The Cowboys’ offensive line is considered by many to be the best in the NFL. It contains three first-round picks, in left tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick and right guard Zach Martin. Left guard La’el Collins was also a first-round talent but went undrafted because of an off-field investigation at the time of the draft. Add to that Dallas’s drafting of running back Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick back in April, and it’s clear the Cowboys have been built to run the ball.

Still, Washington held Dallas to 102 yards on 30 rushes, an average of just 3.4 yards per carry. For the majority of the game, the defense actually did a good job of keeping the Cowboys’ ground game in check.

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Here, the Cowboys run an outside zone play to the left. Immediately off the snap, defensive end Ricky Jean Francois attacks the outside shoulder of left tackle Tyron Smith and gets his hands inside on Smith’s chest. Jean Francois then attempts to disengage and work into the backfield, setting the edge and forcing Elliott to cut back far earlier than he would have liked. As he cuts back, he’s greeted by Ziggy Hood, who allowed center Travis Frederick to reach him but drove him into the backfield. Elliott then realizes he has to cut it all the way back, where Ryan Kerrigan is waiting for him.

Washington’s defensive line, and Hood in particular, was disruptive all game. Later, the Cowboys attempted an inside run against Washington’s nickel sub package.

Hood, lined up between the left guard and center, attacks the A gap off the snap. He gets a good jump and splits the gap quickly, making it hard for left guard La’el Collins to reach him and secure the block. Hood penetrates into the backfield, where he also knocks tight end Jason Witten off his path. Running back Alfred Morris has little time to read out his run, instead having to make a cut immediately just to avoid Hood. But behind Hood, linebacker Will Compton works around the center’s block while safety David Bruton Jr. does a good job of filling in and closing any potential running lanes for Morris, who is wrapped up for a minimal gain.

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Washington looked unprepared, however, for the play-action game that comes hand-in-hand with the running game. Dallas ran three bootleg plays for 71 yards in the first three quarter. On every one of those plays, Washington failed to cover the receiver in the flat, meaning that not only was rookie quarterback Dak Prescott’s job made easy with a dump-off pass, but most of those 71 yards came after the catch.

On this play, the Cowboys split a tight end out wide but motion him in just before the snap. Bruton signals for corner Bashaud Breeland to follow the tight end and match up against him. Bruton then drops deep, signaling for fellow safety DeAngelo Hall to work down from his deep position and play closer to the line of scrimmage on the opposite side of the field.

All of that happens too late. The ball is snapped as Hall begins to work down to the line of scrimmage. Hall then is so focused on getting into position that he fails to notice Prescott had kept the ball on the bootleg and a tight end has leaked out into the flat. Prescott dumps the ball off, and the tight end runs down the sideline for a 29-yard gain.

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Later in the first quarter, Dallas went back to the bootleg.

This time the Cowboys face fourth and two. They motion a tight end from the right side of the line to the left, and Bruton follows him. But the ball is snapped before Bruton sets himself, and he’s slow to recognize the snap. He takes a few steps to follow the tight end as he sifts back across the line, but then stops and hesitates, perhaps checking whether the ball had been handed off. Prescott keeps the ball and dumps it off to the tight end Bruton had been following, who is wide open in the flat. Bruton is left to chase the tight end down the sideline and eventually tackles him out of bounds 28 yards later.

In the third quarter, the Cowboys used another bootleg to pick up a big gain and a first down.

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Like before, the Cowboys use a pre-snap motion to try to disorient the defense. Washington seemingly responds well and appears relatively well set up to defend the play. But as Dallas executes the play fake, Washington fails to adjust. In the flat, Prescott finds Witten, who turns and picks up 14 yards before being tackled by linebacker Will Compton.

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On all three of those plays, Washington failed to cover the tight end in the flat and the back-side contain defender failed to play contain on Prescott. This shouldn’t be a new concept to them; Dallas has used bootleg plays for a number of years. Washington itself relied upon the same concepts, often with Jordan Reed, at times last year. Perhaps this came as a result of being too focused on the highly touted Cowboys rushing attack, but it’s not something Washington can allow going forward.

Besides the bootleg plays, Washington’s biggest problem on defense was coverage busts. Too often, players in the secondary weren’t on the same page. There were warning signs last week after Josh Norman and Bruton got in a heated discussion on the sideline and had to be separated by Hall after what appeared to be communication issues.

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On the first third down of the game Sunday, the same issue resurfaced.

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As the Cowboys motion a wide receiver to the left side of the formation, Hall works down to the line of scrimmage and points to rookie linebacker Su’a Cravens, presumably telling him to help cover the slot. Outside linebackers Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith, the team’s best pass-rushers, change position to adjust to the new look of the offense. After the ball is snapped, Smith and Kerrigan bracket Witten inside while Cravens works outside with slot receiver Cole Beasley, over whom Hall was lined up. That leaves star wide receiver Dez Bryant wide open as he breaks across the middle of the field. Hall attempts to get back inside but has no chance of recovering to stop the completion and a Cowboys first down.

Not only was the communication a problem, but the play call itself was questionable. Washington sent a three-man rush, consisting of two defensive ends and inside linebacker Will Compton, while dropping its two best pass-rushers into coverage on third and long. Everything that could go wrong for Washington on that play did, and it was a sign of things to come.

This was a third-down play later in the game. Washington’s base coverage under Joe Barry has been cover-three, which is what most of the defense appeared to execute on this play. Slot corner Dashaun Phillips, though, appears to play man coverage instead.

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Phillips drops with the slot receiver and covers him as he breaks towards the middle of the field. But the rest of the defense appears to execute the standard cover-three defense, meaning the zone Phillips would normally play is completely vacated. Prescott quickly dumps the ball off to the running back in the flat before pressure arrives. The running back is in open space and easily picks up 16 yards and the first down.

Even on one of Washington’s third-down stops, it got away with a bust in coverage. On third down in the red zone, Washington runs cover-zero, a pure man scheme designed to guarantee one more blitzer than the offense can block.

Washington assigns a defender to every eligible receiver. Defenders drop into coverage if the player they’re lined up over runs a route. If the player stays in to block, then the defender blitzes. The key on this play is Bruton, the safety, on Elliott, the running back.

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Bruton starts outside, lined up over Elliott. He follows Elliott as he motions into the backfield. Once the ball is snapped, Bruton charges straight for the B gap between the left guard and left tackle, completely ignoring Elliott. Elliott runs out to the flat uncovered, but fortunately Prescott never spots him and his pass to Witten is broken up by Hall.

These coverage busts, particularly on third downs, were back-breakers for the Washington defense, allowing Dallas to convert 6 of its 12 third-down attempts. The Saints were best in the NFL in third-down conversion rate last season, converting 47.7% of the time. Washington has to find a way to ensure everybody remains on the same page to help avoid coverage busts. Getting beaten by a good route or well-designed play happens, but being beaten by a bust in coverage or because somebody didn’t know the play call is unacceptable.

When it’s been on the same page, Washington’s defense hasn’t been as terrible as some have made it out to be. But it has shot itself in the foot far too many times in just two games. The team travels to New York to take on the Giants, who have a strong wide receiver group headlined by Odell Beckham Jr. If Washington fails to get its act together, then Beckham and the Giants will be quick to exploit it.

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Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here.