Countdown to Kickoff

Days Hours Minutes Seconds
Cleveland Browns
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Sunday

September 8, 2024

4:25 PM ET

Cleveland, OH

Dallas Cowboys
VS
New Orleans Saints

Sunday

September 15, 2024

1:00 PM ET

Dallas, TX

Dallas Cowboys
VS
Baltimore Ravens

Sunday

September 22, 2024

4:25 PM ET

Dallas, TX

New York Giants
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Thursday

September 26, 2024

8:15 PM ET

New York, NY

Pittsburgh Steelers
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Sunday

October 6, 2024

8:20 PM ET

Pittsburgh, PA

Dallas Cowboys
VS
Detroit Lions

Sunday

October 13, 2024

4:25 PM ET

Dallas, TX

San Francisco 49ers
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Sunday

October 27, 2024

8:20 PM ET

San Francisco, CA

Atlanta Falcons
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Sunday

November 3, 2024

1:00 PM ET

Atlanta, GA

Dallas Cowboys
VS
Philadelphia Eagles

Sunday

November 10, 2024

4:25 PM ET

Dallas, TX

Dallas Cowboys
VS
Houston Texans

Monday

November 18, 2024

8:15 PM ET

Dallas, TX

Washington Commanders
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Sunday

November 24, 2024

1:00 PM ET

Washington, D.C.

Dallas Cowboys
VS
New York Giants

Thursday

November 28, 2024

4:30 PM ET

Dallas, TX

Dallas Cowboys
VS
Cincinnati Bengals

Monday

December 9, 2024

8:15 PM ET

Dallas, TX

Carolina Panthers
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Sunday

December 15, 2024

1:00 PM ET

Carolina, NC

Dallas Cowboys
VS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sunday

December 22, 2024

8:20 PM ET

Dallas, TX

Philadelphia Eagles
VS
Dallas Cowboys

Sunday

December 29, 2024

4:25 PM ET

Philadelphia, PA

Dallas Cowboys
VS
Washington Commanders

Sunday

January 5, 2025

TBD

Dallas, TX

Cowboys analytics roundup: The tie doesn’t change the Jekyll/Hyde nature in Dallas

It’s a weird week when the most exciting football game the NFL had to offer featured two teams that walked away without a win. Yet, that’s the case after a thrilling tie (an oxymoron if there ever was one) between the Cowboys and Packers, one that’s prompting a sense of optimism in Dallas. How warranted […]


It’s a weird week when the most exciting football game the NFL had to offer featured two teams that walked away without a win. Yet, that’s the case after a thrilling tie (an oxymoron if there ever was one) between the Cowboys and Packers, one that’s prompting a sense of optimism in Dallas.

How warranted is that optimism? Let’s take a dive into the advanced data around this team, which reveals a sort of Jekyll and Hyde factor that’s marred the Cowboys’ season to this point.

Cowboys Efficiency at a Glance

DVOA

DVOA Rank

DVOA Rank Previous Week

DAVE

DAVE Rank

Offense 15.1% 5th 10th 3.8% 11th
Defense 29.7% 32nd 32nd 5.2% 27th
Special Teams 5.9% 5th 10th 0.9% 12th
Overall -8.8% 22nd 23rd -0.6% 18th

Offense and special teams are doing amazing. The latter isn’t the least bit surprising, as Brandon Aubrey and KaVontae Turpin are the best in the league at their respective roles, and a blocked extra point returned for two points boosts the efficiency numbers. The offense is perhaps a bigger surprise, but still encouraging.

The defense, though… woof. How bad is this defense? So bad that the Cowboys’ overall efficiency grade ranks them as the 22nd best team in the league despite their offense and special teams being fifth. That’s a step up from last week, so baby steps are apparently in order for Matt Eberflus.

Cowboys analytics roundup: The tie doesn’t change the Jekyll/Hyde nature in Dallas

2025 NFL Team Tiers, Weeks 1-4, courtesy of rbsdm.com

Pivoting to the EPA-based team tiers, the story is pretty much the same. The defense saw a slight uptick in their EPA/play allowed, if you can believe it, but they’re still languishing at the bottom. The offense moves further to the right, establishing themselves as one of the league’s best even with CeeDee Lamb on the sideline.

Speaking of…

Offense

Cowboys Offensive Efficiency

Grade

Rank

Offensive DVOA 15.1% 5th
Pass DVOA 25.6% 11th
Run DVOA 11.2% 4th
EPA/Play 0.143 4th
EPA/Dropback 0.202 8th
EPA/Rush 0.026 5th

Who would have thought the Cowboys offense would actually improve in virtually every efficiency metric in their first game without Lamb, who’s sidelined with a high ankle sprain? That’s exactly what they did, with the passing game making a huge leap thanks to some really intuitive play-calling from Brian Schottenheimer.

Meanwhile, the run game is officially for real in Dallas. Javonte Williams is fifth in yards after contact per attempt and still leads the league in rush success rate. After years of the Cowboys never knowing when they could rely on the ground game, Schottenheimer has answered every question through four weeks.

Dak Prescott’s Efficiency

Grade

Rank

QBR 74.2 4th
EPA/play 0.216 9th
CPOE 6.5 7th
EPA+CPOE Composite 0.163 8th
Success Rate 48.1% 16th

It’s officially time to start the Dak Prescott MVP train, y’all. Yes, it’s early, but Prescott is playing out of his mind right now. He currently leads the league in passing yards while sitting third in completion rate, and he’s tied with Matthew Stafford for most big time throws in the league. Just look at how he’s handling pressure versus the rest of the league right now:

This week, with Lamb on the sideline, he posted a 124.9 passer rating and a 0.536 EPA/play, both of which ranked third in the league for the week. Given the supporting cast he had, and the defense he was facing, that’s pretty darn impressive. If Prescott continues to play like this, he’ll be the MVP frontrunner in no time.

Cowboys Offensive Line Efficiency

Grade

Rank

Pressure Rate 30.6% 8th
Adjusted Sack Rate 4.3% 7th
Pass Block Win Rate 66% 8th
Run Block Win Rate 73% 9th
Adjusted Line Yards 5.24 3rd

Going back to that graphic about Prescott under pressure for a moment, the quarterback has a 9.2% pressure to sack ratio. That’s fifth-best in the NFL and, considering Dallas has three starters in the top 10 at their position in pressures allowed, it displays how Prescott is bailing out his line from some truly dreadful pass protection.

Brock Hoffman, who made his second start of the season this week, is already second among all centers in pressures allowed. Only two linemen at any position have allowed more pressures than Tyler Guyton so far. The run blocking has been great, but the pass protection is a really big issue that Prescott is masking beautifully for now.

Defense

Cowboys Defensive Efficiency

Grade

Rank

Defensive DVOA 29.7% 32nd
Pass Defense DVOA 60.8% 32nd
Run Defense DVOA -4.6% 22nd
Pressure Rate 32.2% 21st
Pass Rush Win Rate 30% 27th
Run Stop Win Rate 30% 19th
EPA/Play 0.261 32nd
EPA/Dropback Allowed 0.442 32nd
EPA/Rush Allowed -0.014 25th

And then there’s the defense.

As mentioned before, the Cowboys got better this week in most defensive efficiency metrics, but not enough to release themselves from the cellar. Matt Eberflus saw brief glimpses of what this defense should look like, but the Packers were still able to move the ball at will far too often.

The pass rush, especially, is an issue. With four weeks of data to go off of, and the debut of Jadeveon Clowney, Dallas is 21st in pressure rate and 27th in pass rush win rate. Only Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa have generated double-digit pressures, and James Houston just became the first player to hit multiple sacks. Odighizuwa leads the team with a 16.8% pass rush win rate, which is good for 35th in the league. This unit simply has to be better.

Cowboys Pass Coverage

Targets

Completions

Completion Rate

Passer Rating Allowed

ADOT When Targeted

Air Yards Allowed

Yards After Catch

Trevon Diggs 8 6 75.0% 156.3 22.8 118 18
DaRon Bland 10 7 70.0% 127.9 14.0 53 29
Kaiir Elam 20 17 85.0% 155.0 12.9 181 53
Reddy Steward 17 15 88.2% 98.0 3.0 4 124
Malik Hooker 4 4 100.0% 158.3 20.3 72 40
Donovan Wilson 12 8 66.7% 99.3 13.1 86 20
Jack Sanborn 11 10 90.9% 109.8 7.5 57 57
Marist Liufau 7 6 85.7% 108.9 3.4 6 64
Kenneth Murray 21 17 81.0% 98.2 2.6 24 135
Damone Clark 7 5 71.4% 84.2 4.7 17 21

DaRon Bland’s return did not magically improve the secondary, in case anyone was wondering. Green Bay actually went after Bland rather aggressively, targeting him eight times; Jordan Love had a ridiculous 130.7 passer rating when throwing at Bland.

Reddy Steward, who got the start over Trevon Diggs, also saw eight targets and gave up a completion every single time. There’s a lot to like about Steward’s physicality, but his pass coverage hasn’t quite lived up to the hype. Though, to be fair, nobody on this defense can say that right now.

See More:

Hot Fan Gear

Men's New Era Navy Dallas Cowboys Main Trucker 9FIFTY Snapback Hat

Men's New Era Navy Dallas Cowboys Main Trucker 9FIFTY Snapback Hat

Description

$36.99

Buy Now
Men's New Era  Graphite Dallas Cowboys 2024 NFL Draft 9FIFTY Snapback Hat

Men's New Era Graphite Dallas Cowboys 2024 NFL Draft 9FIFTY Snapback Hat

Description

$38.99

Buy Now
Men's New Era Navy Dallas Cowboys 2024 Sideline 9SEVENTY Stretch-Snap Hat

Men's New Era Navy Dallas Cowboys 2024 Sideline 9SEVENTY Stretch-Snap Hat

Description

$39.99

Buy Now
Men's New Era White/Navy Dallas Cowboys 2024 NFL Training Camp Golfer Snapback Hat

Men's New Era White/Navy Dallas Cowboys 2024 NFL Training Camp Golfer Snapback Hat

Description

$38.99

Buy Now
Men's Pro Standard  Black Dallas Cowboys Triple Black Pro Shooting T-Shirt

Men's Pro Standard Black Dallas Cowboys Triple Black Pro Shooting T-Shirt

Description

$79.99

Buy Now
Women's Fanatics White/Navy Dallas Cowboys Foiled Primary Lace-Up T-Shirt

Women's Fanatics White/Navy Dallas Cowboys Foiled Primary Lace-Up T-Shirt

Description

$54.99

Buy Now
Men's Fanatics Dallas Cowboys Serve T-Shirt Combo Pack

Men's Fanatics Dallas Cowboys Serve T-Shirt Combo Pack

Description

$35.99

Buy Now
Women's Nike Heather Navy Dallas Cowboys Fashion Tri-Blend T-Shirt

Women's Nike Heather Navy Dallas Cowboys Fashion Tri-Blend T-Shirt

Description

$34.99

Buy Now

Latest Posts

  • Dallas Cowboys News
  • Dallas Cowboys Video
Load More

End of Content.

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent Posts

  • Dallas Cowboys News
  • Dallas Cowboys Video
Load More

End of Content.

Stay Informed with Our Latest Updates

You have been successfully Subscribed! Ops! Something went wrong, please try again.

How ‘Bout Dem Cowboys is your ultimate destination for the latest Dallas Cowboys news, fan gear, and community connection.

© 2024 How ‘Bout Dem Cowboys