Last week was gross.
The Dallas Cowboys have now lost their fourth straight game, and their first without Dak Prescott. Despite falling to the Eagles 34-6, things were close in the first half before unraveling in the second half. So let’s get some grades after this one.
Quarterbacks
This was a glimpse into the very sad reality of what this team looks like without Dak Prescott. Prescott certainly hasn’t been good this year, but his worst games have been better than this.
Cooper Rush turned it over twice, including one where he just forgot to catch the snap, and he went 0/6 on passes that traveled more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Trey Lance wasn’t much better, throwing an interception on his lone pass 10+ yards downfield. Together, the two quarterbacks averaged 2.3 yards per attempt. Yikes.
Grade: F
Running backs
Rico Dowdle is a legitimately good running back. Let me say it again: Rico Dowdle is a legitimately good running back. Following this game, Dowdle is behind only Bijan Robinson in rush success rate among running backs. Despite that, he’s 33rd in rushing attempts, ranked right behind Robinson’s backup, Tyler Allgeier.
Some of that is because the Cowboys throw the ball so much, but it’s also because they keep giving the ball to Ezekiel Elliott. Case in point: Elliott got a red zone carry on first and goal and coughed it up. On the Cowboys’ very next offensive play, they gave it right back to him. Outside of his turnover, Elliott wasn’t terrible, but it’s painfully obvious that this run game would be so much better if Dowdle handled the vast majority of carries.
Grade: B+
Pass catchers
You know what? I’m not going to give a grade to this unit. How can I? After watching the level of quarterback play in this game, it would be disingenuous to hold them to any sort of normal standard. When Jake Ferguson leads your team in receiving with 24 yards, it’s hard to judge these pass catchers.
Oh, and that’s without even talking about CeeDee Lamb missing an easy touchdown catch because he was blinded by the sun that his own boss refuses to cover up with curtains. There were so many things working against this group in this game that handing out a grade for it just feels wrong.
Grade: Incomplete
Offensive line
The Cowboys surprised us all with news that Tyler Guyton, who had been dealing with a neck stinger throughout the week, would be inactive. In his place, Asim Richards started at left tackle. And, honestly, the results were solid. Richards gave up four pressures and a sack but had plenty of solid, encouraging reps.
The bigger issue was what it has been for most of the year here: Terence Steele. The right tackle is a turnstile in pass protection, and he gave up four pressures. He also allowed a strip sack and then foolishly tried to pick the ball up and run with it, which led to him giving the ball right to the Eagles. Steele also struggled once again in run blocking, supposedly his forte. It’s not a good sign that Steele has consistently been the weakest link on an offensive line that’s starting two rookies.
Grade: C+
Run defense
All things considered, the Cowboys held up well against the run. Philadelphia finished with 187 rushing yards, but 105 of those came in the second half after the game was out of reach. In the first half, Dallas allowed just 82 rushing yards, with 49 of those coming by way of Jalen Hurts scramble plays.
Saquon Barkley, who’s been on a tear all year, put up just 23 rushing yards in the first half and three of his eight carries were stopped for a gain of one yard or less. Things broke wide open in the second half, but this defense showed up to play. They just needed some help from their offense.
Grade: B
Pass rush
Jalen Hurts is not the easiest quarterback to bring down, and the Cowboys figured that out in this game. On one of the Eagles’ touchdown drives, Hurts evaded a near sack from DeMarvion Overshown to hammer home that point.
That said, the pass rush was alive in this game, thanks partly to the return of Micah Parsons. Their 24 pressures was the most they’ve had since Week 1, and four players recorded at least four pressures. Parsons had two sacks, as did Overshown, and Hurts was taken down a total of five times.
Grade: B+
Coverage
Statistically speaking, this was a bad game for the Cowboys secondary. But a closer look reveals why: rookie Caelen Carson was picked on all game. Carson was targeted seven times, which is more than Trevon Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, and Israel Mukuamu (who replaced Carson in the second half) combined.
In total, Carson gave up 108 of the Eagles’ 207 passing yards in this game. Outside of Carson, the secondary held up well for the most part. Diggs’ interception was a welcome sight, and the coverage unit largely limited yards after the catch, an area they’ve struggled in all year.
Grade: B-
Special teams
Brandon Aubrey is still Brandon Aubrey, drilling both field goals and once again being the only Cowboys player to score any points. KaVontae Turpin had a pair of good kick returns as well. And Bryan Anger is still going strong, though he got far too much work in this one.
The grade drops considerably, though, because of the huge punt return Dallas gave up to Cooper DeJean early in the third quarter. It set up a short field and an easy touchdown for the Eagles, who had largely struggled to move the ball against this defense. From that point on, it was all downhill. Special teams mistakes can break a team’s back, and that’s what happened in this game.
Grade: B
Coaching
It’s hard to be too harsh on this staff right now, though some have no problem with it. Mike McCarthy certainly could’ve done more to help his quarterbacks out, but there’s a pretty low ceiling on both Cooper Rush and Trey Lance, and the Cowboys bumped their heads on it early in this game.
Meanwhile, Mike Zimmer reminded everyone how good his defense can be when they’ve got good players on the field as Micah Parsons opened up a lot of things. But the lack of help for Caelen Carson, and waiting to pull him as long as they did, was a curious decision that ultimately was this defense’s undoing.
Grade: C
