Brett's Cowboys Corner

A 20-15 divisional win for the Cowboys. This was a must-win in my eyes, not for anything relating to standings but for the morale of the locker room. After two brutal home losses, the Cowboys had a short week and turned things around against the Giants.

Fans will say, “It was just the Giants.” But for the team, players don’t view it that way. Each game is against NFL players, who are some of the best athletes in the world at their jobs. A win against a division opponent is necessary and can be huge for the team, keeping everyone together.

Quarterback Dak Prescott described the win as huge, and definitely lifted some weight off the team’s chest. He went on to say more about the win, “After obviously losing two, especially at home, coming on the road, first division game — division wins are always tough. As I said, then you add on the road and before a long weekend, puts a better taste in our mouth.”

After four weeks, maybe we need to accept the identity of the offense is the short passing game, with efficient throws. The occasional deep corner route to Cooks and to give Lamb a few deep balls a game.

Why is This the Case?

One theory that I am developing is that there are some concerns about pass protection. A pivotal caveat to the graphic above, those are passes that get out in 2.5 seconds or less. All of these different creative route combinations that fans are calling for, generally take a little bit longer to develop.

I wonder if the offensive coaches do not have enough trust in the rookie Tyler Guyton and the rest of the Offensive Line for that matter. Dak had an All-Pro in Tyron Smith and never had to worry about his blind side. But with 3 holding penalties on Guyton, I wonder if they worry about him not holding up. This does not include the offsetting penalty he had…a defensive pass interference that would have put the ball on the 1-yard line for the Cowboys to score was negated by an offsetting holding call. Though the one call that was terrible, when Burns jumped offsides and Guyton held him so he wouldn’t hit Dak shouldn’t count.

I will say I was impressed by the ability of the offensive line to hold off Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence, two players I had highlighted all week to worry about. Burns primarily lined up over Terrence Steele and had 0 pressures. Lawrence was double-teamed 20 of the 25 pass rushes he had all game, they clearly identified him as a problem, and committed to not letting him ruin the game.

The Rest of the Offense.

The Cowboys only punted three times. The first on the opening drive and the other two of the drives involving punts had a 3rd and 12 due to an offensive line penalty. Though it seemed we gave up on the 3rd and longs by passing short.

Hunter Luepke had a great 4th and 1 conversion and had some moments in the pass game, we saw a lot of good movement from Dowdle, and the receivers looked fine. Lamb was the standout, from last week we saw a lot of frustration from Lamb, and he immediately made an impact.

Run Defense Looked A Whole Lot Better.

When it comes to scheme, Mike Zimmer is 2 for 4, this was a ready run-defense. Again regardless of the opponent, being able to fill gaps properly and being there to make a tackle is going to help you beat anybody. Holding Devin Singletary to 14 carries for 24 yards.

Mazi Smith believe it or not had the highest PFF grade for any member of the defense, he made a lot of standup plays in the backfield.

DeMarvion Overshown, the second highest grade, was all over the field and being apart of every tackle. I had an observation in the 2nd where it seemed like he was the only guy with a dirty jersey. Another standout was Jourdan Lewis in the slot, he made a lot of great tackles and played well overall through the game.

The biggest problem with the defense, is the missed tackles. There were plenty of opportunities that the Cowboys had to make stops but they missed a crucial wrap up. A lot of first downs given up.

I’ll leave you with this on missed tackles.

Injury Concerns

The Cowboys walked away scraped up from this one. It seemed getting through the 4th quarter was a struggle and they started dropping like flies.

Trevon Diggs had leg cramps and needed to get an IV for a drive, the Cowboys were without any outside corners for a drive. They had Isreal Mukuamu is an excellent safety playing outside and Amani Oruwariye was called up from the practice squad that morning to play, and of course he makes the clinching interception.

Zack Martin got poked in the eye, Marist Liufau hurt his leg at one point.

The two that will haunt you is both your edge rushers. Demarcus Lawrence has a foot injury that will cause him to miss multiple weeks, and Micah Parsons dealing with a high ankle sprain both will likely be out till after the bye week.