It took every second that regulation and overtime could offer, but the Dallas Cowboys emerged victorious on Sunday against the New York Giants. Waking up to a 1-1 record is much more preferable to an 0-2, and if you don’t believe me you can ask your favorite Giants fan. They are pretty used to 0-2 starts these days, though.
Simply put, Sunday was chaotic in the most ridiculous way. The Cowboys and Giants began the fourth quarter with the former leading 17-16 and ultimately winning 40-37. It was back and forth and back and forth and back and forth until Brandon Aubrey said enough is enough.
Aubrey is on every fan’s mind as a hero from the game, but who else stood out? Which other Cowboy went above and beyond in the name of helping the team win? Also, from the other side of the spectrum, who needs to improve so that the situation isn’t as tenuous next week?
Welcome to our Stock Report following Sunday’s big win (these are always better after a win).
Let’s begin.
Stock Up: Brandon Aubrey
This man is insane. Just when we think we have seen the most impossible thing he can achieve he outdoes himself and what’s more is he does it in the most cavalier way.
Honestly, the most impressive aspect of everything that happened with Aubrey on Sunday was the disposition the team had with regards to the 64-yard attempt at the end of regulation. There was zero hesitation. They ran a draw with Javonte Williams on the play prior to set it up properly because they had that much faith. Aubrey has given them reason to feel that way. Unreal.
Stock Up: George Pickens
Sunday had a lot of “this is exactly why you trade for George Pickens” moments. In hindsight, the touchdown, which should have been the game-winner, will be what we remember most. Or maybe it will be the big play on the third possession of overtime that put Dallas in field goal range. Clearly there were a lot of moments to choose from.
Pickens also drew some huge penalties in this game, just like he did in the opener at Philadelphia. He is proving to be exactly what many of us said the team needed, a verifiable weapon/threat/option opposite of CeeDee Lamb and that is serving as a rising tide to lift all boats.
Stock Up: Javonte Williams
If you want to include yourself in this next statement then that might be fair. I am only going to speak for myself, though. I really doubted the Javonte Williams move/decision from the Cowboys. I openly questioned why they weren’t giving him any touches in the preseason. What had he done to deserve that preference?
Results don’t totally justify the process, the Cowboys have a lot of examples of this, but their commitment to Williams was unwavering and he has made them look smart. He was outstanding on Sunday and had critical runs that continually kept momentum moving for the good guys.
Stock Up: Kenny Clark
There were very few bright spots on the defensive side of the ball, more on that in just a bit, but Kenny Clark did have one that made it through. In fact, he had a sack!
Consider that interior defensive line play is one of the most reliable things going on with the Cowboys defense right now. This is true in the most literal way, but it speaks to the value that Clark provides. That is worth celebrating and at least acknowledging.
Stock Up: Dak Prescott
Getting down to brass tacks, you pay your franchise quarterback so that he can play the way that Dak Prescott did on Sunday. This is often an unfair ask. Football is a team sport. Dak did not surrender moon ball after moon ball from Russell Wilson. Each and every time though he trotted out and returned serve. That isn’t technically true as the Cowboys offense sputtered at the beginning of overtime, but the point is understood here.
It goes without saying that the interception was not Prescott’s best decision ever, and we should certainly mention that the offense early on was a bit sleepy. But the win came largely because of number four and that gets a thumb’s up.
Stock Up: Brian Schottenheimer
Let’s return to the Brandon Aubrey attempt to end regulation. As noted, the Cowboys clearly planned it the way that they did and we know that because of the Javonte Williams run on the play before. That controlled disposition takes a serious level of organization and leadership (aka coaching). Brian Schottenheimer has helped assemble a machine that is ready to enact various protocols at any given moment.
These are kudos that Schotty deserves as a head coach, but the team’s offensive success continues to point in the direction of their play-caller being pretty good at this. Prescott played well as mentioned, Javonte Williams shined, and even though CeeDee Lamb had a drop, he played impressively along with the aforementioned Pickens. If all of the offensive toys are shining then the man pulling the strings has to be doing something right.
Stock Down: Trevon Diggs
We knew that he was coming back from injury and should consider that he may not be all the way right. But Sunday was the toughest of tough scenes. To be clear, which we will get to as we move on here, there was plenty of blame to go around across the Cowboys defense. Diggs is not alone in that sense.
But this looked like one of the worst secondaries in the NFL on Sunday and Diggs was a big reason for that. He got beat on big play after big play and could not get it together whatsoever.
Stock Down: Kaiir Elam
When he gave up the big play in Week 1, which came on a big third down, it was fair to chalk it up to first-week blues and what not. Plus, he was/is new to the team.
We have now gone two weeks in a row, a very small sample size, where Kaiir Elam has been a point of weakness for the Cowboys defense. It isn’t like the Cowboys gave up an enormous amount to acquire him, but he is proving to be a detriment to the overall operation at this point in time.
This has to get fixed. ASAP.
Stock Down: All linebacker play
Much was rightfully made about Russell Wilson’s success through the air, but he had some vintage moments on the ground as well.
His deep bomb to Malik Nabers that gave New York the lead with under a minute to go in regulation was impressive, but the play before it is partly what made it possible. Wilson stood in the pocket and assessed what was in front of him and saw absolutely nothing. He was able to run up to about midfield and set up his deep bomb.
We have literally seen Cowboys linebackers thrive and shine under Matt Eberflus. This was very much not that.
Stock Down: Matt Eberflus
Speaking of…
I remain bullish in an overall sense on the Eberflus era as far as him finally holding the defensive coordinator role is concerned. I am admittedly spooked, though.
The Giants offense looked absolutely hapless in Week 1 and coincidentally that came against the defensive mind that all are being measured to right now in Dallas, and that was Dan Quinn. The Giants’ surge on offense was completely unpredictable which means that the Cowboys defense was shockingly poor.
It wasn’t just Russell Wilson finding the fountain of youth, though. The Giants had success everywhere on offense, including notable rookies in Cam Skattebo and Jaxson Dart. Everything they touched turned to gold.
Maybe you felt the Wilson-to-Nabers touchdown near the end of regulation was inevitable right after George Pickens scored for Dallas. Isn’t that troubling? That we had extremely low expectations for the defense and that they fully lived up (I guess down?) to them? That falls on the leader.
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