The latest news around the Dallas Cowboys.
Dak Prescott shares his hope for Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys future – Jori Epstein, Yahoo! Sports
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback stood on a pedestal for Mike McCarthy and voiced his desire to see the coach return in 2025.
Five guaranteed games remain on Mike McCarthy’s contract.
Dak Prescott hopes the Dallas Cowboys keep his head coach for more.
The Cowboys quarterback can’t meaningfully impact his team’s performance as he recovers from season-ending surgery to repair his hamstring tear. That bothers him.
“Your coach seems like he’s playing on his last contract and [I’m] almost feeling helpless like I can’t help him in this situation, especially a guy you believe in so much and you believe in being your head coach,” Prescott told Yahoo Sports during a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call. “Control what I can control, help and support Mike to every extent that I can.”
In nine seasons with the Cowboys, Prescott has played for two head coaches. He leans on his experience watching Jason Garrett coach the final year of his deal in 2019 to manage this season. Prescott said he was glad to hear team owner and general manager Jerry Jones say last week that it’s “not crazy” to consider McCarthy returning for a sixth season and beyond.
“I believe in him wholeheartedly,” Prescott said, speaking in partnership with DICK’S Sporting Goods. “I don’t want to necessarily get into the nuts and the screws of it all obviously, but I think he definitely deserves a chance — another contract and a chance to coach this team amongst more influence. ‘On his terms’ may be a good way to say it.
“But I wholeheartedly believe in him.”
Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker turning the corner for the Cowboys – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
Maybe there’s hope for the Cowboys’ 2023 draft class to exceed our current expectations.
“[Mazi is] getting better and better and better at it, and he has the criteria,” said owner and general manager Jerry Jones to 105.3 The Fan. “He is an outstanding athlete for his size. Rare, rare athlete. All of that is there. He’s established what he can do with his strength. Arguably, he’s as strong as anyone we’ve had around here since Larry Allen.
“That’s strong. Just pure strength. It’s Sampson-type strength. It sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s not. He’s becoming and learning how to be a pro.”
Smith has strung together multiple games now wherein he’s put his stamp on the outcome of a contest, both as a run-stopper and as a pass rusher, e.g., his shared sack with Micah Parsons against Drew Lock on Thanksgiving, and the fact the Giants averaged five more yards per run when he was not on the field.
And as for Schoonmaker, having started the last two outings due to Jake Ferguson suffering a concussion in Week 11, his ability as a blocker is being put on full display but so is his ability to be a pass catcher; and his uptick in production actually stretches back to the matchup against the Houston Texans.
Schoonmaker has delivered a combined 144 receiving yards to go along with a receiving touchdown on 14 catches, averaging a 73 percent catch rate over that span while averaging 11.4 yards per catch.
For contrast, he had only 56 total yards and zero touchdowns in the previous nine games.
“I just really wanna compliment Luke for all of the extra time he’s put in,” said head coach Mike McCarthy. “He’s some mistakes early, but there’s not a day when he’s not in here early — seven o’clock with his position coaches — and there’s not a day when he’s not staying afterwards. It’s refreshing when you see guys put in the extra time and get rewarded on gameday with their production.
Cowboys get encouraging injury updates on Jake Ferguson, Trevon Diggs – Randy Gurzi, Dallas Cowboys on SI.com
Trevon Diggs and Jake Ferguson being available Monday night would be huge for Dallas’ chances to win.
Injuries have been a problem for the Dallas Cowboys throughout the season but they’re slowly getting healthier. While they won’t have Dak Prescott back this year, they’ve seen Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland return to full health.
The defense took a step forward with those two at 100 percent, and the offense benefited from the return of Brandin Cooks in Week 13.
Now, both sides of the ball might get another boost against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14.
Head coach Mike McCarthy said they’re hopeful the 10 days between games will lead to tight end Jake Ferguson returning after he missed the past two games with a concussion. He added that cornerback Trevon Diggs is progressing as he battles a groin injury.
Diggs hasn’t played since Week 11, when the Cowboys lost to the Houston Texans 34-10. When he finally steps on the field, it will be the first time Dallas has had him and Bland together this season.
Make no msitake, getting Ferguson back will be a huge boost for the offense, but there’s been a silver-lining with Ferguson sidelined. 2023 second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker has improved drastically, shedding his bust label in the process.
What Cowboys must do to keep their slim playoff hopes alive – Jon Machota, The Athetic
The Cowboys have a slim chance to make the postseason, but if they do these five things, the impossible may just happen.
2. More big plays
The defense needs to continue getting big plays from its stars. That was the case against the Giants as Parsons looked like his old self rushing the passer and LB DeMarvion Overshown had maybe the play of the season for Dallas when he tipped a screen pass to himself and returned it for a pick six. That was also the case in Dallas’ win the week before at Washington. The Cowboys might not snap their losing streak without KaVontae Turpin’s 99-yard kickoff return in the final minutes.
3. Winning the turnover battle
It’s been one of their greatest strengths in the previous three seasons. It’s been embarrassingly bad for most of this one. But it’s been better the last two games. The Cowboys won it 3-1 at Washington and 2-0 against the Giants.
“We feel good about the direction of the team, but we have a lot of work to do,” McCarthy said. “We’re doing the basics better. I think the physicality and the consistency of it is where it needs to be, but you never have enough of that. I think clearly the most important part of our two-game journey this week is the turnover ratio. That’s been a staple for us here the last three years. We need to continue to build off of that. That needs to be who we are.
“We still had the ball on the ground and exposed a couple times (against the Giants), but our defense and our coverage units are really making a conscientious, consistent effort to continue to attack the football. And that’s all you can ask for is more takeaway opportunities, because they do tend to come in bunches.”
4. Cooper Rush has to play the best ball of his career
It’s clear that the defense has looked more comfortable with new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer calling the shots. They are the strength of the team. But to keep the winning streak going, they’re likely going to need more from their quarterback. That doesn’t necessarily mean 300-yard, three-TD games every week. But a few more big plays here and there. And the toughest part is creating some of those without turning the ball over. Maybe it’s too much to ask, but some special things need to happen to overcome a 3-7 start to the season.
The Cowboys’ defense is improving, faces big test on MNF against the Bengals – Dana_Bartholomew, Blogging the Boys
Record aside, the Cincinnati Bengals are extremely dangerous on offense.
The defense has done a great job keeping the team in it these past few games, holding the opposing offenses to 10 points or less each in the first three quarters of play. There is room for improvement in the fourth quarter to shut these games out, of course, but they’ve done enough to support this Cooper Rush-led offense.
One of the major reasons for this improvement is a healthy Micah Parsons. Having a player like Parsons on the field is a surefire way to improve the defense. Looking at his individual stats, he contributed two sacks against the Commanders and 1.5 against the Giants. Now that teams are needing to focus on Parsons again, opportunities are opening for the players around him as well.
As a whole, the defense logged four sacks against Washington and six against New York. For reference, the last time the Cowboys were able to get six sacks in a game was the season opener against the Cleveland Browns. A lot of different players are stepping up along with Parsons. Players like DeMarvion Overshown, Eric Kendricks, Osa Odighizuwa, Carl Lawson, Josh Butler, Mazi Smith and Donovan Wilson have each had their turn contributing to the sack count the past two games.
It’s not just sacks either. The Cowboys defense is finally generating turnovers at a higher rate. Just a few weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys were at the bottom of the league when it came to turnover ratio. During that five-game losing streak, the Cowboys had 14 turnovers with only four takeaways. These past two games, however, they were able to protect the ball with only one turnover while generating five takeaways.
While the Cowboys defense has been improving this season, they will have to face one of the toughest challenges on Monday Night Football when they welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to AT&T Stadium.
