Buccaneers' post-game comments put Cowboys coach on blast
Let's forget about the injury to Dak Prescott for a moment here. Humor me as we attempt to talk Dallas Cowboys football. On Sunday night, the Cowboys' offense was close to inexistent. Since then, everyone – fanbase and media – has discussed the reasons for it. A shaky offensive line, condensed coverage on CeeDee Lamb, […]
Let's forget about the injury to Dak Prescott for a moment here. Humor me as we attempt to talk Dallas Cowboys football.
On Sunday night, the Cowboys' offense was close to inexistent. Since then, everyone – fanbase and media – has discussed the reasons for it. A shaky offensive line, condensed coverage on CeeDee Lamb, and Dak Prescott clearly being off all contributed to historically poor performance on the field.
But perhaps no one will make things more clear than one of the Cowboys' opponents last weekend. After all, it was him – and his teammates – that outplayed Dallas in the season opener. I'm talking about Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White.
The Bucs defender talked postgame about his team's success and his comments on the game feel like a kick to the stomach for Cowboys fans.
"Last year we learned they weren't going to commit to the run game," said White about the Cowboys offense. "The runs that they did, they were trying to get to the outside and not run into the interior. Most of the (passing) game was just quick game. You know, a lot of curls, a lot of hitches a lot of slants."
And then the kicker.
"We kind of knew that coming in, so we were able to attack it."
White's comments should put the Cowboys' offensive coordinator Kellen Moore on blast. After all, the linebacker isn't even talking about a regular season game that happened just a week ago. The guy is literally discussing the season opener from a year ago.
One thing is an NFL team putting together the perfect scouting report based on recent games. Another completely different thing is going by what happened in Week 1 of the previous season and getting the opponent's strategy exactly right.
The Cowboys' predictability was evidenced by the Bucs' defense in several ways.
The receivers ranked terribly among NFL receivers in separation. While that has to do with talent, it's also about an offensive staff incapable of scheming receivers open something paramount for a team that has only CeeDee Lamb at the moment.
Another example of how the Bucs telegraphed what the Cowboys wanted to came in the pass protection world. Dallas knew heading into the game they'd need to run some max protection (keeping seven blockers or more, i.e. five linemen and two tight ends) to give deeper routes time to develop. It felt like every single time they ran max protection though, Bucs rushed with four or three only, dropping seven or eight defenders into the coverage consistently.
This is particularly noteworthy for a team known for its aggressive blitzing. The Bucs knew exactly what they were facing.
Once a rising head coach candidate, Kellen Moore entered this season with a lot to prove. Several question marks surround his ability to lead an offense to the next level and make his seat one of the hottest in the NFL.
While it's only Week 1 and the Cowboys are significantly limited at wide receiver, it's fair to say the offensive coordinator drastically failed his first test of the year. It's high time he turns the ship around.
Featured image via Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
