Cowboys, Week 2 — What Repeats: Play-Action Came Back in Dallas

A week ago the fake handoff had been cut to about half its old rate. Dallas ran play-action on five of 36 dropbacks against the Giants, 14 percent, 20-eighth of the 32 teams. On Sunday it was 13 of 36, 36 percent, the fifth-highest rate in the league this week. Last season it was 27. So the number that went in the notebook after Week 1 did not repeat; it reversed, and then some. 11 of the 13 came before halftime. Dak Prescott's 12 play-action throws went 10 for a hundred 12 yards and a touchdown. Last week his four went two for eight. The honest footnote is that the fake was not the only thing working: his 19 other throws went 16 for a hundred 67 three touchdowns. Play-action came back, and so did everything around it.

The accuracy did repeat. 27 of Prescott's 31 throws were charted catchable, a ball a receiver could reasonably catch — 87 percent, the third-highest of the 32 teams this week, behind only San Francisco and Cleveland. Last week it was 79 percent and seventh. Across last season his throws were catchable 75 percent of the time. Two games, both above his 2025 rate, the second by a wide margin. CeeDee Lamb was targeted nine times, eight were catchable, and he caught all eight for a hundred 53 yards; two of his nine targets were contested, and he caught one of them. The drops that cost Dallas three balls last week came down to one, by Ryan Flournoy, one of 27 catchable. Four of the 31 throws were contested, 13 percent, tied for fourteenth and about his 14 last season. None of the 31 counted throws was interception-worthy, a ball a defender should have caught; the one that was, Nick Cross's end-zone catch, came off the board on a Washington offside penalty. No throwaways.

What Washington sent is the part of this passing game to carry into Sunday. The Commanders sent five or more pass rushers on 17 of Dallas's 36 dropbacks, 47 percent, the seventh-highest rate any offense faced this week. Last week the Giants did it on 17 percent, and last season this offense saw it on 28. The split is stark. On the 17, Prescott went 11 of 15 for 71 yards and a touchdown. On the other 19, 15 of 16 for 208 three touchdowns. Dallas was out of the pocket on 10 of 36 dropbacks, 28 percent, eighth-highest this week, against 19 percent last season. And both sacks were charted as his own fault — two in his 36 dropbacks, where last regular season he was charged with 17 across Dallas's 684.

The run game is the figure that repeated in the wrong direction. 18 designed runs, 43 yards, 2.4 a carry — 20-seventh of 32. Last week it was 3.4, also 20-seventh. Last season this offense ran 419 designed runs for 1944 yards, 4.6 a carry. What makes it a pattern rather than a matchup is the boxes. Last week the Giants put six or fewer in the box on 81 percent of Dallas's designed runs, the third-highest rate in the league. On Sunday Washington did it on six of 18, 33 percent, 20-first, with an average of 6.7 defenders. Opposite boxes, same rank. The six light-box runs went for 16 yards; the 12 against seven or more went for 27.

The rest of the scheme went back to last season's shape. Motion on 32 of 68 charted plays, 47 percent, nineteenth this week — identical to last season's 47, after 55 percent and fourth last week. Screens on two of 36 dropbacks, six percent, the same six as last season. And no no-huddle at all; Dallas was one of six teams at zero this week, against nine percent last season.

The defense's pass-rush plan is the one figure that has not moved anywhere. Dallas sent five or more on 11 of Washington's 42 dropbacks, 26 percent, 20-first of 32. Last week 27 percent, last season 28 and a half. Three reference points, all within about two points of each other. When it did send five, Washington completed three of eight for 21 yards and scrambled on three more; on the other 31 dropbacks, 20 of 27 for a hundred 86. Washington's throws were catchable on 24 of 35, 69 percent, nineteenth, against 75 percent for this defense's opponents last season. Three were contested, nine percent, tied for twentieth. None was interception-worthy.

Against the run, the boxes flipped and the yardage did not. Dallas showed six or fewer in the box on 15 of Washington's 25 designed runs, 60 percent, tied for seventh-highest with the Chargers and Titans. Last week it was 28 percent, 20-eighth; last season 55. Those 25 runs went for a hundred 10 yards, 4.4 a carry, the sixth-most any defense allowed this week. Last week the Giants' designed runs averaged five, tied for seventh-most, and last season opponents averaged 4.7. Light box or heavy, designed runs have gained ground on this defense in both games.

The stat lines have settled, so here they are, scored half-PPR. Lamb led everyone with 31.3: eight catches on nine targets, a hundred 53 yards, two touchdowns. Prescott 29.8, 26 of 31 for 279 four touchdowns, four carries for 26. Jake Ferguson four catches on four targets for 43 two scores, 18.3. George Pickens six of eight for 40, seven. Javonte Williams 12 carries for 33 catches for 20, 6.5. For Washington, Stefon Diggs 19.2 on five catches, 47 yards and two touchdowns; Jayden Daniels 14.7 with seven carries for 69; Rachaad White six catches on six targets for 40.

A word on the comparisons, because a show called What Repeats owes it. Through Week 3 the baseline is last season, a Dallas roster a year older with changes in it, +1 game last week. That tells you what was out of the ordinary. It does not tell you what is true, and two games settle nothing. Around Week 4 this show starts measuring the Cowboys against their own recent weeks.

The thread, for anyone joining. Dallas went seven, nine and one last season with the fifth-ranked passing offense and a defense near the bottom, as the Recap put it. Week 1 was a 28 to 20 loss to the Giants; Sunday a 37 to 20 win over Washington, so one and one. The notebook, updated honestly. Prescott's accuracy has run above last season twice, and that one is starting to look like something. The play-action drought was one game, and it is gone. The designed run game has ranked 20-seventh twice against opposite boxes, which points at the runs, not the defenses. And the run defense has given up yardage in both kinds of box. When Dallas has the ball on Sunday, count the defenders in the box and then watch the gain.

That's your Cowboys — every game, by the numbers. This is Muffed: we do the same deep dive for all 32 teams. Follow the Cowboys show wherever you're listening, so next week's recap lands the moment it's out. No theater. Just the football.

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_Data via nflverse. Charting: FTN Data via nflverse._