Dallas Cowboys Week 2: Tony Pollard’s star shines bright in LA
By Riley Donald
It may not have been pretty or even easy to watch, but the Dallas Cowboys found a way to get a huge win on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers. A large part of their success they found yesterday can be attributed to the game that running back Tony Pollard delivered when called on. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore realized that Pollard had the hot hand and stuck with it.
The game was not pretty. There were more flags than one could count and the rhythm of any sort of drive was virtually nonexistent for both teams. Quite the opposite of the Cowboys and Buccaneers‘ Week 1 offensive explosion.
The Cowboys came out on their first drive of the game looking like they were going to pick up right where they left off. Using nearly half of the first quarter, completing passes to five different receivers, and getting the running game going was everything this offense could have asked for in punching in the opening drive for a touchdown.
Tony Pollard was a shining star for the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2
This offensive success faded quickly, though. Both teams had drives bogged down on as there was a combined 20 penalties for 175 yards in a very sloppy game.
Not all was lost, though. Pollard gave the Cowboys the perfect combination of speed and quickness to complement the power that his backfield partner, Ezekiel Elliott, showed. It should not be lost that Elliott made keys plays and did chip in 97 total yards for the offense. Pollard stepped up and provided a total of 140 yards by way of 109 on the ground and 31 more receiving.
As I discussed preseason, the Cowboys have an advantage when they utilize their 20 personnel package of two running backs. Getting Pollard and Elliott on the field together is a look that creates some question marks and mismatches with both of their ability of the backfield running and catching. Not many teams have a running back tandem that can contribute 237 total yards of offense.
On Sunday, Pollard’s speed seemed to be what gave the Chargers the most issues. His ability to get to the edge is an added dimension to an already lethal Cowboys offense. It may be even more exciting to see Kellen Moore realizing this teams’ strengths and not being afraid to continuously hurt a team when he identifies a weakness on their defense.
Defenses already have to focus on the Cowboys receiving group of Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup while also remembering Ezekiel Elliott can run downhill with the best of them. If Tony Pollard can be this explosive and consistent it only gives Dak Prescott another weapon to an already fully loaded arsenal.
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It was ugly at times and it was one that wasn’t easy on the heart rate, but in the end, it was a road win in the NFL. The Cowboys went on the road, albeit it was sort of a home-field advantage, and beat a Chargers team that many speculated could be a Super Bowl sleeper. It takes games like this, where one of the supporting cast members becomes the star of the show in order to win a big game and the Cowboys did just that.