Dallas City News

The Cowboys started their season off with a win, beating the Browns 33-17 behind a dominant defensive showing and some special teams highlights. How did each group perform, though? Let’s hand out some grades.

Quarterback

The single most positive development for Dak Prescott on Sunday was getting a contract signed to keep him in Dallas for four more years. Beyond that, it was a tale of two halves for Prescott.

Going against the best defense from a year ago, which combined a fierce pass rush with an opportunistic secondary, Prescott was efficient but not explosive in the first half. He had some signature moments, with an impressive fadeaway touchdown to Brandin Cooks and a couple “how’d he do that?” passes to CeeDee Lamb, and the Cowboys carved out a strong first half lead.

In the second half, Prescott looked uncomfortable most of the time. He had a few erratic throws and some missed connections with his receivers, and the offense stalled out on most drives. That said, the Cowboys were primarily trying to chew clock in the second half, and Prescott didn’t put the ball in jeopardy against this stout Browns defense. That earns him a solid enough grade, though he’ll be expected to be better going forward.

Grade: B-

Running backs

The Cowboys didn’t give any preseason reps to their top two running backs, Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle, so this was the first chance to see them in action. All in all, things were positive, though nothing to write home about. Reps were split pretty evenly, with Elliott getting 10 carries to Dowdle’s eight.

Elliott looked rather explosive, totaling 40 rushing yards and also adding nine yards on two catches. Dowdle only put up 26 rushing yards, though he managed to get a couple of first downs. Deuce Vaughn also had one carry for four yards. The most explosive Cowboys runner, by far, was CeeDee Lamb; the receiver tallied 25 rushing yards on three jet sweep runs. The Cowboys will need more from their run game in later matchups, but it was good enough Sunday.

Grade: C+

Pass catchers

Perhaps a byproduct of Dak Prescott’s so-so game, the pass catchers delivered an equally ho-hum performance. CeeDee Lamb is still CeeDee Lamb, so that’s good. Brandin Cooks also had a good game, snagging four passes for 40 yards.

Beyond that, though? Jalen Tolbert had just one catch, KaVontae Turpin dropped his lone target, and Jake Ferguson had 15 yards on three catches before leaving the game with an injury. In total, it was a fairly uninspiring day from this group outside of Lamb and Cooks.

Grade: C+

Offensive line

The offensive line had its hands full in this game against one of the best pass rush units last year and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. Two rookies were making their NFL debuts in Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe, but the results were ultimately a mixed bag.

Prescott was sacked three times, with one of them stripping the ball from his hands, but he also wasn’t running for his life the way Deshaun Watson was in this game. The run blocking was also inconsistent, opening up some holes but also having their fair share of stuffs. All in all, it was a solid first game for this reworked offensive line.

Grade: B

Pass rush

Now we’re getting to the good stuff. The defense looked great in their first game under Mike Zimmer, especially the pass rush. As previously mentioned, Deshaun Watson was under constant duress in this game. Micah Parsons picked up a sack and was also a constant presence in the backfield.

It wasn’t just the Lion, though. DeMarcus Lawrence and Eric Kendricks both had two sacks, and DeMarvion Overshown also picked up a sack. Zimmer’s deep bag of tricks in simulating pressures and disguising blitzes made life hard on this offensive line, which was without both starting tackles. If every game is like this from the Cowboys pass rush, it should be another great season of football.

Grade: A+

Run defense

The Browns, who ranked fourth in total rushing attempts last year, only called 14 run plays on the day. That’s a testament to how quickly the Cowboys built a lead in this one, as Watson had 45 pass attempts and even more dropbacks. So it’s not like Zimmer’s defense faced a relentless rushing attack.

Still, they did a good job of bottling things up when they did. Those 14 designed runs went for 54 yards, an average of 3.8 yards per carry. Watson added 39 rushing yards on five scrambles, but the Dallas defense was stout against traditional running plays. It’s a small sample size, but that’s a good first step for this unit.

Grade: A-

Pass coverage

Dan Quinn took a lot of Cowboys players with him to Dallas, but he didn’t take their penchant for takeaways. The Cowboys came away with two picks on the day, courtesy of Eric Kendricks and Trevon Diggs. Rookie Caelen Carson very nearly had an interception at three different points in the game too.

On the day, Watson completed just 53.3% of his passes with an average of 3.8 yards per attempt, with eight passes being defensed. Watson almost exclusively threw passes inside 10 yards, as the secondary left very lanes to throw through. It was an extremely encouraging night for this secondary, especially considering Carson was making his NFL debut.

Grade: A+

Special teams

Brandon Aubrey was a fraction of a second away from tying Justin Tucker’s record for the longest field goal made, and technically speaking he did make the kick. Even so, Aubrey was perfect on the day, making all four field goals and all three extra points. He also had some well-placed kickoffs as part of the NFL’s new dynamic kickoff.

Not only did the Cowboys remind everyone that they have the best kicker in the NFL, but they reminded everyone they have the best return specialist too. KaVontae Turpin, at long last, got himself a return touchdown in the regular season. Not only was it a great moment for Turpin, but it capped off an excellent day for the Dallas special teams unit.

Grade: A+

Coaching

There was much consternation over Mike McCarthy not calling a timeout to avoid the delay of game penalty that negated Aubrey’s 66-yard field goal attempt, but there seemed to be legitimate confusion on the play in the form of the clock operator not correctly resetting the play clock.

Regardless of who’s to blame there, McCarthy’s offensive play-calling left something to be desired. Granted, this was a road game against an elite defense and McCarthy was very clearly calling the game around that, but things could have been a bit better. Zimmer, on the other hand, had his defense ready to play. It was a solid bit of work from the coaching staff, earning a comfortable win on the road to start the season.

Grade: B+