Cowboys vs Redskins Film Review: What Stood Out

The Cowboys season has finally drawn to a close and despite the irrelevance of this particular week 17 match-up, many things were learned when reviewing the film.

The game, much like the entire season, was a tough one to sit through for Cowboys fans. The Washington Redskins jumped out to an early lead and coasted to the finish line with nary a Cowboys threat in sight. But because statistics don’t tell the whole story (and in this case – can be misleading), we slow down the action and review individual player performance and execution to apply credit/blame.

Here are the Dallas Cowboys standouts, notes, and observations from their week 17 game against the Washington Redskins:

Like most who’ve broken down film on Terrence Williams, I’m torn on my feelings for him. One day he runs fast, crisp routes, the next day he looks disinterested and completely unaware. One day he flashes tremendous speed and playmaking ability, the next day he looks like a liability and barely attempts to even compete. We’ve seen both sides of him in Dallas over the years and it’s probably time to accept that this is just what Williams is – an inconsistent, big-play threat who’s a complementary piece that should not be relied on.
I was really hoping to see J.J. Wilcox end this season on a high note but he’s just shown more of the same. Wilcox is an athletic, hard-hitting safety who also misses tackles, takes poor angles, and sometimes gets lost in coverage. On the Redskins second TD play, Wilcox was playing as the single high safety and took an atrocious angle on the play and was actually lucky to be involved since he chose to break on the wrong receiver. Wilcox broke on the shallower receiver, rather than on the actual target, Pierre Garcon who ran the deeper TD route. Later, it was Wilcox with the penetration, hit, and wrap that gave the Cowboys the safety. Much like Terrance Williams, J.J. Wilcox is a player that the Cowboys were hoping would develop and take a big step this season. Like Williams, he may have taken a step back.
Demarcus Lawrence entered this week boasting seven sacks in seven games, making him one of the hottest pass-rushers of the season’s second half. While the sack streak may have come to an end, his dominant play did not. D-Law proved to be strong against the run and quick in diagnosing halfback and wide receiver screens. The Redskins successfully executed a 47-yard screen to speedy receiver Jamison Crowder in the first quarter and while the Cowboys were unable to stop it, Lawrence did recognize it and play it properly. Lawrence has been an enormous bright spot on an otherwise gloomy season. I would be surprised if he collect 12 or more sacks next season.
Young cornerback, Deji Olatoye, consistently played eight yards off Pierre Garcon. Since he’s still fairly “green”, this allowed him to feel more comfortable in varying coverages. What stood out was his closing ability to stop the screen, quick-pass, and run. Even eight yards off the line, Deji had no problem diagnosing and crashing the line to only allow minimal gains. He would do this repeatedly on Sunday, giving a big cushion and closing in on making strong open field tackles. These are the kind of open field tackling Rod Marinelli loves.
All in all, Olatoye, 6’1” 195lbs, had another strong game. He showed great awareness in the endzone again – pushing Garcon out of bounds before he could fully pull in a would-be TD catch. Later in man coverage he would slip against a double move that could have proved disastrous, but Colt McCoy was unable to deliver the pass down the sideline. When in man press coverage in a single high safety coverage scheme, you cannot afford to fall down if you have coverage on the sideline. It’s too hard for the single safety to cover. There is much for him to learn but he’s shown enough raw skill and instinct to be part of the Cowboys’ plans in 2016.
Kellen Moore had a first quarter to forget but as the game progressed, he did show some noteworthy things worth discussing – He telegraphed passes more than we’re used to seeing and he allowed some balls to float on him in the process. He was able to put enough velocity on the ball to hit those sideline comebacks that Terrance Williams loves but didn’t get to prove he could get the ball down the field. I normally like his pocket presence but I thought he missed a few opportunities to get outside the pocket and deliver passes down field without linemen in front of him.

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I think the stats are very misleading on Kellen Moore. He racked up the numbers but most of those yards came against a very soft and injury-depleted Washington secondary. In other words, the Redskins allowed him to move the ball and just tried to limit the big play. His poor play in the first quarter essentially doomed the Cowboys. Moore showed good things and bad things. I couldn’t give him a positive grade because I don’t think the Redskins would have let him find success in the second half, had they not had such a big lead. This is a case of the stats being very misleading. Still, Moore showed good things this season and should be brought back as #2 or preferably #3 QB, but I don’t think he has developmental upside.
The Cowboys still need to draft a developmental QB to groom. Kellen Moore is Jason Garrett-ish in QB skills and is a great for the film room and extra depth, but he’s not the best answer at backup.
With all of the running the Redskins were doing, it was a good game for Anthony Hitchens to log an increased amount of snaps. Hitch is a beast against the run and this game was a great example of what he offers in that regard. He’s not terrible in coverage but it’s not natural to him and doesn’t play to his strengths. Hitchens is never going to be a superstar in this league but he’s skilled and versatile and may be leaned on heavily next season if Rolando McClain leaves in free agency.

Byron Jones was not matched up on Jordan Reed all day as expected, but when he was, he did a great job at neutralizing the dynamic TE. Great season for the Cowboys top draft pick.
Randy Gregory is one full strength-building offseason away from being a great defensive end. He has both edge moves and inside moves. He has strong hands and counters. He has burst and awareness. He looks the part in nearly every way, yet he’s struggled to make an impact in the sack department. If he can stay focused and on-task this offseason, he could make a huge leap in his second season. He really appears like he could soon be a great young bookend to keep opposite DeMarcus Lawrence for years to come.

Next: The Cowboys don't NEED a QB, but that's not the point

Random thoughts: The Cowboys finally win a very questionable challenge (Jason Witten TD) and it happens in week 17 when it really doesn’t matter anymore.

The Cowboys finally call a creative/trick play and convert a fake punt into a first down. Again, too bad it’s week 17.

Speaking of which, Jeff Heath finally does something to actually cheer about and it’s converting the fake punt in week 17 of a lost season.

The Cowboys finally broke their consecutive games without a safety streak and it happened in…well, you get the point.