The Dallas Cowboys won their first game of the NFL season on Sunday in a thrilling 40-37 overtime victory over the New York Giants. It wasn’t the best display of football as the team had its struggles at times, specifically on defense, but they can always count on the Giants to help give them a win. The Cowboys have now beaten the Giants in nine straight games and 16 out of their last 17 dating back to 2017. For Dak Prescott, it was his 14th straight victory over those boys in blue from New York.
That’s ownage.
There were a lot of things going on in this game. The defense allowed some big plays, including what looked like a game-winning deep touchdown with only 25 seconds left in the game. Fortunately, Brandon Aubrey bailed them out with a 64-yard field goal as time expired in regulation to give them new life.
Another thing that has given the Cowboys new life is the presence of a rushing attack. New head coach Brian Schottenheimer vowed to fix the running game with a combination of increasing the strength of their offensive line, developing better run schemes, and executing with more powerful runs. They brought over former Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams to help, and so far, they are doing what they said they were going to do.
Last year, the Cowboys finished third-worst in rushing yards per attempt at measly 4.0 ypa efficiency, but so far after just two games, they are rushing at 5.1 ypa, the sixth-best in the league. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this improved rushing attack, but one big one is free agent running back Javonte Williams. The 25-year-old running back is off to a great start with his new team. Through two games, he has 151 yards on 33 carries, averaging 75 yards a game and 4.6 yards per attempt. It’s a small sampling, but this is a 70% increase over his time in Denver. He also has an impressive 60% rushing success rate, third best in the league, and only he and Christian McCaffrey have double-digit first downs this season. He has the second-highest EPA, trailing only Kenneth Walker. Again, it’s only been two weeks, but he’s near the top of several rushing metrics this season.
Williams also adds 20 yards a game as a receiver, which is right on par with what he’s done almost every year during his time in Denver. He’s proven himself to be a complete player out of the Cowboys’ backfield so far this season as he handles the lion’s share of the work.
He looks to be the perfect fit for this offense. He does a great job being patient and allowing his blocks to happen so he can find the running lanes. It’s not super athletic, but he shows enough wiggle to finesse through the creases and then powers through with those big legs. Once he gets going, he’s hard to bring down, as no player forced more missed tackles in Week 2 than Williams. It’s not sexy, but his football intelligence, physicality, and relentlessness have added some stability in the Cowboys’ rushing attack.
He has completely changed the Cowboys’ short-yardage outlook as he has a nose for the endzone. He already has three rushing touchdowns this year, which is one more than Rico Dowdle had in 16 games last year for the Cowboys. Williams also had a 30-yard touchdown scamper on Sunday, which is already longer than any rush Dowdle had last season.
The running game is off to a promising start this year. With the production of Williams, the Cowboys’ offense is ranked in the top 10 in both passing and rushing yards. This is the balance we were all hoping for. Things might even pick up later once the rookie Jaydon Blue gets worked into the mix, but this has to be a satisfying feeling considering how one-dimensional the offense was last year.
