The Cowboys confirmed a big suspicion about the team's scheme during opener, and it raises expectations for the entire season

The usage was intentional, too. The Cowboys lined up in condensed formations frequently, which combined with motion are a staple of the McVay-Shanahan offenses around the league.

How motion at the snap helped the Cowboys run the football

In Miles Sanders' 49-yard run in the third quarter, KaVontae Turpin motions to the backside of the play at the snap, pulling linebacker Zach Baun out of the box and giving Dallas the clear numbers advantage at the point of attack. Though the blocks from Tyler Smith and Terence Steele steal the show, Turpin's motion at the snap is crucial to manufacture the explosive play.

Another successful example of using motion at the snap happened early in the game when Cowboys running back Javonte Williams gained 11 yards while dragging the Eagles' defense with him.

In the play below, tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford starts lined up as the No. 1 receiver from the boundary and motions into a split flow block to seal the edge. That allows Tyler Guyton to climb to the second level and block the middle linebacker. Meanwhile, fullback Hunter Luepke acts as a lead blocker going behind Spann-Ford, making it similar to a power concept.

Speaking of power concepts, the Cowboys also showed some pre-snap motion at the goal line. With Hunter Luepke motioning across the formation, right guard Tyler Booker joins him as a lead blocker by pulling from the backside into the playside, giving Williams a clear lane into the endzone.

Give flowers to Schottenheimer but also to OC Klayton Adams

Schottenheimer deserves flowers from what we saw from the Cowboys' run game on Thursday. But offensive coordinator Klayton Adams is largely responsible for the overhaul on that side of things. Adams was part of an offense that aggressively used counter and pulling blockers as the main diet of the offense when he coached the Arizona Cardinals' offensive line.

As I wrote when I applauded the Cowboys for hiring Adams: "The 41-year-old coach was part of an offense that used pulling blockers at an NFL-high mark last year, per Sports Info Solutions. The Cowboys were 22nd."

So far, the impact is evident. And if it continues, it raises the bar on my expectations for this football team.

window.addEventListener('message', function (event) {if (event.data.totalpoll && event.data.totalpoll.action === 'resizeHeight') {document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-375').height = event.data.totalpoll.value;}}, false);document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-375').contentWindow.postMessage({totalpoll: {action: 'requestHeight'}}, '*');