The Dallas Cowboys won a football game on Sunday. When this is true the other things that surround it are much easier to deal with. There will only be 16 winners in the NFL this week and that Dallas is one of them is what matters the most.
But just because you win does not mean that everything went perfectly in the process. This was clearly the case for Dallas and that is represented by our stock report following the win over Washington.
Stock Up: Dak Prescott
We have to lead with the record-setter, and in case you somehow
missed it Dak Prescott became the franchise’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns during this game. He entered three behind Tony Romo (248) and now has 249 total and counting.
Next Gen Stats noted that Prescott generated +17.9 EPA across his dropbacks in this game, the most among any quarterback who has faced a pressure rate above 40% in a given game over the last two seasons. This is truly elite territory here.
What’s more is that Dak is pushing the envelope. All four of his touchdowns traveled at least 10 yards downfield in the air, tied for his career-high. Pretty impressive stuff.
Stock Up: Brian Schottenheimer
When the quarterback plays well that means that the offensive play-caller is doing something right, so Brian Schottenheimer deserves credit as well. What’s more is that Schotty came off of the start line in fifth gear. It was clear that the Cowboys wanted to set the tempo in a way that they failed to do so against the Giants and they certainly accomplished that on offense.
It is also worth noting that there were few silly or avoidable penalties from the team overall, something that was of concern following how the Cowboys played in the opener. Schotty clearly got through to them.
Stock Up: CeeDee Lamb
CeeDee Lamb finished the game with over 150 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns. That is a solid day’s work if I have ever seen one.
All of the George Pickens fanfare throughout training camp (justified fanfare to be clear) really made people kind of forget who Lamb is and what he is capable of. Nobody will forget any time soon.
Stock Up: Jake Ferguson
We have often said that when players like Lamb and Pickens are drawing so much coverage that someone else has to take advantage of that benefit. That person was clearly Jake Ferguson in this game.
Ferguson “only” had four receptions, but half of them were scores. He could have arguably had another if Prescott had found him before a Cowboys field goal, something the broadcast talked about as they showed Dak realizing that himself while looking at the tablet on the sidelines.
Having a tight end with such a high level of comfort in the middle of the field is a huge positive, and Dallas absolutely has that in Ferguson these days.
Stock Up: T.J. Bass
It bears repeating that T.J. Bass is playing very well in Tyler Smith’s absence. I know that many people assumed he would handle his own, but an assumption hardly guarantees anything.
We have now gone two straight weeks to start the season where Bass has more than delivered. He deserves serious props given that he did not know he was going to be starting right up until the first week of the season.
Stock Up: Tyler Guyton
On the subject of offensive linemen who deserve love, how about Tyler Guyton?
Back when the Cowboys arrived to training camp he was in contention for the weakest point on an offense that we had high hopes for. In fact, some likely said that he was potentially going to be the reason that they did not realize their full potential.
Two weeks into the season, that has not been the case. Guyton is playing like a tried and true left tackle in the NFL, one who is worthy of a first-round pick.
Stock Up: Jaishawn Barham
It is no secret that Jaishawn Barham had a rough time last week. Following the Cowboys loss a clip of him and Christian Parker talking on the sidelines against New York went viral and all sorts of assumptions were leapt to.
The Cowboys noted that they still believed in Barham and doubled down on that by having him wear the green dot in this game. Let’s be clear that the Cowboys defense has a lot of work to do and improvement to make, but Barham got the plane off of the ground, through the air travel, and to its destination in one piece.
He also had a huge fumble that allowed the Cowboys to really break the game open. For this being his second game in his professional career, it sure was something.
Stock Up: Caleb Downs
If we ranked Cowboys players by the height of their floors then Caleb Downs might be number one. He is so reliable, so dependable, and good for consistency all throughout games. This one was special as we saw him lay some serious wood as well as playing in coverage.
The biggest issue with Downs these days is that he is simply one human being. The Cowboys can only play him at one spot at a time, but wherever it is, it is taken care of as well as it can be.
Stock Down: DaRon Bland
The Cowboys defense played pretty poorly in this game. The startling thing is it could have been, and arguably should have been, a lot worse.
Maybe you agree with Dyami Brown’s catch not being ruled a touchdown, but even if you do you can see how that could potentially go the other way. Terry McLaurin couldn’t reel in what looked like an easy pass off of a trick play. Early on Jayden Daniels had a man all the way downtown against the Cowboys but just overthrew him. Seemingly play after play, Cowboys defenders, specifically secondary ones, were getting beat and beaten badly.
DaRon Bland is who he is relative to the Cowboys and they are sort of stuck in that spot, but goodness he is sort of hurting them in a serious way right now. This team needs corners badly.
Stock Down: Christian Parker
It is difficult to say that Christian Parker’s stock is “down” relative to last week because it was about as low as it can be. From Game 1 to Game 2 I suppose you could argue he even improved in a vacuum, but we are talking about going from an F to an F+ here.
Consider that the Cowboys have played 16 defensive possessions so far this season. The New York Giants managed to infiltrate the Cowboys’ 40-yard line on six of their seven, and the Washington Commanders crossed that territory on seven of their nine. The Cowboys have allowed opposing offenses to get into field goal range on 13 of these 16 possessions!
It is early in his career, he is still figuring it out, and all of that jazz, but that is in no way an excuse. The Cowboys clearly have an offense that can lead to the team accomplishing some serious things, but if the defense can’t even hold their own on the other side then it is going to be a disaster similar to last year.
