bland breaking the single-season pick-six mark today and Dallas would have to call a timeout on the extra point to avoid several penalties because the patented Salvation Army holiday celebration went a little too long. The Cowboys would have been hit with multiple flags as there were too many men on the field, and half of them were on the wrong side of the ball still celebrating the previous play.

 

Dak Prescott with 6 minutes left to go in the game getting a head start on Thanksgiving dinner

 

Three Up

  • Dak Prescott – Over 300 yards passing and 4 touchdowns.  That’s a streak of five games in a row with multiple touchdowns and 300+ yards in 4 of his last five games
  • Curtis Samuel – Target monster came in with his best performance this season getting 100 yards on 9 catches
  • DaRon Bland – Led the team in tackles and had another pick-six.  Oh, by the way, that pick-six was good for the new all-time NFL record of most pick-sixes in a single season.  And to think, it all started as the next man up after Trevon Diggs went on IR for the season.

Three Down

  • All of the Tight Ends – Is it a coincidence that in the first NFC East game in a while that Greg Olsen wasn’t part of the broadcast, we see an abysmally low production from all tight ends in the game?
  • Washington Defense – After allowing over 400 yards of offense and 38 points against, Commanders have decided to move on from DC Jack Del Rio.
  • Salvation Army Kettle – Now smells like turkey that’s been there for who knows how long and multiple players are jumping in with their cleats all over it.  It still needs to survive two more home games before Christmas in Dallas

 

 

 

 

Commanders

 

Quarterback

 

 

Sam Howell: 28/44 for 300 yards and 1 Interception, 2 carries for 13 yards and 1 Touchdown

 

Your passing leader for the season came into today as the first QB to eclipse 3000 yards passing this season, a Commander franchise record.  A Washington QB hasn’t finished first overall in passing yards for an entire season since 1969.  Unfortunately, Sam Howell’s also on pace to break the NFL record for most sacks taken for an entire season (David Carr, 76).  He added four more to his season total today (55) with five more games to play including the Cowboys once more.  I liked how they came out attacking early with quick passes to the backs to set up screen passes which is a good way to beat man coverage.  Unfortunately, Dallas would adapt and Howell most certainly would not have time to throw from the pocket.

He did a great job of extending the plays with his legs.  This bought time for his receivers.  The downside was that his accuracy was notably worse when throwing on the move versus stepping up and staying in the pocket.  Romo said he’s going to have to either get it out super quick or escape the pocket with his legs.  He did just that surprisingly well for the first three quarters before the offense just ran out of gas.  Romo at one point had mentioned, “He’s just got someone in his face every time he throws it”.  Even in the prevent D, the Cowboys were getting to Howell only rushing four.  There’s a reason he leads the league in sacks taken.

 

Notes

  • Averaged less than 2 seconds to either get rid of it or escape the pocket today
  • Six different receivers with 3+ targets including two receivers with double-digit targets
  • 1 for 5 on the deep ball
  • Successfully managed long methodical drives in the first half, doubling the time of possession battle in the first half
  • Found a great way to attack the Dallas secondary but did not have any time to go through progressions against the pass rush to punish them for it.
  • 4 out of last 5 games for 300+ passing yards
  • 12 of his 28 completions were for less than five air yards

Missed Opportunities

  • Sacked on 4th and 1 to set up Dallas just outside the red zone which started the cascade of points for Dallas in the 4th quarter
  • 0-3 on fourth-down attempts
  • Four of the five drives in the second half ended on a turnover (on downs x3 and an interception)

 

 

Running Back

 

Washington found little success with the ground game, both Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson went for 3.5 YPC on the ground.  That did not stop them from committing to the run anyway despite being down by multiple scores for most of the game.  Robinson handled the bulk of the team’s carries but did not find much work through the air in this one.  However, they showed little faith in running it on third down with two or fewer yards to go.  They ran it once on third down the entire game with Gibson.

 

Brian Robinson Jr.: 15 carries for 53 yards, 2 receptions on 3 targets for 11 yards

 

Brian Robinson Jr. was heavily involved in the game script to start out the game being featured on the first three plays of the game and again on the first couple of plays in a row on the next drive.  The trend would then continue and he would get a combined seven rushes and 3three targets on the first three drives of the game for the Commanders.  While two of his carries went for double-digit yards, seven of them went for one yard or fewer.

Notes

  • Displayed his quick footwork on the delayed handoff to find the hole for 11 yards up the middle
  • He seems to not do well after contact today, but able to punish with downhill running if he gets through the line untouched
  • Only the second RB in the league this season to have 500 rushing yards and 300 reception yards (Christian McCaffrey the other)
  • Only two of his carries were to the outside, once on each side of the line

Missed Opportunities

  • Dropped a flat pass to convert 2nd-and-2
  • Stuffed on a 4th-and-1 carry
  • Despite his longest pass going for 19 yards on a catch and run screen pass, he was blown up on his second reception for -8 yards

 

Antonio Gibson: 6 carries for 21 yards, 3 receptions on 4 targets for 16 yards

 

Notes

  • The biggest contribution came through the passing game, leading the backfield with four targets
  • Was used as a power runner between the tackles on every carry
  • Converted three short-yard rushing first downs, two of them up the middle

 

Chris Rodriguez Jr: 4 carries for 21 yards

 

Notes

  • The final four plays of the game were four carries to Rodriguez

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

When one opposing cornerback is a former DPOY and the other is the all-time leader in pick-sixes in the league, it’s going to be harder to generate a lot of yards to your outside receivers.  It also doesn’t help when your quarterback, who leads the NFL in sacks taken, is battling one of the premier pass-rush defenses in the league.  So while Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson were going against that all day, this left Curtis Samuel in the slot to have quite a feast on targets for this Thanksgiving.

 

Curtis Samuel: 9 receptions on 12 targets for 100 yards

 

This wasn’t all a result of progression reads, mind you.  They ran designed pass plays where Curtis Samuel was the first option.  They also ran multiple screen passes designed for him to get the ball as soon as it was snapped.  And while most of his damage came in short catch and run passes out of the slot, he did have a heck of a reception on the last play of the first quarter converting a third and ten for Washington for 30 yards.

 

Notes

  • Huge catch on 3rd and 10 beating his man to turn upfield for a 30-yard gain
  • Got the PI call on a short crossing route to pick up a fresh set of downs
  • Big catch and run on a screen pass for 9 yards, multiple times

Missed Opportunities

  • Big reception over the middle in traffic for a 14-yard catch, ruled down just outside the goal line
  • Beat his man crossing over the middle but the pass was thrown behind him

 

Terry McLaurin: 4 receptions on 11 targets for 50 yards

 

While Terry McLaurin is still on pace to become the first Washington receiver in franchise history to have a streak of four 1000+ yard seasons in a row, he was made to work for it today coming down with less than half of the balls thrown his way today.  Commanders still view him as their playmaker as he was the target on four third-down plays and a fourth-down play.  He was able to convert for three first downs today.

 

Notes

  • Was the target of three of the deep balls thrown today
  • A considerable amount of his targets were inaccurate, coming with Howell on the run away from the pocket
  • Big 12-yard completion over the middle crossing route to convert first down
  • Breaks free of his defender at the last second of his route to catch the deep ball 24 yards for the first down

Missed Opportunities

  • Deep ball down the sideline thrown out of bounds
  • Deep ball down the sideline on a fake hitch for the touchdown, well-defended

 

Jahan Dotson: 5 receptions on 6 targets for 52 yards

 

Jahan Dotson found his success today on hard cuts and comeback routes in that 10-15-yard range.  Most of his work came in the first half.  He would have one reception early in the third quarter and would not be targeted again until toward the end of the game which resulted in an interception.

 

Notes

  • Had a nice 15-yard hard cutting out-route to shake his defender into the red zone for the Commanders

Missed Opportunities

  • The intended target on the interception

 

Logan Thomas: 2 receptions on 4 targets for 15 yards

 

Spent most of his 64% snap count blocking.  This was Logan Thomas’s worst production game since the last time I covered Washington back in the middle of October against the Falcons.  Maybe I’m the reason for it.  Sorry for that.  I did catch his number being used in not just run protection but also pass protection today.

 

Notes

  • 13 yards of his 15 yards came on a nice come-back sit route to turn inside and shake the defender after the catch to convert the first down

Missed Opportunities

  • Had an additional reception called back on a penalty
  • Route jumped by the defender on a sideline route for 10 yards

 

Cowboys

 

Quarterback

 

 

Dak Prescott: 22/32 passing for 331 yards and 4 Touchdowns, 1 carry for 10 yards

 

Dak Prescott continues his hot streak with 300+ yards and 3+ touchdowns in four of his last five games.  He is a big part of the reason why Dallas has never trailed for even a second this season at home.  A big reason is he also is doing a significantly better job at protecting the ball.  In the last six games that he’s thrown 17 touchdowns, he’s only thrown two interceptions.  He is excelling this year at pocket awareness and keeping plays alive by moving around in the pocket.  And I don’t mean scrambling to pick up yards with his feet, but rather stepping up inside the pocket or sidestepping the pass rush.  Several deep throws came as a result of time bought in the pocket again this week.  Probably the biggest example today was him running 10 yards backward away from the rush and then launching the deep ball for Brandin Cooks in the end zone for the touchdown.

 

Notes

  • Five throws went for more than 25 air yards including two touchdowns
  • The offense had five touchdowns scored by five different players
  • Ten different receivers had at least one target today, five of them had three or more targets
  • 7-for-12 on the deep ball
  • Now on a three-game streak of being sackless, avoided a couple today with dump passes as he was getting hit
  • Picked up a first down with his feet after being flushed out of the pocket
  • Near flawless execution of the two-minute drill going 75 yards in under 90 seconds for a touchdown

Missed Opportunities

  • Back-to-back deep shots early on, both overthrown

 

Running Back

 

Tony Pollard: 13 carries for 79 yards and 1 Touchdown, 6 receptions on 6 targets for 24 yards, Fumble (recovered)

 

There was a noticeable increase in attempts to get Tony Pollard out in space today as he had close to half of his carries being pitches to the outside, something all Pollard owners had been asking for many weeks now.  He had two pitches go for double-digit yards today.  But he also was able to pick up yards between the tackles hitting the line and pushing through.  That power run after contact was on display today for a second week in a row now, though not as highlight-worthy as last week.  There were multiple runs and receptions where it took multiple defenders to bring him down.  He was able to generate over 6 YPC despite having three carries for a loss.

 

 

Notes

  • Came out strong on the second drive and had a combined four touches for 30 yards
  • Got the touchdown by breaking through the line of scrimmage and pulling a couple of defenders with him to get the ball across the goal line
  • Had a few 10+ yard runs to the outside split evenly between the right and left.
  • The biggest carry for 27 yards came to the outside left at the end of the game getting them across midfield
  • Most of his work went towards the right side of the line including all three tackles for loss

Missed Opportunities

  • Flat route blown up by Washington for a 5-yard loss

 

Rico Dowdle: 3 carries for 11 yards, 1 reception on 1 target for 15 yards and 1 Touchdown

 

Notes

  • His reception came on a screen pass for 15 yards run up the right side of the field untouched for the touchdown

Missed Opportunities

  • 11-yard pitch carry to the outside to convert a first down called back on a penalty

 

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

 

CeeDee Lamb: 4 receptions on 9 targets for 53 yards and 1 Touchdown, 1 carry, 2-PT Conversion

 

Fun fact according to CBS stats, CeeDee Lamb is the second-best deep threat in the league behind Tyreek Hill.  Lamb now has 48 targets over the last four games.  However, he was not able to bring in a majority of them today.  Some were just well-defended, others were overthrown deep balls by Prescott.  But he would come through for a sixth week in a row to get at least double-digit fantasy points with a touchdown and two-point conversion on the day.  The Cowboys liked to send Lamb in motion into and out of the slot to uncover Washington’s coverage which would exploit matchups with other receivers for Dallas.  Was still solid in the short game including multiple third-down conversions, just was unable to connect on multiple deep ball attempts today.

 

Notes

  • Converted a 3rd and 4 out of the slot despite triple coverage
  • Back pylon corner route in the end zone, well-defended
  • Short catch and run over the middle out of the slot to pick up first down
  • Converts a 3rd and 6 in traffic
  • Fakes a crossing route on the goal line to reverse outside to escape double coverage and catch the touchdown pass, follows it up with a 2pt conversion in the back of the end zone

Missed Opportunities

  • Wide open on a go-route for a 40-yard deep ball that was overthrown
  • Back-to-back penalties against him for a combined 15 yards
  • Another go-route down the sideline for a 40-yard deep ball but was well defended this time
  • Overthrown on 2nd and 1 for 10 yards
  • His usual token jet sweep was sniffed out and stuffed from the start

 

 

Brandin Cooks: 4 receptions on 5 targets for 72 yards and 1 Touchdown

 

Brandin Cooks is finding a comforting rhythm as the burner with two long touchdown catches in the last three games.  While he didn’t fill up the stat sheet the same way he did in the previous game that he had one, he still went for over 50 yards for the second time this season on his four catches which was enough to lead the team in receiving yards.  There were not a lot of play calls that Cooks looked like the first read in the progression today, but his routes are getting in sync with what Prescott is expecting and it’s paying off for the Cowboys.

Notes

  • Burned his man and juked the safety over the top to get wide open in the end zone for the 31-yard deep ball touchdown, was the catch that put him over 9000 career receiving yards
  • Wide open for a 10-yard first down conversion
  • Goes downfield to change direction on the scramble drill to get open for 25 yards
  • Both his long downfield receptions came from bunch sets right next to the line of scrimmage

Missed Opportunities

  • Wide open on a crossing route, overthrown

 

Jalen Tolbert: 2 receptions on 3 targets for 49 yards

 

Notes

  • Impressive deep cross-route reception with the defender on top of him
  • 31-yard deep ball on the sidelines to set them up inside the 10

Missed Opportunities

  • 30-yard deep ball overthrown

 

Jake Ferguson: 1 reception on 3 targets for 35 yards

 

A lot of multi-tight-end sets today, and split targets with Schoonmaker for the game.  I even saw a few triple-TE sets on short-yard rushing attempts.  It was common to see Jake Ferguson on the line in a three-sets and Luke Schoonmaker or Sean McKeon in the backfield at the fullback role on the same play.

 

Notes

  • His one reception came when Dallas was backed up and throwing from their own endzone with triple defenders on him

Missed Opportunities

  • 15-yard target tipped at the line
  • Deep 25 yards over the middle but couldn’t hang on to it after contact
  • Wide open deep ball to the sidelines but overthrown

 

KaVontae Turpin: 1 reception on 1 target for 34 yards and 1 Touchdown, 5 return yards

 

Notes

  • Textbook 5-step drop back from shotgun from Dak to KaVontae Turpin on a go-route beating both his man and the safety in the end zone with 6 minutes left in the game
  • Celebrated the touchdown by eating some turkey legs out of the Salvation Army Kettle alongside Pollard, Prescott, and Ferguson.  (How long was that turkey in there for…?)

Missed Opportunities

  • Will need to monitor the practice report for next Thursday Night Football’s game keeping an eye out for potential food poisoning

 

Series Navigation
Introduction
Packers @ Lions
Commanders @ Cowboys
49ers @ Seahawks
Dolphins @ Jets
Saints @ Falcons
Steelers @ Bengals
Panthers @ Titans
Buccaneers @ Colts
Patriots @ Giants
Jaguars @ Texans
Browns @ Broncos
Rams @ Cardinals
Chiefs @ Raiders
Bills @ Eagles
Ravens @ Chargers

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