Miles Austin

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Moore: Cowboys' [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] doing the little things
The Cowboys quarterback can be both gunslinger and bus driver. He can make big plays and dramatically reduce turnovers as he showed last season. His maturation continues with only one sack in 128 attempts.
But for those who believe [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] has turned the corner, that his transformation is somehow complete, well, that's not the case. The truth is [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] will struggle to strike the balance between aggression and patience for the rest of his career.
All quarterbacks do.
"Absolutely," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "One hundred percent."
These Cowboys don't look to impose their offensive will, a philosophy that frustrates followers of the championship teams of the 1990s. These Cowboys attack what the defense gives.
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett doesn't want to suppress [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s aggressive nature. But he does want [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] to bide his time and know when to strike rather than force the issue.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s play against Houston is a prime example.
"He made a lot of little plays that were good, and then he made the big plays when they were available to him," Garrett said. "That's something we emphasize.
"People talk about, 'You have to make big plays.' Certainly you do. But the little plays allow you the opportunity to make big plays."
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips notices that [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] has become quicker in his decision-making. He still looks to make the deep pass. But if that's not available, he now runs through all of his options before deciding where to go with the ball. He doesn't jump from the first option to his third option as he sometimes did in his early days.
"I think he still has the big play in him and he certainly can duck around the rush every once in awhile and find somebody," Phillips said. "But in the normal drop-back situation, he seems to have a feel for, 'Hey, the deep one isn't there, the second one isn't quite there, I'm going to go with the third guy and dump it down more efficiently.' "
Wade Wilson, the Cowboys quarterbacks coach, played in the league for 19 years. He can tell how difficult it is to throw the ball underneath the coverage repeatedly if a defense is determined to take away the big play.
"Sometimes you get frustrated or bored taking the underneath stuff and you try to force one or fit one in where it doesn't belong," Wilson said. "I think he's remained patient this year.
"He's remaining aggressive when they allow it and being aggressive to check down if they take away our down-the-field stuff."
Defenses haven't allowed many shots down the field. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] ranked fourth in the league with an average of 8.2 yards an attempt last season. He's averaging a career-low 7.3 yards an attempt this season, which is tied for 12th in the NFL.
Garrett will tell you this is a snapshot rather than a true picture of where [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] will finish. But there's no denying that teams want to take the big play away from the Cowboys. If the Cowboys don't do a better job of running the ball consistently,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], safeties will stay back deep and test [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s patience.
It's a test he's passed in the first month of the season. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] has thrown 39 more passes than he did through the first three games of last season with one less interception. One of his two interceptions came when the ball glanced off the hands of tight end Jason Witten.
"He's doing his job, which is to make the right reads and eventually the big shots are going to come," receiver Miles Austin said. "But if not, we've got to take what the defense is giving us and move the ball up the field."
Keep an eye on sacks this season. He has been dropped just once in 128 attempts and none in his last 115.
"Look at Peyton Manning," said [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], who was sacked 34 times last season. "One of the best statistics he has is not getting sacked very often. And it's not as if he's getting all day standing there. It's just because he knows it's super important."
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] gets a better handle on what's important with each start.
"We're an aggressive team, an attacking team, but you also have to be smart," Garrett said. "That doesn't apply to anyone more than the quarterback.
"He can't go into a shell. If you go into a shell, you're not going to win many games in the NFL. You've got to stay aggressive, keep attacking them and at the same time, you have to be smart and take what they give you."