The least stressful game of the entire 2016 season came week 9 in Cleveland, when the Cowboys took down the Browns convincingly for their seventh straight win.
Dallas came out and dominated from the coin flip, and finished it out with a 35-10 victory. Being that they scored five touchdowns and played stellar defense throughout this wire-to-wire win, I had a ton of plays to choose form for this Monday Moment.
But, in the end, Cole Beasley’s second quarter touchdown was too saucy to be ignored.
Let’s check the tape.
The first couple weeks of the season, the Cowboys struggled a bit once getting into the red zone. They alleviated these woes quickly, simply having too many weapons to account for at all times.
Most importantly, though, Cole Beasley emerged as a real threat and Dez Bryant returned and got healthy. Once all the pieces were in place, the Cowboys became a red zone juggernaut in 2016.
On this play in Cleveland, we see the evolution of the Cowboys red zone offense in practice. At the top of the screen, Dallas stacks their two most dangerous red zone wide outs, Beasley and Bryant.
The Browns have to respect Bryant, and respond to the Cowboys’ stack with a 3-over-2 defensive look. Both the outside corner and the safety keep their eyes locked on Dez, following his in-route and effectively double covering him.
While this portion of the Browns’ defense was successful, they were forced to leave Beasley in one-on-one coverage of sorts. Cleveland tries to stay disciplined in their zones, but as the boundary corner overreacts to Dez’s route, Beasley is able to run wide open on his out route.
Had the Browns stayed disciplined in their drops, they might have been able to better account for Cole Beasley underneath. Had this happened, though, Bryant could have been left free.
Dak Prescott does a masterful job of reading the defense, staying patient in the pocket, and allowing Beasley to find a hole in the Browns’ zone. The result is yet another touchdown for the Cowboys, and another win during the 2016 campaign.
Next Monday, we move onto the Cowboys week 10 thriller with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I’m sure you can all guess which moment will be broken down.
