Why the Proverbial "Accident Waiting to Happen" isn't Going to Happen

For years, the Dallas Cowboys and their fans have been subjected to ridicule, memes, a Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo relationship, and mediocrity. I mean even in 2014 when things went right and they churned out a 12-4 season, the accident that was ruled not a catch still happened (To this day I still have no idea what the hell a catch is). 2016, is a different story however. They Cowboys are off to an NFL best 8-1 record. No longer is Jerry Jones' inaugural 3rd son Antonio Ramiro Romo driving the bus, but a 4th round rookie named Dak Prescott is in the driver's seat and he's taking "them boys" to the playoffs, and these boys could make a big run in the playoffs. Of course its not all Prescott as he only plays behind the best offensive line in football, and also plays with a crop top wearing demigod named Ezekiel Elliot.

The Cowboys have the most dominant offense in the NFL no ifs and buts. They're able to dominate the clock, keep their defense off the field, and win at the line of scrimmage. This is something analysts have put on lather, rinse, and repeat, as I'm sure you've heard it a million times; "the Dallas Cowboys have the best offensive line in football". Come on though. Regardless of how many times it's brought up, there's no way you can't talk about something like this:

Travis Frederick the center, is able to chip the defensive tackle lined up to the left and get to the second level to clear up a gaping hole for Ezekiel Elliott to plow through. Everyone else on the O-line is able to drive their guy back a couple yards, and this is with a backup left tackle and left guard in the game. That's unbelievable, and it happens on just about every play. Dallas is able to open up lanes for Zeke to consistently get 5 yards a pop, which lets them slow the game down and dictate the time of possession. Going back to 2014, dominating the clock and running the football was what allowed them to be great. When complete and healthy, this O-line is able to win up front and throw grown men around and put them on their asses in the run game. This unit is also one of the best pass blocking units in the leauge, keeping Dak off the ground. They're capitalizing on their line play in 2016 with extreme success, except with a newly added twist.

Dak Prescott and Tony Romo are like night and day. Prescott brings a totally different element to the Cowboys offense, and it's helped his rookie partner in crime Zeke thrive. Even in Romo's prime he was never looked at as a threat to run. Dak, is a different story however. Dak is mobile enough to escape pressure and run downfield. He's also able to run option plays successfully, and is efficient at doing so in part because Zeke has just run so well all year defenses have to honor him, and it frees up Prescott to run. Watch this:

Dallas ran this against the Bengals in week 5. The right defensive end Carlos Dunlap has containment responsibilities, but Zeke had torched the Bengals on the ground in this game so bad that the Dunlap plays aggressive to stop Zeke and it freed Dak up to run in for the score. Notice near the end of the play though, the defensive tackle Geno Atkins peels off of Doug Free the right tackle and was in position to make a stop at about the 2 yard line. If this was Romo running in, he would've gotten clobbered before he got in, or wouldn't have scored at all. I mean no Romo, but Dak just runs harder, faster, and stronger than Tony.

In the earlier part of the season, it seemed that that Dallas' aerial attack was being held back by Dak. So far this season Dallas' leading receiver isn't named Dez Bryant, but he's named little Cole "measly" Beasley. Wait What? The Cowboys we're used to seeing are the team that makes teams pay with their unstoppable jump ball weapon Dez Bryant. Dak had been dinking and dunking away, and finding the open guy. This has generated a lot less touches for Dez. Unlike Romo, Dak isn't intent in shoving the ball down Dez's throat or forcing it Jason Witten's way. I was a doubter of Dak for a while because of this. If Dak couldn't make you pay downfield, a defense that's good at cleaning up what's in front of them like the Seahawks or Panthers could make this offense be stagnant. What I was watching reminded me a lot of 2014 Derek Carr. It was a lot of check downs, and short crossing patterns. But as the run game gained momentum, a revitalized passing attack is starting to show. Watch this here:

Facing a 3rd and long against Washington, Dak shows tremendous poise by being able to sit in the pocket (thanks in part to the 5 gentlemen up front) and go through his progressions. He is able to go through two of his reads before hitting a wide open Dez in the middle of the field. He even gets a sense that the left side of the pocket is collapsing a little bit and slides over to avoid a collision with the left side of the line. I really have to blame Washington for rushing 3 there, but still a great play by Dak, and he's been able to do more of this in recent weeks. Dak has been very careful with the football with only 2 picks on the season, and he doesn't seem to mind hitting then open guy rather than try to make a big explosive play. Rookie quarterbacks don't show this type of poise or polish often and it's a spectacle to watch Dak right now. Especially now that he's starting to get in synch with Dez and Witten, this passing attack is looking pretty scary.

The real cog in Dallas' offense for all the praise I heaped on Dak though, is Zeke. The offense is more or less in the hands of Zeke as Dallas is really keeping Dak on a pitch count. Dak only averages 28 pass attempts per game. Since week 1, this offense has been in Zeke's hands, but he struggled in the first two weeks of the season. From that point on though, we got to see the same guy at Ohio State who ran with authority and power while wearing a pretty trendy crop top. Zeke leads the NFL in rush yards and averages 5.1 yards per carry. Thats somewhat in part of Dallas' monster O-line, but look at this:

Zeke has the explosiveness, and balance to get skinny in the hole and then just finishes the play with his home run speed. He has the explosive first step and vision to make big plays but when there's a wide open lane because opposing front 7's are getting tossed around like rag dolls, it's just a track meet for Zeke who was also by the way, a sprinter in high school (pretty sure they didn't let him wear crop tops during track meets). Zeke is hurdling over defenders and punishing would be tacklers on the way to playing like the best back in football. He's accomplishing humanly impossible feats as a rookie. Zeke is complete as well as he's an excellent in pass protection, and is a regular favorite of Dak on check downs. I mean the guy took a screen 83 yards against the Steelers to the house. Teams are terrified of him. What can't this guy do?

The rookie tandem of Dak and Zeke have been pretty dominant so far. They help make the game easier for each other, which in turn is very fun to watch. Dallas has been very successful in utilizing play action. It causes linebackers to be late in getting to their zones, and freezes safeties long enough for Dak to find the open zone in the coverage. This is a perfect example:

Look at how closely New York's linebackers are playing to the line of scrimmage. Teams fear Zeke, and overcommit to stop him. New York gets caught trying to stop the run to the left, while Dak is able to roll out on a bootleg and find Geoff Swaim for a big gain. This is the type of stuff Dallas is able to sprinkle in to their game plan to keep defense's honest and make the offense as easy as possible for Dak.

In these past weeks, I've been seeing Dak get more comfortable in the offense and with a healthy Dez back in action, this offense is finally hitting its stride. Dez had been a non factor often in the season because of Dak's conservative tendencies. However, with Jason Witten coming on like gangbustsers, Cole Beasley playing out of his mind, and Zeke shredding defenses, it forces defenses to go into single high safety looks leaving the receivers on the perimeter in 1 on 1 match ups. Look at what happened in the Pittsburgh game last week for example:

Pittsburgh tried to bring pressure with an A gap blitz on 3rd down, but Dak side steps it and hits Dez who was foolishly left alone in man coverage for a touchdown. Dak doesn't even bother going through his reads because he had locked into Dez from the start. He sees a 1 on 1 matchup he likes on the outside and lets one rip. Dak is starting to be able to open up the playbook and make more throws down field and it's making Dallas the most formidable offense in the NFL. Opposing defenses will continue to have to try to keep the box stacked, or put safety help on Dez creating favorable match ups for the rest of the Dallas offense and no one has been able to stop them.

Dallas is really lacking on the other side of the ball. Their defense has played poorly, and that's an understatement. This unit can't get pressure on opposing quarterbacks even with their best pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence back from suspension. This defense has almost nothing going for it, even Morris Claiborne who was finally looking like the shutdown guy Dallas drafted from LSU in 2012 this season, is out at least 6 weeks with a sports hernia. Don't be fooled either, Sean Lee is playing out of his mind and keeping Dallas' defense from being Cleveland bad by doing things like this:

Sean Lee is a stud when healthy, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows that. Like I said earlier though, don't be fooled. Sean Lee has yet to go down with an injury this year, and thats a miracle considering he's about as frail as Robert Griffin's knees. This is not a Super Bowl caliber defense, and I'm not sure it's even good enough to get them out of the NFC. They could end up playing Seattle or New Orleans in the playoffs, and those teams could score at will against this defense. If the Cowboy offense can just continue to control the tempo of the game, and keep this defense off the field as much as it can though, I think the Cowboys have a legitimate shot at least making the NFC championship game.

I hate it. I absolutely hate it. The Cowboys are a good team in the NFL, and I can't take my eyes off them. Next to Pittsburgh this might be the most exciting offense in the NFL. It's like that moment you're on a strict diet but you cave in to your cravings and cheat, but feel really guilty about it. Watching this Dallas team is admittedly a guilty pleasure of mine. I have nothing to express but ill will and malice towards Jerry Jones and his football team. Don't even get me started on the Romo press conference from earlier in this week. I haven't seen that much bad acting since Kazaam. Dallas is a legitimate threat in the NFC, and have climbed back from mediocrity. This is the best they've looked in this decade since 2014, and Antonio Ramiro Romo actually walk away from his career with a ring. (Just hopefully not one that says "Dallas Cowboys")