As Hawkeye once said in Avengers: Endgame, don’t give me hope.
This week in Cowboys Nation, Hawkeye is all of us. Just when this team, namely its defense, ripped everyone’s hearts out in Carolina, they
turned the tables on us again. The defense put up its best game of the year (an admittedly low bar) with multiple sacks, takeaways, and a defensive score.
The offense also stayed red-hot with the return of CeeDee Lamb, and the Dallas Cowboys earned a pivotal win over the Washington Commanders to move into second place in the NFC East. But we’ve seen this movie before, enough times to ask “Is it real this time?” Our own Tom Ryle and David Howman try to answer that question.
Tom: The first thing we have to keep in mind is that this was a severely limited Washington team, and it just got worse for them when Jayden Daniels tweaked his hamstring. But we’ve already seen the Dallas defense resurrect quarterbacks, at least for one game, and when Marcus Mariotta came in, they not only kept him under control, they got a pick six to put things well out of reach for the Commanders.
Still, things will not always be so easy. It is going to take some real continuity for them to have any chance over the rest of the season.
We should be able to count on the offense as Dak is having a simply outstanding season and he is surrounded by arguably the best skill players of his career. The offensive line seems to be doing well, protecting Prescott and opening holes for Javonte Williams.
Now we have to see if the defense can keep up its end of the bargain. If there is one thing that could be very important it is how Matt Eberflus actually made some significant adjustments. We certainly can’t get our expectations too high yet, but it is hard not to have hope peeking out again.
David: Yes, the Commanders were missing their top two wide receivers, but let’s not pretend like Dallas was operating at full strength.
Trevon Diggs concussed himself under mysterious circumstances and Juanyeh Thomas – already a backup pushed into starting action – was a surprise scratch with a migraine. That’s on top of a defense that’s already been pretty sorry all season long.
I agree with you that I’d like to see some consistency over multiple weeks before declaring Matt Eberflus absolved for his crimes, but the injuries definitely don’t diminish this performance in my mind.
Tom: It certainly seemed a lot better. The biggest concern would be Eberflus reverting to his old ways. At least he has shown flexibility in this instance, and he has to know his future employment with the Cowboys depends on continued improvement.
The good news is that he doesn’t have to turn the defense into one of the best in the league. Just get an average performance against future opponents, and let Brian Schottenheimer and the offense keep putting up points. They already have a complementary offense. Get a bit of that between offense and defense, and this team could be a very dangerous one in a league that keeps seeing unexpected results.
Just don’t be the one that gets caught with your pants down again.
David: That’s where I start getting really excited. The offense was playing like one of the best in the league before CeeDee Lamb came back, and they’re even better now. If you can get just average defense alongside it, this team can beat anyone they face.
That’s an admittedly big if right now, and I’m aware the offense won’t always have its fastball. This week’s road trip to Denver feels like a great (read: terrifying) test of their resolve on that side of the ball. But looking at the rest of the division – Philly was trying really hard to lose their third straight game this weekend, and the Commanders are under .500 with a banged up quarterback – it’s hard not to feel like the Cowboys have the wind at their back.
All that’s left is to actually do the thing.
