Love them or hate them, the Dallas Cowboys are for real.
They legitimatized what some believed was a fluky start by beating the Seattle Seahawks at their own game. Outside of a few special teams gaffes, it very well could have been a blowout at CenturyLink Field.
While it’s fair to expect Dallas to falter, this season’s Cowboys are different. They’re playing a winning brand of football and are actually likable.
Instead of relying on Tony Romo – who did come up huge with a 3rd and 20 conversion against Seattle — the Cowboys have built their offence around the offensive line and running back DeMarco Murray. The former Oklahoma standout has been on a tear to start the season, becoming the second running back in NFL history to run for 100 yards in each of his team’s first six games.
They’ve created an entirely new identity for themselves, and heck, even the defence is playing well. The no-name unit made Russell Wilson look ordinary on Sunday. No one saw this coming.
Here’s what else we learned in Week 6:
Seahawks need to find their identity: In the loss to Dallas, the Seattle Seahawks got away from their biggest strength – running the football. That’s what has made Seattle successful on offence. As a result, the play-action game was not working and Russell Wilson was unable to function within the offence. It was poor coaching and even worse execution. It was strange to see Marshawn Lynch get only 10 carries. Seattle has to get back to the drawing board and figure out a way to get the ball in the hands of their best player.
Brandon Lloyd paying big dividends: The 49ers didn’t receive much fanfare when they signed 33-year-old receiver Brandon Lloyd as a free agent. He was out of football last year and his career appeared to be over. But Lloyd has been a huge part of San Francisco’s recent success. His leaping catch was the turning point in last weekend’s victory over Kansas City and his play Monday night was even more important against the St. Louis Rams. Trailing 14-3 with 27 seconds left in the first half, Lloyd’s 80-yard touchdown — on a beautiful double move — completely changed the course of the game. The momentum helped carry the 49ers to their third straight win and Lloyd deserves plenty of credit.
Steelers aren’t what they used to be: Hines Ward nailed it on the head: The Steelers are soft. They are no longer the rugged and tough team of the last two decades. It was apparent while watching the Cleveland Browns run all over them. The problems start on defence. The defensive line doesn’t hold the point of attack, the secondary isn’t great at covering and the pass rush just isn’t consistently showing up.
Until they get their defence figure out, the Steelers look like the fourth-best team in the AFC North. When was the last time you could say that?
Bucs aren’t getting any better: The consensus around the NFL was the Bucs issues last season were a result of poor coaching from Greg Schiano, but that appears to be a poor assessment. New coach Lovie Smith has failed to see any improvement so far this season. In fact, they look marginally worse. Tampa Bay suffered their second ugly blowout of the season and this time it was at home. The team has issues everywhere. Receivers consistently run free in the secondary, the offensive line can’t protect and, frankly, the quarterback isn’t that impressive either. At some point you have to wonder if the players are a bigger issue than the coach. This group has done nothing but regress in three years.
Eagles rediscover running game: You wonder how much the Giants’ inept play was a factor, but the Philadelphia Eagles had to be thrilled to see LeSean McCoy in fine form on Sunday Night Football. He’s been trying to do too much this season because of a banged up offensive line, but McCoy got back to basics. The electric runner used his vintage cut-back ability while totaling 149 rushing yards on 22 carries. At the start of the fourth quarter, McCoy had more yards from scrimmage than the entire Giants offence combined. That’s exactly what Eagles coach Chip Kelly wanted to see.
