It is too early in the season to say the game against the Washington Commanders was a must-win for the Dallas Cowboys, but it certainly felt like it. A defeat would have given Dallas two losses in the division, and two losses to start the season. That would have been a big hole to climb out of.
But the Cowboys posted a convincing looking win over the Commanders and now sit at 1-1. Unfortunately, the operative word in that previous sentence is “looking.” There were some pretty glaring warts. Now Dallas
faces a game in Brazil against the Baltimore Ravens, who were upset by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and are likely to come out angry. The Cowboys are the underdog. There are some good reasons, as our Sean Martin and Tom Ryle discuss.
Tom – A 17-point win looks good, but there are some ugly things in the stats and at least one huge break on a touchdown that certainly looked good but was still denied by replay. Even bigger, Jayden Daniels was leading his team well and had them in position to tie things up just before the half. Then disaster struck as he dislocated his elbow. (Do not watch the replay if you are squeamish.) Marcus Mariota is a seasoned backup, but he’s a backup for a reason.
The offense put up plenty of points, but did so as a one-dimensional attack as Dak Prescott’s record had to cover for another paltry rushing attack. The defense had a huge takeaway and a handful of other stops, but still looked far too vulnerable. It was especially so when Daniels used his legs. Now, they face Lamar Jackson. Oh, boy.
Sean – There’s a lot to critique about the defense and we’ll do some of that, but chalk me up for the biggest area of concern coming out of this win being the run game, Tom. The trust isn’t quite there to keep going to the bellcow back, Javonte Williams. Brian Schottenheimer conceded they had a heavy passing-game plan going into the Washington game. With Williams averaging 2.5 yards a carry in this win and 3.4 in week one, that makes sense.
This is an interesting thing to be talking about specific to the Ravens matchup upcoming, because they too had a lead at home in week two but inexplicably forgot about Derrick Henry and their own run game, losing that lead to the Saints. When the Cowboys got the ball back up 27-13 after a missed field goal in the third quarter, they were only able to hand the ball off on seven of their remaining 18 plays. The Ravens went up 17-9 in the third quarter and proceeded to go three and out with a negative 11 yard drive, three and out again, and threw an interception to lose the game, all while running it one measly time during this stretch.
Whichever team can remember to stick with their running game, and of course find production within it, can help their quarterback the most in this Brazil game. The Cowboys will need to do everything they can to elevate Prescott in a matchup where we’re all worried about what Jackson could do to the Dallas defense in return. I don’t know how well they’ll be able to do so going up against a Jesse Minter defense they saw a year ago against the Chargers, where the Cowboys were held to 91 yards on the ground, tied for the second lowest output of the season.
It still may be the defense that’s the main culprit of why fans feel a little uneasy even after a divisional win, but I think more of it than advertised is the struggles running the ball as well, not something we’re used to seeing from a Cowboys offense of late.
Tom – I was thinking about things and came up with the idea that there are five elements of the game for a team. Passing offense, running offense, pass defense, run defense, and special teams. Right now, the Cowboys are good in one, passing offense, and perhaps two if you count special teams where Brandon Aubrey is again hitting everything out to 60 yards or more.
But they are clearly struggling in the remaining three elements. That does not bode well when you look at the matchup this week. You’ve already covered the issues with their ground game. Dallas has been giving up big yards on the ground, and now they face Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. Their pass rush has been anemic and coverage spotty at best, and Jackson is no slouch throwing the ball.
That puts the burden clearly on the passing game, and we already saw that wasn’t enough in the season opener. Frankly, they are almost a different team when playing from behind, one that presses and makes mistakes. We can’t expect CeeDee Lamb and Prescott to have another monster game. Hopefully George Pickens and the rest of the receiving corps can step up, but it still leaves them in a position of having to play almost perfectly just to hang with the opponent. They scored on all but one possession against Washington, and that is going to be a lot harder to do against the Minter defense.
Disturbingly, you have to wonder if they would still have won Sunday if Daniels had not been injured. It almost certainly would have been much closer.
The path to a win would probably involve another lights out passing game and some takeaways, which have been hard to get. Forgive me if I’m not optimistic.
Sean – Sounds like I have just a bit of optimism to spare you for this matchup Tom, but not a whole lot so use it wisely. We’ll calculate the exchange rate on that between the States and Brazil some other time. The latest injury update for the Cowboys is not good at all for the defense, with P.J. Locke and Cobie Durant set to miss time.
Unless this unit can finish off some sacks on Lamar Jackson, not just get close like they did to Daniels/Mariota, it almost feels like the defensive mindset has to shift to just slowing the Ravens down as opposed to really expecting many stops. The Ravens had as many first downs as the Saints while running eight less plays, faced six less third downs, and averaged 5.6 yards per play.
Parker’s scheme in theory should be able to do some of this, but I worry what it means for a Cowboys offensive game plan that needs balance like we said. Then there’s this x-factor of how skill players will find their footing on a field that’s reportedly not up to snuff.
Our old friend Kellen Moore may not have done us a favor at all by beating this Ravens squad in week two either. Getting them off a bad loss doesn’t feel great for the designated home team’s chances in Rio de Janeiro.
Tom – Hey, I’m not going to slam Kellen for one of the biggest wins of his young career. But, no, he didn’t do his old team any favors.
This is not an unwinnable game for the Cowboys. Just a very difficult challenge. They have to keep doing what they’ve been getting right without a slipup, and they have to have multiple other things gel, or at least one. I do think this team will get better over time, particularly on defense.
The problem is that they can’t take too much time, and gradual improvement isn’t going to help this week. We’ll still hope for the best, but we better prepare for something short of that.
Sean – A 1-2 record would be an awfully familiar place to be anyway, and I agree, if they get there while competing well and not showing any major flaws like in week one, we’ll be back here next week still finding some positives to talk about. Until then, enjoy the overseas game Tom!
Okay BTB, what is your take on the issues brought up here?
