NFL, What Do You Know? Week 5 Edition
This week’s edition will mostly be a distraught Cowboys fan letting out his frustration. Enjoy.
Darkness in Dallas
Going into Week 5, the Dallas Cowboys vs. the San Francisco 49ers was without doubt the marquee matchup of the week and the season thus far. Two historic franchises with stacked rosters that have seemed to reignite an old rivalry over the last couple of years and have started this season on fire. What’s there not to look forward to? Well on Sunday Night Football, the world found out that this isn’t a rivalry. When these two teams play, it’s men against boys.
The 49ers mopped the floor with the Cowboys on their way to a 42-10 victory. As someone that had high hopes for the Cowboys coming into this season, the one team I hoped they could avoid in the playoffs is the 49ers. The 49ers have ended their season each of the last two seasons and the Cowboys have looked intimidated against them both times. Even with that being the case, there were scenarios you could draw up in your head where if some things went differently, the Cowboys could have won those games. Sunday night’s loss was the same story. Just a million times worse.
When the Cowboys play the 49ers, they are playing a team that is better coached, smarter and tougher, both mentally and physically. We got to see pretty much all the negatives of a Mike McCarthy coached team. First off, the team didn’t look ready for a fight with a team that they know firsthand how physical they are, they had boneheaded penalties from the start of the game and McCarthy had his classic comical time management and fourth down issues. Scheme wise, they had no answers for what the 49ers did on offense or defense. McCarthy took over play calling this season and it had been decent prior to this game, but some of my biggest fears going into the season with him at play-caller reared its ugly head. Along with McCarthy’s ineptitude as a play-caller, their franchise quarterback Dak Prescott, who I’m always having to defend against naysayers, had arguably his worst game as a professional. Prescott completed 14 for 24 passes, threw for 153 yards, had one touchdown pass and had a quarterback rating of 51.6. It continues a worrying trend with him against the 49ers. On defense, where the strength of the team is supposed to be for the Cowboys, they were embarrassing. Kyle Shanahan had Dan Quinn on strings throughout the night as he was calling plays that had people running open all over the place.
I don’t know where they go from here. It’s only five games into the season, but there is virtually nothing they can do to convince anybody that they could beat the 49ers if they were to matchup with them in the playoffs again. Their only saving grace could be if they were to play well and win some of their other high-profile games this season, because right now they look like bullies. They demolish bad teams, but fold like a cheap tent when they face a team that has comparable talent to them.
The NFC’s Undisputed Top Dog
Now to the team that gave the beatdown we witnessed on Sunday Night Football, the 49ers. They established themselves as the team to beat in the NFC. They have no weaknesses. Their weakest link, quarterback Brock Purdy, just continues to impress. On the season, Purdy is averaging a 72.1 completion percentage, a 123.1 quarterback rating and has nine touchdown passes. Sunday night was the most I’ve been impressed with him. He made several high level throws against a great defense. That’s what the best quarterbacks do. I always have thought that he needs to just be a true point guard and not make mistakes. If Purdy is going to keep getting better and making those big time plays, then the rest of the league is in trouble. They already have the best play caller, the best offensive weapons and best defense in the league. The rest of the league doesn’t want to see what this team would look like with a great quarterback.
Are The Bengals Back?
The Cincinnati Bengals have looked like a shell of themselves so far this season. A large part of that is due to their superstar quarterback Joe Burrow being compromised by a calf injury he sustained during training camp. On Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, the Bengals were able to improve their record to 2-3 with a 34-20 win. Bengals fans finally got to see Burrow and Jamar Chase look like themselves. Burrow completed 36 of 46 passes for 317 yards and threw for three touchdowns. Chase had by far his best game of the season with 15 catches for 192 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Bengals go as Burrow goes, and they will need him to be at his best to not only compete in the conference, but in the division as well. On the other side of the ball, just like the offense, the Bengals defense hasn’t been good enough for where they want to be. They are allowing over 150 rushing yards per game and against the Cardinals it was no different, as they allowed 142 yards on the ground. I think Lou Anarumo is a great defensive coordinator, so I think they can still turn it around, but they’ll have to do it quickly because they have some tough games coming up.
Header Photo: It’s looking Purdy in San Francisco. The 49ers may have found their best quarterback since the Joe Montana and Steve Young days. I know that sounds crazy, but the stats speak loud. A bright future awaits the young QB. (Jed Jacobsohn/The Associated Press)
Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu