FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys were back at The Star on Monday after a resounding 43-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams out of the bye week, as the team recovers from the win and looks ahead to a mega-clash against the Philadelphia Eagles in six days.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and special teams coordinator John Fassel all spoke on Monday afternoon to recap the win and look ahead to the big opponent looming.
Here were the highlights from that availability.
Get in Motion: During Sunday's win that saw the Cowboys' pass offense have its best game all season, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and his offensive unit utilized motion before the snap 18 times after using it just 33 times combined in the first five games. It worked as a catalyst for offensive success as the game went on and helped guys like CeeDee Lamb have huge performances.
"The cool thing about that motion is that it creates windows," Schottenheimer said. "It's nothing crazy. It's truly a short motion in or out, but it does open up windows in zone. We definitely have shifts and motions that we use, but it was something in this game plan that we felt really good about that we wanted to use. Each week is different, it depends on the opponent you're playing."
As the motion seems matchup-based when you take into account the young secondary that took the field for the Rams, we'll see if the Cowboys tap back into their motion success against the Eagles' veteran – but susceptible – group.
Pushing Back the Tush: The Eagles have made their variation of the quarterback sneak notorious in recent weeks with their success on third and fourth-and-short situations. For Dan Quinn, the play allows for his unit to tap into the rare opportunity to stop a true specialty in the NFL.
"When the moment comes for this unique play, if you can get a shift in that field position change on a fourth down stop, that's big," Quinn said. "It takes special time and coaching. They're the best at it, right? When someone is the best at something, it'll take some new thinking and some new ways to go about it to stop it. It'll be a tough challenge, but it's one we'll definitely be up for."
Eating Clock: In the middle of the game on Sunday, the Rams clawed back to within two possessions after stacking touchdown drives at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter to make it 33-17 before Dallas took the ball back and ate 9 minutes and 57 seconds off the clock on their way to extending the lead back out to three possessions.
"We always talk about complementary football," Schottenheimer said. "I was just proud of our guys for going out and putting a drive together. I can't remember all of the plays that showed up, but there was no question that they wanted to go put up some points and get some momentum back. Our defense has done that a million times this year. It's cool to see us feed off of them and them off of us."
Turpin's Maturity: KaVontae Turpin was as active as he's been all season on Sunday in the return game, including on a fourth quarter return that saw him make a quick cut after hauling it in and riding the sideline for an 87-yard touchdown before learning that it was called back for a holding call on Nahshon Wright.
Turpin immediately fell to his knees in the end zone at the sight of his first NFL return touchdown getting wiped off the board, but once he got to the sideline, he was quick to shake it off.
"His poise is outstanding," Fassel said. "We get off the field after the punt return that got called back. Nahshon is over there just killing himself like, 'Sorry, man.' But Turpin says, 'Hey, you're over there competing. We got your back, no big deal.' It was good banter that went back-and-forth. It was cool to see Turp's poise in that moment. That was his reaction to it, he was all smiles."
