1) It was nice to see everything that Sean Lee said in the locker room on Saturday come true in this game. He spoke of team defense, rallying to the ball and making tackles. He also spoke about getting after Kirk Cousins and not allowing this Redskins offense to make the big play. He spoke about a defense that needed to play physical the entire game, but most importantly, he spoke about a team going out and just getting a win.
2) DeMarcus Lawrence has been close a bunch this season. It was nice to see him finally get home on a couple of scheme-design blitzes. These are the stunts that they have been working on all season, but the execution was finally where it needed to be for the finish.
3) Thought going into this game that we would see some mixed coverages on Washington tight end Jordan Reed. We've grown accustomed to seeing Byron Jones just handle that job, but like the Carolina game last time out, Sean Lee, Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox, along with Jones, took at shot at Reed who ended up with only three receptions.
4) Nice wrinkle once again on offense with those "Jet Sweeps" to Lucky Whitehead. He managed to hit the Redskins twice for an average of 17 yards. The timing on those are so critical, but each time Whitehead was able to hit right on the mark, which has allowed Jason Witten to set up on the outside to grab a block and spring it.
5) Have to say that I was a little disappointed in the running game this evening and just not on third down. The Redskins defense has struggled dealing with the run, but this offensive line wasn't able to fully take advantage of that. I am curious what the game film is going to show me in that area.
6) We might not have been able to see it early, but I believe that because Dez Bryant physically felt better for the first time in a long time and was able to practice, that helped him get open with more frequency in this game. Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan moved him around and that was a good thing. Now the next trick is for Matt Cassel to see that on tape and realize that he had him open more than he did and needs to get him the ball in those situations. They need to take advantage of more of these matchups when they can get them.
7) I have to admit that I was worried about Doug Free in this game from a protection standpoint. There were times when Jon Gruden, who I know watches a ton of tape in his preparation, was even hinting to the fact that a Free-Ryan Kerrigan matchup was a likely win for his defense. From what I can remember, Free only allowed the one pressure where Kerrigan hit the arm of Cassel early in the game. Other than that, Free was able to hold his own on the Redskins best pass rusher.
8) Last season, this Dallas defense had some games where I thought they really tackled well. This year, the only game where I felt like they were outstanding was in Week 2 against Philadelphia. But I thought this defense was where it needed to be in this one, not only at the point of attack, but also those times when defenders were one-on-one in space. Sean Lee, Barry Church and Rolando McClain were especially good throughout the night.
9) The turnovers on the night say that Dallas was minus-2, which the majority of the time is going to get you beat. In my mind, I look at them as being only minus-1, and I will tell you why. A missed field goal, in my mind, is like a turnover. I know it sounds crazy and the stats don't work that way, but after the Washington miss, the Cowboys got ball at the spot and they were able to turn it into their own points with the Dan Bailey field goal to tie the game. The miss was just like a turnover. A little Scout's Nugget there.
10) Rough night for Devin Street. A holding penalty on a punt return wiped out a sizable gain from Lucky Whitehead and getting the ball ripped from his hands with his offense finally starting to show a little life wasn't good. Street was fortunate that the Redskins missed the field goal on that drive. Don't think there will be any changes here, but Brice Butler was a healthy inactive player this week. Can't have those types of situations happen when you get limited snaps to begin with.
11) Have to be honest here, I thought that Jason Garrett lost this game with the way he handled that drive before the Dan Bailey field goal. He should have worked the clock, forced the Redskins to use all their timeouts and then kicked the game-winning field goal, leaving them little time. He was very fortunate that game didn't end in a loss or that would have been on him.
12) Thanks, Jason Witten, for making us look so smart for drafting you all those years ago. You are truly an amazing player and person.
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