Cowboys Postgame

[Fat Stupid Loser]

Props to Kirk Cousins. I was looking for him to "prove me wrong" about his play against good teams in a prime time game and he played a great game.

He often has played great in prime time games that "he" has lost. That's the glaring problem with the endless narrative that every pundit has latched on to.

[Mothman]

I'm definitely biased because I'm really hard on our defense, but even though we technically stopped them (the 4th down play was awesome), I think the Cowboys beat themselves by running it when the run clearly wasn't working. If those two plays were passes I think we probably lose that game.

Why weren't they passes?

I think the main reason was time. Dallas was trying to score and use up enough clock to leave the Vikings little to no opportunity to mount a comeback. Their strategy backfired.

I don't mean to discount the points you made because the Vikings were applying pressure more effectively late in the game but I think the clock was probably the primary consideration in that situation. If I recall correctly, Collinsworth even alluded to it during the broadcast.

[Rhodes Closed]

On the edge of my seat the entire time and was so glad we came away with the victory on that one. One of the more intense games of the year and this could go down as a game of the year candidate.

[Dames]

What an entertaining game. Wining it obviously made it more entertaining. This is a game that I was of course optimistic about, but I knew it was very evenly matched. I'm very happy to come away with the win.

On offense we had the plan to make Cook the focal point, and we executed it. Cook was once again fantastic. Mattison continues to shine in the relief role and man does he run hard. It seems he's ripping off 10 yarders consistently. Those 2 are a deadly combo.

Kirk played very well. Smart decisions, no big mistakes. He definitely had a positive impact on the game. They used PA and screens effectively, and getting the ball to Rudy in the end zone was clearly working well. Everyone thought he was throwing away the first TD, but on the replay, it certainly didn't appear to be. Yep, that throw was awkward, but he got it there. Really nice throw and Rudy made an awesome catch to complete it. Cousins brushing off the comments in the post-game interview was a thing of beauty too. This game unfortunately will not silence the critics... but you know. It helped me feel better, an that's all I care about. Sure, he still has more to prove, but I'm thinking he will. As long as we don't play more on grass, that is.

Diggs was kinda quiet overall, but I think they were bracketing him all night. That one catch he came back for... wow! Getting Thielen back will be so nice and help free him up.

The defense. It was mixed results, but they did a good enough job to get the win They shut down one of the best RBS in the NFL without their starting Nose Tackle. Stephen had a really nice game I think. They were playing the number 1 offense in football, and gave up 24 points. There's nothing wrong with that. Dak really impressed me last night. Cooper getting traded to Dallas was the best thing for both of them. Cooper made some highlight reel catches and Dak made some very excellent plays. Sometimes you just have to give the other players props. Our defense was bend-don't-break, and they had 2 good quarters. 1st and 4th. The last 2 weeks have been rough on backfield, but look at who they've played. 3rd down conversion was less than ideal, especially the long ones. But Dak extended some plays and played well. Overall, not excellent, but certainly not terrible either.

Kendricks continues to make HUGE plays. What a year he is having.

[mansquatch]

Good analysis. I'll add my 2 cents. The D was repeatedly solid on early downs, which got them into many 3rd and longs. We did not excel, however, at getting off the field in those cases. You are right to point out that Dallas' OL handled our pass rush pretty well. Zimmer DID try to blitz Barr/ Kendricks/ Harry, but Dallas usually picked it up or Dak dealt with it well via movement. We have to give credit to Dallas on that. I think Zimmer's system is predicated on being strong enough in the secondary to not HAVE to blitz too often, but our secondary is no longer as elite as they were and Zimmer has yet to adjust his scheme. I'm sure guys with more time on their hands will do a great break down (w/ videos, on twitter) comparing when our blitzes worked and when they didn't. I look forward to seeing those analyses. My hypothesis is that A Gap blitzes didn't work as well as sending a safety around the end, but my memory could be off.

I didn't see them hit the A gap too much, they mostly were trying to confuse Dak and disguise coverage vs. flood the A gap with a blitz. I did see them attempt to overload on one side or the other, but again, not very often. I think a lot of it is built on the idea of confusing the QB + the two DE being very good at getting to the QB + the secondary being able to cover pretty well overall.

Against DAL the DE were not getting to the QB and thus the secondary was having to cover MUCH longer than normal. That being said, the secondary has had issues this year. We are seeing more uncontested catches that before. I thought today they were OK. A lot of Cooper's damage came on those catches were he is on his tip toes and getting the ball 4 feet out of bounds. That isn't really defensible without committing PI. The stuff to Gallop / Cobb was a lot more irritating.

Again, I'm not sure how much blame is on bad coverage and how much is no pass rush efficacy. 5+ seconds is a LONG time to cover in the NFL.

I had a general sense in the 4th Quarter that Zimmer maybe should have changed it up and added Barr to the pass rushing mix more than he had during the rest of the game. Zimmer didn't do this, he stuck with the plan of stuffing the rushing game and containing Dak's rushing ability. They sold out to make Dak beat them with his arm and played bend / don't break defense. They also were able to frustrate Dallas in the Red Zone. In fairness, they won, but did it with a lot of heartburn.

IMO, perhaps the biggest issue was the more conservative play calling on offense on the drive that went three and out before Dallas' second to last drive. (The one where Kendricks basically won the game.) IMO, they should have kept driving on offense and gone for another TD, ie keep the foot on the gas. That would have closed the game thoroughly. Instead we left the door open. Against a QB like Rogers that equals a big fat L.

I think a lot of NFL teams do that in the 4Q with leads. They start worrying too much about the clock and as a consequence undervalue possession. Just keep the ball and get more points. Especially with a 4+ point lead. Even a FG in that situation forces the team to get a TD just to force OT. For the Vikings it really is inexcusable, how many times have they seen Rogers pluck victory from defeat because a team gave him 90 seconds with only a small lead?

I should add this this bad 4Q offensive play calling bit them in KC where the impact was FAR more dramatic. Definitely something I hope they look at during the bye. In tight games against any NFL QB who is making his throws (at that time in the game) it adds up to a Loss far too often. The better play IMO is to keep getting 1st downs and score points.

[Mothman]

I only have a few minutes but I wanted to pop in and say I thought the Vikes were impressive last night and honestly, I like the way they've played ever since that lousy performance I witnessed here in Chicago. It's clear to me that Kubiak has made a very positive impact on the team and I liked Stefanski's playcalling last night. That was the type of game we've seen the Vikes lose too often and they showed up with a solid game plan and carried it through to a win. Kudos to Zimmer, his staff and the players.

Containing Elliott so effectively was impressive and the OL's run-blocking, in particular, was stellar. Cook was great and Mattison continues to make a hell of a #2 in the Vikes "1-2 punch" on the ground. I think he may even be their best inside runner, although it's close.

I loved seeing Rudolph have a big night. He remains a fantastic target in the red zone and C. J. Ham is quietly having a great season.

I've been tough on Zimmer and Spielman but I'm feeling better about the team right now than I have in years.

P.S.) Am I mistaken or was Mattison's near-TD the second time this season he's had a great run fall just short of the goal line?

[Dames]

Why weren't they passes?

I think the main reason was time. Dallas was trying to score and use up enough clock to leave the Vikings little to no opportunity to mount a comeback. Their strategy backfired.

I don't mean to discount the points you made because the Vikings were applying pressure more effectively late in the game but I think the clock was probably the primary consideration in that situation. If I recall correctly, Collinsworth even alluded to it during the broadcast.

I agree with this. Running the clock down seemed to be a priority, and when you have a RB of that caliber, it's not only the safe move, it can easily turn into a big play. Our D-line really stepped up there.

[Pondering Her Percy]

oh I’m sure there will be something along the lines of “Dallas is average”, “it wasn’t a big game”, “cousins yardage mostly came on screens”, “he still held the ball too long”, etc. Same song and dance

I said early on that Dallas was grossly overrated. They went 3-0 and everyone drooled over them but they beat the giants, dolphins and redskins. And the cowboys got beat by the jets. They aren’t very good at all IMO.

There it is!! Another game that doesn’t count for cousins due to stumps opinion. You complain about the sacks last year, he’s taking half of them this year, you complain about the fumbles, it’s much less this year, you complain about the overall turnovers, he’s cut that in half, you complain about him not being able to win big games, he has this year. Cousins has continued to prove you wrong all year and you still fight it. You still hunt for excuses and try to find nitpicky reasons to keep your argument going. It’s became an obsession with you and you’ve done it for so long and so often that you don’t know any different. I’m starting to think this guy could win a SB and you’d find a way he didn’t deserve it.

[mansquatch]

I'm definitely biased because I'm really hard on our defense, but even though we technically stopped them (the 4th down play was awesome), I think the Cowboys beat themselves by running it when the run clearly wasn't working. If those two plays were passes I think we probably lose that game.

Why weren't they passes?

I know the coverage looked poor overall, and was poor at times, but Dallas ended up in a decent number of 3rd-and-longs and converted several of them by the skin of their teeth, either by Prescott barely escaping with his life before the throw or by barely evading a pick. There were at least 3 Prescott throws that I thought could have been picked and returned for 6. On several more, Prescott barely got the pass off before he got hit. And I think as Dallas got into the shorter field, they realized it was going to be much harder to complete those passes, which is why they went to Elliot to try to force the Vikings to worry a bit more about the run.

I'm not saying the coverage was great all night. I'm just saying that I think Dallas realized they were getting away with some stuff in the passing game and feared it was about to catch up with them, and they needed Elliot to do something on the ground to get things aligned so they could take a shot in the passing game on a shorter field and he couldn't do it.

I mean, take that 4th-and-5 that Kendricks broke up as an example of what I'm talking about. That was Dak's first read, and Kendricks was all over it. If Dak had a better option on that play, that guy was likely well covered too.

I thought the Vikings were also getting better pressure on Prescott as the game went on, which is also something I noticed last week against KC too. It seems like the Vikings DEs especially seem to get more active and have more energy as the the game enters the 4th quarter, and even though that wasn't enough against KC, it's still encouraging to see.

His first read on that 4th and 5 play was the slant to Cooper. To Zimmer's credit, they double covered it. Also, Zimmer had set up that play by having Hughes line up on Cooper on the outside, trying to take away all the sideline crap, basically giving up the Slant on previous downs of the drive. This was Zimmer playing chess with the Cowboys OC. He gave up the slant earlier showing a line up that kept giving them the slant. Then when they really needed it, he took it away. Just beautiful.

Credit Kendricks for the elite coverage play on the back end of course, but that whole scenario was set up earlier in the drive when Zimmer had Hughes line up differently, even giving up the slant at one point earlier in the drive.

Enjoy that one guys, that was genius at work. Really glad Collinsworth brought up the alignments on the broadcast, otherwise I would have missed it.

[StumpHunter]

I said early on that Dallas was grossly overrated. They went 3-0 and everyone drooled over them but they beat the giants, dolphins and redskins. And the cowboys got beat by the jets. They aren’t very good at all IMO.

There it is!! Another game that doesn’t count for cousins due to stumps opinion. You complain about the sacks last year, he’s taking half of them this year, you complain about the fumbles, it’s much less this year, you complain about the overall turnovers, he’s cut that in half, you complain about him not being able to win big games, he has this year. Cousins has continued to prove you wrong all year and you still fight it. You still hunt for excuses and try to find nitpicky reasons to keep your argument going. It’s became an obsession with you and you’ve done it for so long and so often that you don’t know any different. I’m starting to think this guy could win a SB and you’d find a way he didn’t deserve it.

My apologies, I was on my phone when I posted this and wasn't able to add the quote properly:

I said early on that Dallas was grossly overrated. They went 3-0 and everyone drooled over them but they beat the giants, dolphins and redskins. And the cowboys got beat by the jets. They aren’t very good at all IMO.

That is what YOU said leading up to the game.

Cousins had a solid game and did everything asked of him. I am happy he did.

I would say against a good team too, but you made a compelling argument about why the Cowboys "aren't very good at all".

[Dames]

Cook was great and Mattison continues to make a hell of a #2 in the Vikes "1-2 punch" on the ground. I think he may even be their best inside runner, although it's close.

I think you're right on Mattison. I think Cook is overall the better back, but Mattison has been more effective inside I think. At least that's how I recall it.

[Dames]

His first read on that 4th and 5 play was the slant to Cooper. To Zimmer's credit, they double covered it. Also, Zimmer had set up that play by having Hughes line up on Cooper on the outside, trying to take away all the sideline crap, basically giving up the Slant on previous downs of the drive. This was Zimmer playing chess with the Cowboys OC. He gave up the slant earlier showing a line up that kept giving them the slant. Then when they really needed it, he took it away. Just beautiful.

Credit Kendricks for the elite coverage play on the back end of course, but that whole scenario was set up earlier in the drive when Zimmer had Hughes line up differently, even giving up the slant at one point earlier in the drive.

Enjoy that one guys, that was genius at work. Really glad Collinsworth brought up the alignments on the broadcast, otherwise I would have missed it.

Nice analysis! Thanks.

[psjordan]

I have to believe that the entire team, coaches on both sides on down, were on board with the defensive game plan as it unfolded. First off, there is 100% chance a pro DB will lose to a pro WR in man-to-man, given enough time. 100%. Man-to-man works for a finite period, and I almost guarantee the team discussed this beforehand – if we don’t get to Dak quickly, and chances are not all that high for multiple sacks due to the Cowboys OL and Dak’s legs, well then, they ARE going to complete passes on us. Why do I say this? Well, if you watch all the D players and the coaches from Zim on down, NO ONE was mad at whichever DB happened to get beat. No one hung their head. No one panicked. It’s a sure sign they discussed it and knew they were going to give up passing yards. Bottle up Zeke. We will live with giving up completions on the plays we don’t get to Dak quickly. Trust your teammates to come through when there is a short field and crowded secondary.

I liked the D alignments, fake blitzes, fake-then-real blitzes, and HS coming around end now and then. They knew Zeke could not handle HS on blitz blocking and he didn’t.

It’s frustrating for a fan to watch us give up third and longs on a “long” field, but I believe the whole strategy included the fact we would be much better in man-to-man in short field situations with compressed timing, so players were told everyone keep your heads and we’ll be fine.

Obviously our two RB’s are impressive individually, but did anyone else have nostalgic feelings of Larry Csonka and Jim Kick? Yes I’m that old, you young whippersnappers may have to look those two up. I’m biased of course but I’ve not seen a pair of RB’s on the same team since those days that might be as formidable as these two. Today’s NFL is pass-happy so we probably won’t see the MIA type connection again, but man I bet you there are a ton of teams in the NFL taking notice of how we are doing things in the running game with two top-tier RB’s and a devastating FB. You just watch all the RB’s drafted in the third round next April to teams that already have a top RB.

And speaking of C.J. Ham, man I hope he makes the Pro Bowl. He was absolutely outstanding.

I know folks may not be all that impressed with Cousins yardage or downfield throws, but you have to have a degree of ice-water in your veins and athletic talent to make all the throws he did on the screen passes. I give him just as much credit for those under-pressure screen throws as accurate down-the-field throws. And without AT he HAD to make those throws successfully or we were screwed. Man did DAL hate defending those screens.

IMO that was not only a great win for the obvious reasons, but also because I feel that the players were asked to trust the gameplan the coaches came up with, even though there would be “fails” along the way. There is nothing that helps a team gel more than when the players have full faith in the gameplan and keep playing the way the coaches have asked.

I think this bodes really well for the rest of the season.

[StumpHunter]

Cook was great and Mattison continues to make a hell of a #2 in the Vikes "1-2 punch" on the ground. I think he may even be their best inside runner, although it's close.

I think you're right on Mattison. I think Cook is overall the better back, but Mattison has been more effective inside I think. At least that's how I recall it.

Neither are at their best running up the middle but Mattison does have a slight edge. 4.03 YPA versus 3.78. Short yardage conversions Cook actually has the edge at 69% conversion rate versus 60% (very small sample size for Mattison on that one).

[mansquatch]

I hope it isn't lost on everyone just how strong of performance last night was by our backs and OL. The Cowboys Front 7 is elite in the NFL. They got handled by our offense.

Statement game by the Vikings and of special importance, the statement was made by our offense more than our defense. Vikings have been steadily improving each week. GB looks stagnant and the Saints just took a step backward. November is when the Contenders and Pretenders emerge. Vikings just staked a claim on the Contender side of the fence. Remainder of the season should be fun to watch.