What We Saw: Week 14

The What We Saw team recaps everything you missed from Week 14

Ben Brown
What We Saw 5 Months Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Patriots @ Steelers
Buccaneers @ Falcons
Lions @ Bears
Colts @ Bengals
Jaguars @ Browns
Panthers @ Saints
Texans @ Jets
Rams @ Ravens
Vikings @ Raiders
Seahawks @ 49ers
Bills @ Chiefs
Broncos @ Chargers
Eagles @ Cowboys

Eagles @ Cowboys

Final Score: Dallas 33, Philadelphia 13

Writer: Michael James (@MikeoftheFF on Twitter)

 

The NFC East hasn’t had a team win back-to-back division titles in almost 20 years and tonight would pave the way for either the Philadelphia Eagles to become the first team since then to do so; alternatively, it looked to provide a golden opportunity for the Dallas Cowboys to keep the streak alive.

Dallas’s offense would come out firing and take a quick lead.  Philadelphia would try to answer back but miscues in ball security and penalties would hold them back to a field goal.  Dallas answered back with a 60-yard field goal of their own from Brandon Aubrey that would have been good from 65 – 70 yards.  After a fourth down conversion on a fake punt to inject some much-needed energy, penalties and failure to adjust to the pass rush would back the Eagles out of the red zone forcing them to settle for another field goal.  More miscues would rear their head again before the half with a double-penalty pass interference, which set the Cowboys up to score a touchdown right before halftime and sent the teams to their locker rooms with the Cowboys up 24-6.

Philadelphia came out in the second half and cut into the lead with a sack-fumble by Fletcher Cox that Jalen Carter scooped up and ran back for a score.  The defense would continue to hold Dallas out of the end zone for the remainder of the second half.  However, turnovers (two more fumbles and one on downs) continued to destroy any momentum they managed to build up.  The red-hot Cowboys, winners of five straight, chewed up enough clock to end the game and take possession of first place in the NFC East based on tiebreakers (at least for one week).

 

 

 

Three Up

  • Brandon Aubrey – The rookie kicker was 4 of 4 tonight on field goals breaking the NFL record with two field goals good from 59+ yards in a single game.  He’s 30 of 30 on FGA/M on the season.
  • CeeDee Lamb – 6 catches and a touchdown make him the first Cowboys receiver since Dez 10 years ago to have a streak of 5 games with a touchdown in each.
  • Dallas run game – If you could somehow combine them to become “Toco Powdle” they would have crazy bellcow stats for fantasy.  Such as it is, they combined for over 100 yards on the ground.  7 receptions for Tony’s PPR managers and a TD for Rico’s managers.

Three Down

  • Jalen Hurts – Zero touchdowns tonight and has failed to eclipse 200 passing yards in three of his last four games
  • Eagles WR depth – Hurts only had eyes for his two WRs and TE as the only other receiver to catch a single pass tonight came from the punter.
  • Bryan Anger – The Cowboys punter went 7 straight quarters without taking the field having last punted on Thanksgiving Day.  Bad news for the fantasy punters league.

 

Philadelphia Eagles

 

Quarterback

 

Jalen Hurts: 18/27, 197 yards, sack | 5 carries, 30 yards, 1 Fumble (lost)

The second play of the game was an 11-yard keeper for Hurts, a designed run that utilized Jason Kelce pulling out as a lead blocker. They would run this a couple more times in the first half before abandoning it for the passing game in the second half.

I liked his composure in the pocket; After being backed up on 3rd and 16 thanks to multiple penalties, Hurts stepped up in the pocket to avoid the pass rush and completed a gorgeous throw downfield to convert.  Unfortunately, on the next play, he would fumble it over on a designed run.

Held under 100 yards passing in the first half, Hurts came out in the second half embracing the quick throws off his back foot. After that adjustment, Hurts would rally off eight short completions in a row to get a drive marching downfield, and it would have been nine straight but his receiver fumbled the ball after the catch.  Before that adjustment, there were just too many balls thrown away or in the dirt due to the pass rush from Dallas. On the only time the Eagles made it into the red zone tonight, Hurts was sacked backwards by Micah Parsons, resulting in a drive ending in a field goal. That was the story of the night for Hurts and company.

 

Running Back

 

D’Andre Swift: 11 carries, 39 yards

With only four rushes for the entire first half, the Eagles come out of the break with three straight carries for Swift, clearly trying to get some energy injected into the run game. He would have seven more carries in the second half, including three in the hurry-up no-huddle offense.  His first carry in that drive went for seven yards, his longest run of the night.  He was completely unused in the passing attack and was not game-planned out into space at all.  This play-calling strategy was a bit confusing to me, as even in the blowout loss last week at home he garnered six targets.  This is now his fourth time of less than four yards per carry in his last six games.  Most of his runs came between the tackles tonight, including a few where he was met at or behind the line of scrimmage.

Missed Opportunities

  • This was his first game all season without a single reception, let alone a target

 

Kenneth Gainwell: 4 carries, 28 yards

Gainwell was the much more effective back in the first half with an effectively even split in carries, albeit neither back had a lot.  However, he only had one additional carry in the second half as just about all rushing work, including from Hurts as well, went to Swift.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

A.J. Brown: 13 targets, 9 receptions, 94 yards, Fumble (lost)

Brown’s first reception came on his third target of the game, a 14-yard route to get them to midfield just before the half.  Dallas made it a priority to lock down Brown with safety help in the first half of the game but it wouldn’t last forever, as right before the two-minute warning Brown would haul in a 24-yard contested catch out-dueling Stephon Gilmore to get the Eagles into the red zone.

Gilmore appeared to get under his skin as they were seen jawing back and forth early on the camera.  Brown only brought in 2 of his 6 targets in the first half. He did drop one of those targets on a downfield shot to the sideline where the ball hit him in his hands, and the Eagles were forced to settle for a field goal. In the second half, they started trying to put Brown in motion to mix up coverage to get him open more.  They also successfully switched to a short-field passing attack in the second half, manufacturing a lot of touches for Brown who picked up 56 additional yards on seven receptions in that time span.

Notes

  • 30 of his 94 yards came after the catch

Missed Opportunities

  • Deep shot 30 yards down the sideline overthrown
  • Another deep ball 30 yards down the sideline was thrown well but Brown couldn’t get his eyes on it in time to catch it
  • On a 7-yard short reception Gilmore strips the ball out of Brown’s hands for the turnover

 

Dallas Goedert: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 30 yards

Making his first start since his injury, Philadelphia put him to work on crossing routes over the middle with his first reception going for 10 yards to get the Eagles a new set of downs.  It does feel like Goedert was a missing piece that the Eagles have gotten back, at least in the first half.  However, he would only register one target in the second half of the game.

 

Missed Opportunities

  • 14-yard catch to get them inside the 10-yard line called back on penalty

 

DeVonta Smith: 10 targets, 5 receptions, 73 yards, 1 Fumble (lost)

Smith’s first few targets came downfield over the middle, and he found himself wide open on 3rd and 16 for a 30 yard gain. Smith was targeted on back-to-back plays, including a third down, but Hurts just didn’t have time to get an accurate throw his way, nor did Smith really get separation to make the throw easy.  He would split his targets evenly between halves, including two shots downfield in the second half, both going incomplete.  He found himself open in the end zone on a scramble drill but let the ball through his fingertips. His final reception of the game was also the one where he fumbled the ball over after getting inside the red zone.

 

Dallas Cowboys

 

Quarterback

 

Dak Prescott: 24/39, 271 yards, 2 TD, 3 sacks, fumble (lost) | 3 carries, 11 yards

Dak came out with a naked bootleg on the first play of the game, giving zero time for the pass rush to surround him.  On the next few plays you could see why Prescott leaned in on dump screen passes early and often, as he had little time to throw. On the broadcast, Chris Collinsworth discussed how this style of offense played into the favor against this pass rush, as it’s only a two-read drop before taking off to scramble which is pretty much all the time Dak had on the night.

Fortunes would start to change for the Eagles in the second half with Fletcher Cox getting a strip sack on Prescott for the scoop-and-score touchdown.  This felt like a potential momentum shift moment, but Dak and company drove down the field for a field goal on nine plays immediately following this, chewing up much of the third quarter. Dak and Tony Pollard led the Cowboys down the field on two more long, time consuming field goal drives to close out the game and seal the victory over the Eagles.

Notes

  • 6 of 8 on third down conversions in the first half alone
  • Was his worst completion percentage game since the loss in San Francisco in week 5
  • 2 for 4 on deep balls traveling more than 20 air-yards
  • 10 of his completions were at or behind the line of scrimmage

Missed Opportunities

  • 17-yard scramble called back for holding

 

 

Running Back

 

Tony Pollard: 16 carries, 59 yards | 8 targets, 7 receptions, 37 yards

This one will have a big rift between the PPR and non-PPR managers of Pollard.  His first carry went up the middle for a 12-yard gain through a massive hole. It would be his second longest carry of the night.  He ceded carries to Dowdle early on, including the third drive of the game for the Cowboys that featured three straight Pollard runs to get them to the one yard line. Dowdle took over and got the call for the rushing touchdown.  He struggled to work the ball to the second level against Philly’s mean defensive front, and therefore was held in check on the ground. But thankfully, seven receptions turned nothing into something for PPR purposes.

Notes

  • Got the call on 4th and 2 for a carry out of shotgun to convert the first down
  • Most receptions in a game since week 2 against the Jets
  • Was the feature back on the final drive of the game, getting 5 carries over 7 plays before the 2-minute warning

Missed Opportunities

  • 18-yard gain outside the right tackle called back on penalty
  • Took the Cowboys from just inside the red zone down to the 1-yard line but was rotated out for the touchdown carry (not the first time this has happened this season)

 

Rico Dowdle: 12 carries, 46 yards, TD | 1 target, 1 reception, 6 yards

Dowdle’s first carry came right after Pollard’s.  This would be the tone of the first half of the game with Rico splitting the rushing workload evenly with Pollard.  The third series of the game featured Dowdle on four of the first five snaps before he would rotate out for Pollard.  After Tony got them down inside the 1-yard line, Dowdle came back in and punched it through for the touchdown. Interestingly, Dowdle is actually out-snapping Pollard early on with more than double the carries.  Things would even out a bit more as the game went on, but going into halftime Dowdle had two more carries than Pollard.

Notes

  • This was the most work Dowdle has seen in a game where Pollard was not pulled early
  • Second rushing touchdown on the season, the first one also came in a game where he got 12 carries

 

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

 

CeeDee Lamb: 10 targets, 6 receptions, 71 yards, TD

While reviewing Lamb’s touchdown, the broadcast was discussing how Darius Slay would be lining up opposite Lamb for most of the night. Dallas responded to this by sending Lamb in motion often to break up the coverage and try giving Lamb open looks against other defenders. The Eagles opted to keep Slay on his own side of the field after the first quarter, and Lamb even mentioned after the game how he was surprised that he was not followed for most of the night.  While he did not lead the team in yards, he did lead them in targets and this is his 7th game in a row that he’s had nine or more targets.

 

Notes

  • Most of his 35 yards after the catch came on a reception out of the backfield that he took 12 yards up the sideline
  • Three of his four incompletions came on passes at or beyond 15 air-yards
  • All but one of his catches came less than 10 yards out from the line of scrimmage

Missed Opportunities

  • Doesn’t go into the stats, but set a glorious rub (since “picks” are illegal) allowing a goal-line touchdown pass to his teammate uncontested
  • Burned his man on a 30-yard deep ball route down the sideline but dropped a ball that hit his hands

 

 

Jake Ferguson: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 72 yards

Ferguson was quiet for the entire first quarter but got his number called on a big 27-yard catch and run over the middle of the field in stride.  His next reception would come midway through the third quarter where he brought in a contested catch in stride, rumbling through tacklers for a total of 32 yards to convert third down to get them into field goal range. He was targeted on a play-action toss in the end zone on a play that was well defended. Otherwise, it was not Ferguson’s night to shine.

 

Brandin Cooks: 5 targets, 2 receptions, 37 yards

Technically his first play into the box sheet came with 30 seconds left in the first half, catching a 30-yard bomb downfield to set up Dallas at the 1-yard line with only seconds to go.  But right before that, he was the recipient of a face mask that counted as a double penalty, which not everyone understood.  It turns out that if the pass interference action was caused by a personal foul itself, you get penalized twice over. I’m sure this went over very well in Philadelphia.

 

Missed Opportunities

  • Targeted on a deep throw to the end zone but wasn’t able to bring it in
  • Tackled on the 1-yard line on a 30-yard deep ball just shy of a touchdown
  • Back pylon fade route on the next play but would not be able to reach it

 

Michael Gallup: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 48 yards, TD

Gallup had two meaningful catches in this game – an uncontested touchdown reception thanks to a legal pick-route by CeeDee Lamb, and a deep bomb 38 yards down the left sideline to get the Cowboys across midfield en route to finishing this game off.

 

Series Navigation
Introduction
Patriots @ Steelers
Buccaneers @ Falcons
Lions @ Bears
Colts @ Bengals
Jaguars @ Browns
Panthers @ Saints
Texans @ Jets
Rams @ Ravens
Vikings @ Raiders
Seahawks @ 49ers
Bills @ Chiefs
Broncos @ Chargers
Eagles @ Cowboys

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