Cowboys over the Seahawks Youth Terrance Williams Jersey , you’ll notice the big plays made by Michael Gallup,Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Dak Prescott. You’ll also notice who was involved in every single memorable moment for all the wrong reasons, poor Shaquill Griffin.There is no more “boom” in Seattle’s Legion but they sure were dealt a dose of their own medicine from the other side. Shaquill Griffin was the common target of many of the biggest plays of the game and it just kept coming. It felt like watching Jeff Heath’s rookie season in Dallas where he was often matched up with some of the league's best and it never ended well. Calvin “Megatron” Johnson torched the young Saginaw Valley defensive back. Adrian “All-Day” Peterson carried Heath with him into the end zone. Thankfully, Jeff Heath has rebounded and has been on the winning side of a lot of big plays but that rookie year was rough.Shaquill Griffin is fine young player who has a great career ahead of him in just his second season. However, the winners get to gloat and we’re going to relive the abuse that these Cowboys put on that poor man. But first, here is what Pro Football Focus had to say.Let’s look at some of specific plays.The Setup: At the Seahawks 11-yard line, down 6-3 to Seattle, Dak Prescott fails on first down to hit Michael Gallup for the touchdown with :33 seconds before halftime. The Play: On 2nd and 10, same play, different result. Michael Gallup hauls in the score through tons of contact by Griffin. Gallup would not be denied a second time as the Cowboys take a 10-6 lead into the half. That was grown-man football right there by the rookie receiver who has elevated his play over the past several weeks. Let’s turn focus to the alpha receiver for the Cowboys and that’s Mr. Amari “Season-Saving” Cooper. The Cowboys were going to need big plays that they didn’t get in the first meeting in week three prior to Cooper’s arrival. The Setup: Note to Seattle - If you’re plan is to play zone coverage against a route-savvy receiver like Cooper, make sure guys: A.) Pay attention and B.) Can tackleThe Play:On 2nd and 8 at the 50, Dak Prescott finds Cooper sitting in zone between Griffin and safety Tedric Thompson, they tackled him, eventually, at their own 16-yard line. A few plays later http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jeff-heath-jersey , with every Seahawk crashing down (including Griffin), Zeke eats for six. Too easy.The last and final crime came at the “arm” of Ezekiel Elliott and you could argue Elliott should have been flagged for targeting for this dismantling of Griffin’s soul. The Setup: On 1st and 10 at the Seattle 30, Zeke bounces outside and punishes the Seahawks for letting him get the edge. Who was supposed to stop him? Well, it was Mr. Shaquill Griffin.The Play: This is properly referred to as a “stiff arm” in gridiron jargon but take a closer look and it looks closer to a baptism. Zeke scampers for 17-yards and stays in bounds keeping the clock rolling.But wait, there’s more because after Noah Brown gets flagged, the Cowboys are facing 3rd and 14 at the Seattle 17. Dak Prescott converts on the QB draw and Seattle’s #26 wasn’t about to get involved in this one:Another keeper at the goal line puts the Cowboys up two scores and gives Dallas the deciding lead.The Cowboys playmakers took it to this Seattle defense and though they picked on Shaquill Griffin a few times, it’s just football. Sometimes you’re the hero and sometimes you’re the goat, not to be confused with the G.O.A.T which is a title reserved for Jeff Heath as Cowboys’ fans know. The Cowboys were the heroes in this one and the goats were sent home on a flight to the Pacific Northwest.Point/Counterpoint: Can these four Cowboys stars rebound from bad performances? With the Dallas Cowboys facing a suddenly very important game against the New York Giants, we are all wondering if they can bounce back from a very disappointing opener against the Carolina Panthers. In particular, the team saw some bad play from Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Tyron Smith, and Sean Lee, all of whom are going to be vital if the team is to overcome an 0-1 start. Can they play better this week? My co-author here at Blogging The Boys, Michael Strawn, and I sat down and had a little discussion about that.Michael: Well, those are actually four separate questions; three of those questions can be addressed with the same answer. I fully expect Tyron Smith Tyrone Crawford Jersey , Sean Lee and Ezekiel Elliott to bounce back to form. Each of them are All-Pro players with long histories of elite level performance. A one game aberration won’t make me doubt what they can do. I put more faith in the body of each of those player’s work than I do in a single game after a long layoff.However, I can’t say the same regarding Dak Prescott. I’ve been a big Dak believer. But I was utterly appalled at his performance Sunday. He not only didn’t improve upon his second half 2017 performance, he regressed even further. At this point, I’m on the other side of the coin with him. Until he can prove he can again be 2016 Dak, I’ll have to assume that what we have seen recently is what we’ll get moving forward.Tom: Well, on the first three, the legalese that “past performance is no guarantee of future results” seems appropriate here. In the cases of Smith and Lee, both have been in the league a long time already, eight seasons for Smith and nine for Lee. All players face an inevitable point of decline, and while I certainly hope it is not so, they might have hit that point after all those games. Both have injury histories to worry about as well.With Zeke, it is more about the lack of time right now. He has gotten off to slow starts in his first two seasons, so a rebound is certainly likely. The problem is that it took him a couple of games to get on track the first two years, and the Cowboys just can’t afford that. They need him to get it going on Sunday.On Dak, I will say this in his defense. He is only entering his third year in the league, and the man so many use as a measuring stick for him, Tony Romo Authentic Jaylon Smith Jersey , did not become a starter until his fourth seaspn. There is certainly room for growth. The problem with him is like with Zeke: They can’t wait until next season to see him figure things out. Not if certain coaches want to keep their jobs.Michael: You raise a number of interesting points. I can’t really argue what you say about Tron and Lee; they are reaching the point of their careers where age-related declines could impact their performance (although it’s amazing to me that Smith is still only 28, the same age as Zack Martin). And yes, injuries have plagued Smith in recent years. But he looked better than he has in years in preseason. And his issues Sunday weren’t physical so much as mental; he frequently seemed confused on assignments and just failed to pick up his man. Lee, on the other hand, has always played well when he’s been on the field.But your final sentence regarding Dak is the elephant in the room. The Cowboys’ brass effectively bet the team’s immediate and near future on Prescott. It was a sound bet based upon his 2016 performance. And it looked perfectly reasonable all the way through November of last year. At this moment, however, it’s looking very iffy. Prescott has played at a Brandon Weeden/Matt Cassell level for his last nine games. He currently ranks 24th in QBR (which has always valued him higher due to his running contributions). If he can’t turn it around, and pronto, as you say, the entire coaching staff likely won’t be here in a year. And the franchise will have been set back years as they look for their next franchise quarterback. No pressure, Dak.Tom: I do agree that the issues with both Smith and Lee looked mental. The question remains for them if they can clean up things in a week of practice. That is a concern, given how long they had to come out and get it right in the opener. As much respect as we all have for both of them, it is now a “prove it” situation. And the Cowboys need them to, because the loser of this game is all alone in last place in the NFC East, and that is a deep hole to climb out of, even this early.Zeke similarly showed some similar things, missing openings to just plow into the center of the formidable Panthers defense. With another pair of good defensive tackles lining up this week to stop him Youth Ezekiel Elliott Jersey , he has to get things right as well. And he does not have the long years of experience to fall back on. He needs some help from the line and from Scott Linehan to put him in a better place to succeed.Dak makes it unanimous about mental breakdowns. He had happy feet and was just slow in his reads. Again, he needs more protection plus some help from Linehan, Jason Garrett (who is always very involved in the QB room), and Kellen Moore. And he needs to take in and use what they tell him.Michael: Again, all good points. I think we’re not really far apart here. It is somewhat surprising that after an offseason of concerns about the tight ends, receiving corps and safety position we’re talking about Smith, Lee and Elliott. I end where I began; I’m optimistic we see a return to form.Tom: I hope we do, but as I said, this is a prove it situation. But if there is a silver lining, it is that not all four have to get it down this week (assuming they come along later). The defense played well even with an off day from Lee, and if either Dak or Zeke is back to form, then the offense should do enough to win this one. Better play from Smith might be enough all by itself, given how that would impact both the passing and running game. But the team will need all four on track before too long. And they have to have at least some of these players back up to what they can be this week, or bad days are ahead. Custom Tennessee Titans Jerseys