DALLAS — Monday night’s playoff victory was one of the more satisfying wins from the Dallas Cowboys in a long time. Beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their Hall of Fame quarterback when many didn’t expect it has left a huge smile on the faces of Cowboys Nation.
However, as great as the win was, it’s not the ultimate goal. Winning wild card games are nice, but the Cowboys want to continue their season and reach the Super Bowl. To do that, they have a few more hurdles to jump and ones higher than the Buccaneers provided.
The time for that discussion will come, but for now let’s find out what we learned from Dallas in their resounding wild card win:
Dak Prescott can put the team on his back
There were questions surrounding Prescott after a season where he led the league in interceptions. Was he good enough to beat a playoff team on the road and not turn the ball over?
By the time Dallas had rampaged their way to a big second-half lead, it was clear that Prescott could lead the Cowboys to a road playoff win and not only that, he was the main reason for the team’s success.
Prescott threw for 305, four touchdowns, and ran in another score. He was in complete control all night and didn’t have a turnover nor a play that was a missed opportunity by the Tampa Bay defense for a turnover.
The Cowboys scored touchdowns on four straight drives at one point, all of which were over 80+ yards long, and converted on 64% of their third/fourth down attempts. That doesn’t happen unless Prescott was able put together one of the best performances of his career.
Leighton Vander Esch makes a difference
The Cowboys have played without their best linebacker for the last few weeks, and they’ve been struggling on defense without him. Vander Esch went out in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a game in which the defense gave up 34 points and allowed over 500 yards.
In the following weeks, the defense gave up 34 more points and 442 yards, and saw a third-string debuting quarterback run them ragged, all without Vander Esch on the field.
Vander Esch returned in the wild card win and the defense played better football. The Buccaneers had trouble moving the ball, and the Cowboys’ defense allowed just six points until Dallas went into prevent mode.
The fifth-year veteran LB led the Cowboys in tackles, and broke up two passes, one of which saved a touchdown. Vander Esch’s presence makes a big difference for Dallas’ defense, and it was evident against the Buccaneers.
Cowboys’ offensive game plan was near perfect
Dallas’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore doesn’t always have the answers, but in this game, he looked like he had the cheat sheet on how to beat the Tampa defense. Moore put together a smart game plan and the offense executed it flawlessly.
Running right at the Buccaneers in the A-gap, which is something the Cowboys do often, wasn’t destined to have much success. Instead, Moore called for more runs outside the tackles and utilized running back Tony Pollard’s speed instead of trying those types of runs with starting RB Ezekiel Elliott. Pollard wound up with more carries, helping move the chains on the ground.
Running the ball efficiently helped the Cowboys to also have success in the passing game, which featured the tight ends. The Buccaneers had trouble defending the position all year and the Cowboys attacked them with TE Dalton Schultz, who had a career-high 95 yards receiving and two scores.
Rookie TE Jake Ferguson also had a big play to set up a touchdown.
Brett Maher has become a liability
The veteran kicker missed an extra point in the Cowboys’ season finale against the Washington Commander, but it was thought of as an anomaly after a full season of being a steady presence. That hasn’t turned out to be the case as Maher notably missed his next four tries in the wild card win, making him the first kicker to miss four extra points in a single game.
That’s not a record Maher wants to be a part of and it’s officially a problem. Maher’s misses looked to be more of a mental problem than physical, with him pushing the ball rather than kicking it with authority. It was a bad time to come down with a case of the yips.
Head coach Mike McCarthy kept putting his kicker out there to try to right an issue, but after missing a total of five in a row, it may have hurt more than it helped. Maher did make his final kick, which is a good sign, but he seems like a liability right now. Postseason games are often close, and the Cowboys would be foolish to believe in Maher at this point. A reliable kicker is needed in the playoffs and Dallas doesn’t appear to have one.
Any different option is a bad option at this juncture of a season, but it’s hard to trust Maher after his historically unfortunate performance on Monday.
Do you have more faith in the Cowboys now that they are playoff tested? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
