In Week 9, there was no shortage of nauseating film to sift through and lessons for the Dallas Cowboys to learn. One week later, there is but one lesson, and the Atlanta Falcons learned it as they paid for the sins of the Denver Broncos: do not make Dak Prescott and the Cowboys mad. You wouldn’t like them when they’re angry. What the Cowboys did to the Falcons in the 43-3 throttling at AT&T Stadium on Sunday was masterpiece theater, or a snuff film, depending upon which side of the chainsaw you were on in the Texas massacre.
It was the most explosive outing of the year for the Cowboys and easily the most complete game in all three phases, and even more impressive was their ability to deliver such a beatdown without being whole — having lost one of their best pass rushers in Randy Gregory to injured reserve only two days prior — and still without other starters like Neville Gallimore and All-Pro defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. None of that mattered, though, because defensive coordinator Dan Quinn put the screws to Matt Ryan while offensive coordinator Kellen Moore put Prescott and his weapons in position to hand the Falcons a loss they won’t ever forget.
Needless to say, this week’s iteration of CBS Sports’ “Stock up, Stock down” report for the Cowboys is wildly inverse to that of seven days ago, when there wasn’t much good to point at. This time around, there’s little that went wrong, and what did go wrong was of no consequence.
So let’s talk about it.
[Note: This list is unranked.]
Stock up: Everybody
Top to bottom, from coaching down to the 55th player on the game day roster, the Cowboys saw the stock for everyone jump leaps and bounds over what they put on film just one week prior. Dak Prescott not only regained form, but he was surgical, to the point he could’ve starred on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and assisted on procedures. Helping him dissect the Falcons was CeeDee Lamb — who grabbed two touchdowns on the day and finished with just under 100 yards receiving — Amari Cooper and the impressive return of Michael Gallup, along with both Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott, who added to the pot of receiving yards racked up against an Atlanta defense. The unit also could not keep Elliott out of the end zone, yielding to his two rushing TDs as well.
Elliott also put his blocking talents to use by nearly knocking Pro Bowl linebacker Deion Jones out of his cleats on a blitz pickup that allowed Prescott to find Lamb in the end zone for one of their two touchdowns. And speaking of the offensive line, Terence Steele played markedly better and the Cowboys gave him assistance to help ensure he would. La’el Collins is back to his bullying ways on the right edge and Zack Martin is Zack Martin, while even center Tyler Biadasz and left guard Connor Williams — who both have struggled in 2021 — performed admirably, their one or two errors being completely forgivable when compared to their overall play and who they were up against (e.g., two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Grady Jarrett).
Prescott was not sacked a single time and threw no interceptions, two things Matt Ryan can’t lay claim to. Defensively, the Cowboys put their foot on Ryan’s throat and stood on it until the Falcons finally waved the white flag and pulled him from the game. It was much too late by then, because Ryan had already been picked off by Anthony Brown and Trevon Diggs en route to the worst passer rating of his 14-year career (21.4). Josh Rosen entered the game and got the same treatment, when Jourdan Lewis picked him off to send the message that it didn’t matter what QB the Falcons marched onto the field in Week 10.
It was a defensive outing that was as electric as their offensive counterparts, with both the usual suspects like Micah Parsons and Jayron Kearse getting lights-out assistance from unusual suspects like Dorance Armstrong and many more. It was a suffocating effort by the Cowboys, and one that included Armstrong blocking a punt that rookie fifth-round pick Nahshon Wright recovered for a special teams touchdown — serving as poetic justice for the mistake Wright made one week prior in his recovery of a blocked punt by Malik Turner.
So, in looking at what took place against the Falcons, you’d be hard-pressed to point at anyone who consistently made enough mistakes to see their stock take a dip ahead of Week 11. Instead, the Cowboys rubbed on two handfuls of ‘Monkey Butt’ and put the NFL on notice yet again, that not only are they contenders, but that they’re now also very pissed off; and they have no plans on getting overconfident ever again.
Lastly, what Dan Quinn is achieving with a glued together defense is — bottom line — enough to make him a frontrunner for 2021 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year, with one of his biggest challengers being Kellen Moore. If you disagree with that statement, you’re not paying attention, and Prescott is right there as well in leading the charge for 2021 NFL Comeback Player of the Year while having also reignited his name in the MVP conversation.
There are still many tests to come, including the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11, but you won’t find any plummeting stock in Dallas leading into that battle.
Stock down: Beer, hot dog prices
Seriously, those are the only things that could’ve possibly dampened what happened at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, because not a single player (or coach) did, in what was literally one of the most dominant victories in franchise history.
On to the Chiefs.
