Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys have just four quarters of preseason football left before their first regular season under head coach Brian Schottenheimer begins, after losing 31-13 on Saturday night from AT&T Stadium to the Baltimore Ravens. In some ways the Cowboys have taken the field this preseason as a team ready for meaningful games to begin, in the way they’ve rested key starters like usual and expect these players to give them a winning edge come opening night. In other ways though, the Cowboys have struggled in a lot of areas that have plagued them for multiple recent seasons, and ones they’ve talked plenty about fixing without backing up that talk on the field just yet.
The Cowboys offense was mostly led by Joe Milton at quarterback again, and managed just seven first downs for the game. Dallas went 2-11 on third down and 0-2 on fourth downs and averaged only 2.6 yards per rush with Phil Mafah turning in the longest rushing play of the game for eight yards. Miles Sanders received the “lead back” reps with seven carries ahead of Deuce Vaughn’s five. The Cowboys also allowed four sacks, the first of which happened in the end zone to give the Ravens a 2-0 lead on a safety, and went 0-2 scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
Defensively, the Cowboys took the ball away twice and cashed one of them in for six on Andrew Booth’s interception return for a touchdown. Matt Eberflus’ group looked a lot more coherent at all three levels compared to preseason week one against the Rams, testing out more of their depth and making plays on the ball. The biggest concern for the Cowboys defense remains the same through two preseason games though, which is a major lack of push from the defensive interior against the run. The Ravens had blockers at the second and third level all night, keeping their offense on schedule with plus runs. The Dallas defense again looked better on the edge against the run, with some flashes in pass rush off the edge as well, but have still yet to finish with a sack from edge players in either exhibition game.
The game the Cowboys put on the field against the Ravens was a decent effort when it comes to making some progress compared to the Rams game, but in the end was even more of a glaring example of how dependent they’ll be on the top of their roster players to win this season. With their best all-around player in Micah Parsons yet to practice through training camp, the latest big name Cowboy to be swept up in contract dispute drama with the front office, this is a concerning place for the Cowboys to be now late in August.
The Cowboys will remain at home for their final tune up game against the Falcons on Friday, so before that, let’s get to a few more notes on the loss to the Ravens.
The Cowboys added another name to...
