The Dallas Cowboys kicked off the Brian Schottenheimer era with a loss, but it hardly felt that way. Coming in as the biggest underdogs of Week 1, the Cowboys went toe-to-toe with the Eagles and had a shot at winning right up until the final minute of the game. It was as positive as one could feel after a loss. Schottenheimer had a lot to do with it.
Much of this offseason has been focused on the overall vibes that Schottenheimer brings to the locker room, but this was the first real chance to see
what the offense looks like with Schottenheimer calling plays. Between his established trends and the concepts that new offensive coordinator Klayton Adams brought over from the Cardinals, it was a bit of an unknown what exactly this offense would look like.
The early results were wildly encouraging. The Cowboys made extensive use of pre-snap motion, they generated explosives from play-action, they moved people in the run game, they used tempo when things were clicking, and they hit several explosive runs off counter plays, a staple of the Cardinals’ run game with Adams. Simply put, this offense was nearly everything fans have been clamoring for.
Let’s start with motion. Schottenheimer said in his introductory press conference that he wanted to use more motion. Mike McCarthy said the same thing, and for the most part he followed through, but one area that McCarthy’s offenses always lacked was in motion at the snap specifically. That’s a big deal, because studies have shown that motion at the snap tends to correlate more directly to offensive success than motion where players get set before the snap, also commonly referred to as shifts.
The McCarthy offense was heavy on shifts and light on motion. The Schottenheimer offense, though, was heavy on both.
The Cowboys’ rate of plays with a man in motion at the snap was considerably higher than it was last year, or at any point in the McCarthy era. They also ran motion of any kind on 69.6% of their plays, good for ninth in the league through the first week of the season.
It had an effect, too. The Cowboys averaged 6.3 yards per play when using any form of motion, which was sixth in the NFL this week. It was especially impactful for their run game, as Dallas averaged 6.1 yards per carry when using motion.
The run game was nails all night long, with or without motion. Schottenheimer has always prided himself on the run game, so that shouldn’t be a surprise, but the Cowboys ran the ball extremely well. Not only did they average more yards per carry than the Eagles, but they finished sixth in the league in total yards per carry.
Dallas also had the third fewest run plays get stuffed and they ranked third in rushing yards over expected (RYOE) per attempt, all while being second in the league in rushing success rate. All of those numbers blow last year’s numbers out of the water. It’s only one game, of course, but it’s an encouraging start.
As the saying goes, the run also helped set up the pass. Dak Prescott has always excelled in play-action, and that remained true on Thursday night. He hit on all but one of his play-action passes and, among quarterbacks who attempted at least three such throws in Week 1, Prescott ranked eighth in passer rating.
In general, Prescott was balling out in this game, clearly feeling comfortable in the new system. His 61.8% completion rate and zero touchdowns doesn’t look all that impressive, but if CeeDee Lamb had caught all those passes he dropped, Prescott would’ve completed nearly 80% of his passes. Jake Ferguson also had an arguable drop in the endzone.
And that brings up the one real weakness with Schottenheimer’s offense in Week 1: the execution. Whether it was Lamb dropping the ball or Miles Sanders fumbling, the only thing that stopped this offense was themselves. That falls at least partially on Schottenheimer, but some grace can be given for a team playing its first game of the year under a new scheme. And, looking around the rest of the league, it’s safe to say the Cowboys were not the sloppiest team in Week 1.
The two biggest questions for Schottenheimer coming into this one were 1) Can he really motivate these players, especially after the Micah Parsons trade, and 2) Can he scheme up an offense that puts up points reliably? The answer to both those questions through one game is a resounding yes.
Now, the question at hand is if the Cowboys can close out games. But that’s a good question to be asking yourself after facing the reigning Super Bowl champion on the road.
