After a sloppy first half, the Dallas Cowboys continued their dominant run to start this season by defeating an overmatched Miami Dolphins team 31-6.

The Cowboys' defense, after benefiting from missed scoring opportunities by the Dolphins, became a stingy unit in the second half -- Miami failed to reach Dallas' side of the field until more than halfway through the fourth quarter, when the game was out of reach.

The offense struggled a bit in the first half as quarterback Dak Prescott got a little greedy in attacking Miami downfield. But after halftime, Prescott went back to taking what the defense was giving him, and the offense prospered on its way to 21 second-half points.

Dallas' running game had its most dominant performance of the season, as Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard each finished with more than 100 yards on the ground -- a feat the franchise hadn't accomplished since 1998.

With the win, the Cowboys moved to 3-0 before heading to New Orleans to take on a Saints team without starting quarterback Drew Brees. The future Hall of Famer's absence gives Dallas a great opportunity to start 4-0 while every other NFC East team already has at least two losses.

With that in mind, let's take a look at a few things we gleaned from the Cowboys' win Sunday.

Quinn provides defense with juice it needs opposite D-Law

The Cowboys sorely missed a legitimate pass-rush presence opposite DeMarcus Lawrence in the season's first two games. In his debut as a Cowboy, Robert Quinn was electric off of the right edge, generating a bevy of pressures to go with his first sack.

While Miami sent a lot of help to both of its offensive tackles, Lawrence definitely received a steadier diet of double-teams and chips, giving Quinn a healthy amount of one-on-one opportunities.

Quinn was dominant on those snaps, as Miami's left tackles struggled with his speed from wide alignments. Quinn's sack was a great example:

On this play, Quinn is aligned in a wide-9 technique outside of Miami's tight end. His wide alignment and outstanding get-off put a ton of pressure on Michael Deiter (No. 63) to get a lot of depth with his pass set.

Because Deiter is a guard by trade, he lacks the necessary foot speed to mirror Quinn while staying square to the line of scrimmage, which is why he was forced to turn his shoulders and attempt to run Quinn past the pocket after his second kick slide. This created a soft corner for Quinn.

With Deiter bailing out of his pass set to push him by the pocket, Quinn did an excellent job of dipping to reduce his blockable surface area before ripping to clear the residual contact.

From there, Quinn is able to maintain his balance and momentum while he flattens to the quarterback for the sack.

Quinn's entire pass-rush game is predicated off of speed, as the former All-Pro rushes as if he has a jetpack on his back. Nevertheless, he amplifies that speed with efficient footwork and an intelligent approach.

On his sack, pay attention to the course Quinn takes to get to the quarterback. After exploding out of his stance with his first step, he widens his path with his second, creating a more direct line to the apex of the quarterback's dropback. It gets Quinn's hips on track toward the quarterback, making it easier for him to win the edge, turn the corner and flatten.

It may not seem like much, but these little details allow Quinn to continue to find success in his ninth NFL season.

The Cowboys' pass rush has been a bit disappointing to start the season, but Quinn's presence should elevate it as a whole moving forward.

He will certainly face better competition as the campaign progresses, but Quinn proved Sunday that the Cowboys were wise to trade for him in the offseason -- he gives them a legitimate No. 2 pass rusher opposite Lawrence, something they lacked in Weeks 1 and 2.

Elevating Moore to OC was Cowboys' best offseason move

Kellen Moore continues to scheme up touchdowns, as the 30-year-old play-caller led the Cowboys to their fourth straight 30-point regular-season game dating back to last season.

We've talked a lot about how Moore has used play action, pre-snap motion and misdirection in the backfield to create easy yards and touchdown opportunities for the Cowboys in previous weeks, and all of that continued Sunday. But Moore also deserves credit for his play design and ability to call the correct play at right time, given the situation. Amari Cooper's third-quarter touchdown was a great example:

The Cowboys open up in a trip-bunch left formation using 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end and three receivers) before motioning Cooper across the formation to the short side of the field, creating a 2x2 formation with a stacked alignment to the left.

With a safety in the middle of the field, the fact that Miami cornerback Xavien Howard followed Cooper through the motion tells Prescott that the defense is in man coverage with a deep safety (Cover 1).

It appears as though Moore knew Miami would be in that coverage given the situation (based on film study and Miami's tendencies) because the Cowboys had the perfect play dialed up to exploit the man coverage.

First off, Cooper's pre-snap motion forces Howard to play off-coverage because it's nearly impossible to jam a moving target at the line of scrimmage. Furthermore, because Howard's help is the deep middle safety, he plays off-coverage with outside leverage as a means of funneling Cooper toward his help in the middle of the field.

Pay attention to Jason Witten, whose route up the seam occupies the deep middle safety, Bobby McCain (No. 28). With McCain occupied, Howard is funneling Cooper toward help he doesn't actually have. This allows Cooper to easily break inside Howard on the post route, creating an easy throwing window to the end zone for Prescott.

Prescott's throw was a little behind Cooper -- likely in an effort to make sure the deep safety couldn't affect the pass -- allowing Howard to rally and contest the catch point, but Cooper was able to maintain control through the catch for the touchdown.

Tony Pollard's fourth-quarter touchdown was another great example of an appropriate play call and outstanding play design:

On this play, the Cowboys come out in the I-formation using 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end and two receivers) with a receiver to each side of the formation against Miami's base defense. Cedrick Wilson motions across the formation to put Dallas in a "nub" formation, meaning no receivers on the same side of the formation as the tight end.

Nub formations are tough on defenses because they have to defend a definitive run strength to one side of the formation along with multiple receivers to the other side. This is why you see the deep safety cheat toward the wide side of the field after Wilson's motion.

Because Miami is in man coverage -- as indicated by Ken Webster (No. 31), who followed Wilson across the formation -- it is left undermanned to the short side of the field, where there are five play-side Cowboys blockers for five play-side Dolphins defenders.

So, all it took to spring Pollard was to get hat-on-hat blocking. Because the deep safety cheated toward the two-receiver side of the formation, he was out of position to stop Pollard from scampering to the end zone.

To his credit, Pollard displayed great patience in allowing his blocks to develop, excellent burst to hit the hole before it closed and the ability to outrun a couple of Miami defenders to pay dirt. On top of that, the rookie running back also displayed nice contact balance as he ran through the arm tackle of a linebacker who had dislodged himself from Jamize Olawale's block.

It was Moore's ability to create a favorable running situation using the formation and pre-snap movement that set the table for Pollard's first NFL touchdown, which is exactly what the best offensive coordinators do.

It takes more than an All-Pro to stop Cooper

Although everyone thought the Cowboys would blow the Dolphins out, as they did, Cooper's individual matchup with Xavien Howard was supposed to be a much closer affair.

That didn't turn out to be the case as Cooper had his way with the former All-Pro, finishing the day with six catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns -- most of which came against Howard.

Cooper got the better of Howard from the jump, getting free for a 37-yard catch and run on Dallas' first offensive play:

On this play, the Cowboys are in another "nub" formation using 21 personnel, with Cooper aligned in the slot toward the wide side of the field.

Because Cooper is in the slot, Howard aligns with outside leverage and gives him a 4-yard cushion. With Howard playing outside leverage, Cooper executes a skip release before accelerating at a 45-degree angle toward the midfield logo.

Cooper then uses his eyes to sell an impending pass, getting Howard to look back to the quarterback and drive on the apparent slant. This is exactly what Cooper wanted, as he is able to create a ton of separation when he breaks back outside, using a speed cut to give Prescott an easy throwing window for a big gain.

To further illustrate Cooper's dominance, let's take a look at his first touchdown of the game since we already discussed his second one earlier:

Moore does an excellent job of scheming up a one-on-one opportunity for Cooper in the red zone. Dallas' trip-bunch right formation forced Miami to isolate Howard in man coverage on the outside -- a scary predicament for any corner, even the All-Pros.

With one-on-one coverage, the ball was coming Cooper's direction the whole way. Prescott indicated as much, staring down his star receiver from the moment the ball was snapped.

Cooper, who ran a pivot route, did an excellent job of creating separation from Howard. When the ball was snapped, Cooper feinted an outside release in an effort to open the necessary space for an inside release.

Once he gets the inside release, Cooper does an excellent job of getting his head turned toward the quarterback as if he's expecting the ball on a quick slant. This causes Howard to drive hard on the slant, leaving him in poor position to mirror Cooper, who changes direction back toward the sideline.

From there, Cooper is able to generate enough separation (despite the hold) that Howard had no chance to contest the pass as long as Prescott put ample zip on the throw.

In previous years, Cole Beasley was the Cowboys WR who torched defenses with the pivot route, as Beasley was simply too quick and sudden for opposing defensive backs in man coverage. Despite being five inches taller and more than 25 pounds heavier, Cooper has found see similar success on the pivot route, which shows how rare Cooper is from a size, athleticism and route-running standpoint.

While the Cowboys as a team may have dominated an inferior opponent, Cooper dominated against some of the best competition the league has to offer. He truly is the gift that keeps on giving for the Cowboys' offense.

Enjoy this post? More film studies:

-- 3 things we learned from Cowboys-Redskins, including what Kellen Moore is taking advantage of

-- Inside Dak Prescott's Week 1 performance, from all the good to the (very) little bad

-- Breaking down a clever wrinkle that helped Cowboys' defense keep Giants in check

Twitter: @JohnOwning