Blogging The Boys
Just when Cowboys fans thought things were on the up, the Detroit Lions made sure to deflate those high riding spirits. In a tough loss at Ford Field, Dallas fell short of putting a fourth consecutive win to what was an impressive surge after the bye. But how did the Cowboys rookies class do during the Thursday night defeat? Let’s jump in and find out.
(Game stats- Snaps: 82, Pass Blocks: 60, Pressures: 2, Sacks: 0, Penalties: 0)
Booker’s performance against the Lions was steadier than the overall team result suggests, and the data and tape points to him being far from the main problem in protection. His game recap lists him playing 82 snaps, reflecting a full, every-down workload at right guard. As a unit, Dallas surrendered 22 total pressures and five sacks against Detroit, so the pocket wasn’t clean overall. Booker’s general footprint for the season matches what the Lions game seemed to show on tape. This was not a perfect night from Booker, he allowed two pressures, but it was not one where his gap repeatedly collapsed or where he was the obvious weak link. On the penalty front, Booker was clean.
The biggest positives for Booker were that he largely stayed quiet in the best sense with no drive-killing penalties attributed to him and no complete disasters against Detroit’s interior. The negatives are more comparative than catastrophic. The Cowboys’ offense struggled with turnovers and missed chances, and when the Lions’ pressure ramped up late, Dallas couldn’t consistently keep Dak comfortable across the board. In short, Booker looked like a fine, starter-level rookie guard in a game where the offense had enough issues elsewhere that even an above average right guard performance couldn’t change the outcome.
(Game stats- Snaps: 49, Total Tackles: 4, Pressures: 2, Sacks: 0, TFL: 1)
Ezeiruaku’s game against Detroit was one of those nights where the effort and discipline were there, but the impact was muted by how the Lions controlled the script. Statistically, he finished with one solo tackle, three assists and one tackle for loss, with no sacks. For a rookie who has generally been one of Dallas’ brighter defensive stories, that’s a fairly quiet output in a game where the Cowboys badly needed edge disruption to slow Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs and prevent Detroit from staying ahead of the sticks.
The notable positive was that he did flash in the run game. That single tackle for loss matters in context because Detroit’s backs were gashing Dallas for big chunks, and any edge-setting or backfield win stood out against the tide. Overall, the Cowboys’ defense only managed one sack on the night, so it wasn’t an Ezeiruaku-specific problem as much as a team-wide inability to consistently finish pressures and get the Lions into long, uncomfortable downs.
Ezeiruaku was solid in flashes and active around the ball, but this was not a signature pass-rush performance. In a tougher defensive night overall, he looked...
