Notable headlines surrounding America’s team.
NFC East power rankings after Week 4 of the NFL season- Tyler Reed, Sports Illustrated
It was great for some, and disappointing for others.
The Philadelphia Eagles have started a trend of winning a game and then losing the next. The 2-2 Eagles put in a sluggish performance in their 33-16 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Eagles’ early-season performance is another example of how anything can happen in the NFC East.
The lovable Cowboys snapped a two-game losing streak with their first win inside the NFC East on Thursday.
While taking a lot of stock in Thursday football isn’t ideal, it feels like Dallas left that game with a lot to be desired for the rest of the season.
NFL Week 4 winners and losers: Jets crash and burn, Travis Kelce pops, Steelers hit wall- Christopher Kline, FanSided
A look across the league during the Cowboys’ mini-bye week.
NFL Week 4 winner: Kliff Kingsbury, Washington Commanders
It’s not often that coordinators receive the game ball, but that is precisely what occurred on Sunday after the Washington Commanders’ emphatic 42-14 victory over Arizona. Kingsbury inked a three-year deal to lead the Comms offense this summer. Formerly head coach in Arizona, Kingsbury’s play-calling chops were on full display in Sunday’s offensive masterclass. Through four weeks, Jayden Daniels leads the NFL in completion percentage and the Commanders are 3-1, which is good enough for sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
Nobody saw that coming.
NFL Week 4 loser: Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
On the other hand, Nick Siranni and the Philadelphia Eagles (who turned down Kingsbury in the OC role this summer) haven’t quite removed the stink of last season’s collapse. A blowout loss to the Bucs on Sunday, in what should have been a revenge game, drops Philadelphia to 2-2 on the season. It’s easy to point to the absences of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, which is valid, but the Eagles’ issues clearly run deeper than personnel shortages.
4 Cowboys in danger of losing their starting jobs after ugly Week 4 win- Sayre Bedinger, The Landry Hat
Changes are surely coming, but where?
3. Donovan Wilson, safety
The most touchdowns allowed by Donovan Wilson in coverage throughout the course of his NFL career has been only two. That has happened on a few different occasions, but he’s never been credited with allowing more than two in a season.
He’s already given up two touchdowns this year.
Wilson has become enough of a liability that pretty much every Cowboys fan was begging for the team to make a change against the New York Giants, and it’s something that Mike McCarthy and Mike Zimmer are going to have to seriously consider going forward. And not only with Wilson, but perhaps his running mate Malik Hooker. Hooker, who nearly gave up a Minneapolis Miracle style touchdown near the end of Thursday’s game…
The Cowboys might legitimately just have better players buried on the depth chart at safety right now. With what we’ve seen from Wilson so far, it’s time to find out.
Upcoming pass rushers pose significant challenge for Cowboys’ O-line- Mario Herrera Jr, Inside The Star
The line needs to take a step forward, soon.
One of the weaknesses the Cowboys have displayed so far this season is being able to protect Dak Prescott. The offensive line has allowed Prescott to be sacked three times in each of the first three games, plus another sack given up against the Giants to make it 10 sacks on the season.
It starts with rookie LT Tyler Guyton, who is lining up on the left side of the offensive line for the first time in his career. There have been some growing pains, but it’s still difficult to get used to after Tyron Smith was a protective force on Dak’s blindside for so many years.
Then there is rookie C Cooper Beebe, who is also playing the position for the first time since he was in Pee Wee age football. Beebe has held his own so far, matching up with some of the best interior offensive linemen in the NFL.
RT Terence Steele has not been the same player since returning from a torn ACL suffered early in the 2022 season, and has been beat by pass-rushers more often than we’d like to admit.
The offensive line is getting better together, but future pass rushers could pose a significant challenge. Let’s take a look at some pass rushers coming up on the schedule who pose a threat to Prescott’s well-being in the pocket.
TJ Watt & Alex Highsmith
Let’s start with the next team on the schedule: the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh looks to start the season with a perfect 4-0 record, and the Dallas Cowboys stand in the way of them accomplishing that feat with their starting quarterback still sidelined.
After further review: Discipline the key ingredient in Cowboys run defense turnaround- Dan Rogers, Blogging The Boys
Another area in need of improvement.
OUTSIDE CONTAIN
The Cowboys had been roasted on the outside in each of the previous two games. Any time there was a play to the outside, the opposing offense was getting 10 yards down the field before they were even touched.
This type of tomfoolery wasn’t on display on Thursday. The Giants tried to go outside, but the Cowboys did a much better job having defenders patiently hang on the edge trying to drive the action back inside. You could see better awareness when the ball was snapped and they didn’t have defenders just anxiously attacking. They were patient and trusted their teammates to do their job. It’s only one game, and that one game was the Giants, but this is very promising.
GAP INTEGRITY
Discipline was the name of the game for the Cowboys run defense. Not only did they have guys on the edge staying home, but the linebackers played like a group in unison for the first time this season. Eric Kendricks, DeMarvion Overshown, and Marist Liufau did a great job sticking to their assignments. It’s hard to remain disciplined and run into a blocker when the ball is going somewhere else, but fighting the temptation to go rogue and go off course is crucial. Of course, it only happens if the other guys do their job and that was happening on Thursday. Far too often, the Giants’ ball carriers had nowhere to go with the ball.
