Dallas Cowboys offense had every answer for Bears defense

Last week Dallas Cowboys fans may have looked upon Dak’s return with some disappointment. But like The Dark Knight, the sequel was far better than the original. In an offensive explosion from both sides the Dallas Cowboys were able to out-offense the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Some might say the Dallas Cowboys offense is… scary

The Dak Prescott was remarkably efficient with 18.5 EPA (Expected Points Added) for the whole game and .6 EPA per play which is the 96th percentile for the league. While he’s not dropping 400 passing yards with four touchdowns, he has managed to pick apart defenses through the air and today, on the ground with 6.8 yards per attempt and a 67% success rate.

Through the air Dak Prescott stat line of 21/27, 250 passing yards, 2 TDs and one interception. This stat line isn’t going to blow anyone away, but his efficiency should and the ability for the Cowboys to drop a cool 49 points without Prescott lighting up the stat sheet is cause for enthusiasm.

As I was analyzing the game on rbsdm.com I noticed that the Dallas Cowboys were able to produced their best work of the day on the late downs, or 3rd and 4th. Kellen Moore was able to draw up 1.73 EPA, 82% first down rate for the offense on late downs, with the rushing attack succeeding on 100% of their four plays.

Speaking of the rushing attack, it is worth shouting out the leading rusher in today’s game, Tony Pollard. With Ezekiel Elliott determined to be out it was time to take the shackles off Pollard and let him run free without having a split.

And run he did, with three touchdowns on 131 rushing yards. These are numbers Elliott has not approached in multiple years. This is not a knock to Zeke who is simply a different style of runner but it was certainly refreshing to see Pollard break multiple runs big with the 54 yard exclamation point touchdown in the fourth. This was all accomplished on 14 carries. Truly terrifying.

The defense left a lot to be desired today but after how they’ve performed weeks 1-7 they deserve a pass. It was a bit jarring though to see a quarterback like Justin Fields pick through the defense better than any other has so far.

It’s quite clear that the Cowboys’ kryptonite is the mobile quarterback. Daniel Jones, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Fields have managed to rush very well against the Cowboys defense which on paper is a bit shocking. Having two athletic ends in Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence should be a recipe to successfully contain Fields but it has not translated. I noticed several instances were on either a RPO (Run Pass Option) or simply a read option, that Lawrence would simply crash on the running back and leave Justin Fields loads of green to work with.

While recently acquired Johnathan Hankins is known for “providing inside run defense at a premium level,” it’s clear that more is required to contain the run with Khalil Herbert, David Montgomery, and Justin Fields all rushing for greater the 50 yards.

While perhaps a flashy player like D.J. Moore or Brandin Cooks would be more interesting, it’s quite clear this team can win a championship on the back of it’s defense. The offense showed today it more than capable of showing up to the field and dominating but avoiding resorting to a shootout is essential for keeping fresh legs and maximizing win probability.

Jerry Jones has shown a desire to pursue a trade after a 6-2 start and we can look for him to part with draft picks in pursuit of a championship. Last time Jerry parted with a first rounder, we ended up with Amari Cooper. Keep an eye on the headlines.

Next week is going to be a relaxed week for us fans as the Cowboys are off in week 9. Though it couldn’t have come at a better time with Elliott looking to make a return and both Donovan Wilson and Jayron Kearse going down late. Plus, the longer Dak is removed from the thumb injury of his the better.

After the bye the Dallas Cowboys get the Green Bay Packers.