#run-game

#run-game

The Dallas Cowboys did one thing really well on Christmas, and it won them a ballgame. They ran the ball through the middle of the Washington Commanders defense. They trucked the middle of Washington's defense to the tune of 211 yards. Much of that number came from an unexpected source - Malik Davis. The running back who just keeps hanging around had a great game, running for 103 yards on 20 carries.

Quinn Ewers couldn't have a better opponent for his debut than Cincinnati's worst-ranked defense. The Dolphins will run the ball and try to keep it from Joe Burrow. The Dolphins have vowed to play hard despite being out of playoff contention. Nevertheless, neither team is playing for anything of consequence, so the pick is the home team.

In pass protection, the story was less about Booker repeatedly losing one-on-one and more about the Vikings' pressure looks overwhelming Dallas collectively. None of the sacks allowed came from Bookers assignment and individually he allowed only two pressures during the game. With Prescott hurried 14 times on the night, there were inevitably a few snaps where the right side was part of crowded pockets, even if Booker wasn't the primary culprit on the worst breakdowns.

Different team. Different time. But it's back to the scene of the crime for the Chargers, who three years ago succumbed to a 27-point comeback in a playoff loss at Jacksonville. This season's Jaguars got off to a 4-1 start but have lost three of their last four to slip back into the pack. They don't have star rookie Travis Hunter, who underwent surgery this week and will miss the remainder of the season.

We've put ourselves in a position to really attack this second half of the season, and we know we can improve,

Atlanta was too pass-heavy in its loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which was reflected in an unbalanced stat line: 42 called passes to 18 designed runs. That disparity was reflected immediately in the team's opening-game script for the first 15 to 20 plays. The Falcons only called four runs in their first 15 plays, and five in the first 20.

It shouldn't come as a shock that the Cleveland Browns are 2-5 through the first seven weeks of the season. The defensive line is very good, yes, and Denzel Ward is still one of the premier cornerbacks in football, but the offense is nothing short of abysmal. Going into the preseason, Kevin Stefanski had four main options at quarterback upon finding out Deshaun Watson would be out for the year: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders.

Both have cited Pete Carroll as a major influence. Schottenheimer only spent three years with Carroll, as his offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2020, but it helped shape his approach to being a head coach. Meanwhile, Canales was on Carroll's Seahawks staff for 13 seasons, overlapping with Schottenheimer's tenure; in fact, Canales was promoted to pass game coordinator in Schottenheimer's final season there.

Sunday was a day of frustrating defeats. Every NFL team gets upset about losing, of course, but Week 3 was full of dramatic collapses, bizarre endings and a shocking number of blocked field goal attempts. In a matter of minutes, there was a pair of block-scoop-and-score touchdowns, as Jordan Davis sealed up a comeback win for the Eagles while Will McDonald IV appeared to set one up for the Jets.

A lot went wrong for Mike Vrabel and the Patriots in their season-opening loss to the Raiders on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. After a promising first half, Drake Maye and the Patriots' offense flatlined down the stretch - punting or turning the ball over on six of the team's final seven drives of the afternoon. New England's defense did only allow 20 points, but Geno Smith and the Raiders still managed to generate