Blogging The Boys
In a game nearly everyone expected the Dallas Cowboys to lose by a significant margin, they somehow managed to surprise us all by going toe to toe with the Green Bay Packers, a team many believe could have Super Bowl aspirations this season. The 40-40 surprise tie ending feels somewhat unfulfilling considering how hard the Cowboys played Sunday night, but sometimes a moral victory is better than a disappointing loss.
This Week 4 matchup was highly anticipated and certainly did not disappoint. Despite a lot of bad and ugly things that occurred Sunday night for the Dallas Cowboys, there was quite a bit of good we can take away from this matchup as well.
With CeeDee Lamb sidelined with an ankle sprain, the Dallas Cowboys needed all of their other playmakers to step up their games during his absence. Thankfully, they did just that. KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Tolbert, Jake Ferguson, Ryan Flournoy, and Javonte Williams rose to the occasion making plays Sunday night, but it was George Pickens who stole the show. Pickens finished the evening with 134 receiving yards and two touchdowns on just eight catches an improve just why the Cowboys traded a third-round pick to acquire him from the Steelers. Even with the one unfortunate drop, he looked very much like a No. 1 WR in Week 4.
The Dallas Cowboys defense still has a ton of work to do after giving up more than 450 yards of total offense and 40 points for the second time in three weeks. The Green Bay Packers were able to put up 489 yards of the Cowboys Sunday night, allowing Jordan Love and Company stick around and take the game into overtime. Penalties were once again part of the problem as well giving the Packers second and even third chances to extend drives. Matt Eberflus’ unit did surprisingly create some pressure with their pass rush and continue to fight to the bitter end, but overall this unit still has a lot of work to do until they can hopefully not be a liability any longer.
Losing players to injuries is starting to become a weekly occurrence for the Cowboys and it looks as if Malik Hooker and Miles Sanders are the latest to succumb to the injury bug. Hooker’s toe injury looks likes the worst of the two and he could miss significant time because of it. Sanders (ankle) could miss some time as well. Dallas will once again need players to step up in their place, but this could actually be a blessing in disguise. Juanyeh Thomas stepped in for Hooker and played admirably, and Sanders’ injury could open the door for Jaydon Blue to finally make his NFL debut. Maybe things will work out for the better.
