Blogging The Boys
What was your biggest takeaway from the Cowboys win against New York last week?
The Dallas Cowboys went into New York with one goal: to get back to a .500 record. They did just that, beating the New York Giants 20-15. Even though Dallas walked away with a win, it didn’t come without a few losses.
The defense lost DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons during the game, and both players will be out for an extended period of time, Lawrence longer than Parsons. It was good to see the connection between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb get back on track, considering the team may have to lean on those two until their defense gets healthy again.
Here are five observations from the Cowboys win against the Giants and what some could mean moving forward.
Even though it took longer than necessary, the front office decided to take care of their franchise stars and extend Prescott and Lamb for the foreseeable future. A total of $376 million is tied up with those two players, and they need to show a return on the investment as early as Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Even with Parsons and Lawrence on the field, Dallas has struggled to rush the passer this season. The Cowboys defense ranks 19th in the NFL with eight sacks despite being third in the league with 39 pressures. That puts pressure on the offense to play with a lead instead of from behind, which they haven’t been able to do much this season.
Until Parsons and Lawrence come back, the offensive stars will be under a lot of pressure to ensure the defense stays out of harm's way.
Dallas was already relying on rookies Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe, and Caelen Carson to be massive contributors, but now second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland can be added to the list. With Dallas losing both of their starting defensive ends, the front office will turn to their in-house players before they look elsewhere.
Among rookie defensive ends, Kneeland ranks:
With his workload set to be increased into a starting role, hopefully, the flashes will be more consistent. Outside of Kneeland, Chauncey Golston and Carl Lawson will be more involved, along with whoever the team decides to bring off the streets.
With Ezekiel Elliott returning to Dallas, to the casual fan, it was the assumption he would be the lead running back from day one. However, after four weeks and in the middle of a committee approach, Rico Dowdle has proven the team’s best option in the backfield.
Against the Giants, Dowdle carried the ball 11 times for 46 yards and had a screen pass that went for a touchdown in the red zone. He currently leads the team in rushing yards with 134...
