Cowboys’ 45% Man Coverage Sparks Defensive Revival – Cody Warren, Inside The Star
The Cowboys played to their strengths of their defensive personnel better than they have all season against the Commanders.
Yet under defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, the Cowboys proved that adaptability — not rigidity — can spark a defensive revival.
Eberflus, long known for his predominantly zone-based system, changed course.
Instead of relying on spot-drop coverage and soft zone looks, he unleashed a man-heavy attack — calling man coverage on more than 45% of defensive snaps, the highest rate of the season. The impact was immediate.
While in man coverage, the Commanders’ passing game completely collapsed:
That shift let the defense play fast, physical, and instinctive — finally matching scheme with talent.
Man Coverage Ignites the Pass Rush
As Sports Illustrated reported, the Cowboys’ man coverage didn’t just help the secondary — it reignited the pass rush that had been under fire all year:
The correlation is clear — when coverage holds, the front can feast.
Tight man defense forced Jayden Daniels to hesitate, giving Dallas’ rushers the extra second they’ve been missing all season.
Lessons learned: Cowboys defense can actually adjust among major revelations from Week 7 – Reid Hanson, The Cowboys Wire
Elite offenses like the Cowboys are hard to come by and even harder to maintain, and Dallas has work to do to keep their best play makers in place.
Third thing learned: Dominant offenses are worth investing in
Seeing George Pickens, CeeDee Lamb and Javonte Williams all on the field together and playing at the top of their respective games is enough to leave Keith Sweat Twisted. It’s entertainment at the highest level and utterly memorizing even if the pass protection still looks suspect.
The dominance of the offense combined with the draft picks sitting in the arsenal says the Cowboys would be wise to further their financial investment in the unit. No one else in the NFL has two first round picks in each of the next two drafts, so Dallas is uniquely qualified to go all-in on their offense now, while going all-in on their defense come draft day over the next two Aprils.
To clarify: Pickens and Williams might be worth re-signing.
Final thoughts
The Cowboys are still alive. They needed a win in Week 7 to stay relevant and at 3-3-1 they are just barely that. Two more wins will make the case they are contenders and only then will they be justified in perusing the trade market. Anything short of using their first-round picks would then be justified, provided it was for a defensive player under team control beyond 2025. But that’s a potential story for a different day…
5 Stars from Cowboys’ 44-22 win over Commanders – LP Cruz, Blogging The Boys
Having CeeDee Lamb back on offense is so awesome.
CeeDee Lamb
Seeing how the offense was faring without Lamb, everyone expected the offense to take the next step once the All-Pro receiver returned from his multi-week absence, and man, we were proven right. Immediately, Dak Prescott and Lamb got on the right track with Lamb working the middle of the field and being a prime target for short to intermediate areas of the field. Lamb had the play of the day when he and Prescott connected on a 74-yard strike.
Lamb actually beat the secondary not once, but twice before making the catch in front of Marshon Lattimore, who collides with Quan Martin, before Lamb jogs alongside George Pickens for 35 yards for the touchdown. Right now, the Cowboys have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to offensive options. With Pickens demanding attention from the safeties over the top, it opens up a lot of green grass for Lamb to dominate. Welcome back, CeeDee Lamb.
DaRon Bland proved he can still be a playmaker with the right play-calling and with the Cowboys’ pass rush heating up.
He intercepted Marcus Mariota and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Cowboys’ 44-22 win over the Commanders.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I got it. We’ll get this one,’” Bland said, via Patrik Walker of the team website. “Even though the sun was beaming in my face a little bit, it was good. . . . I was more so just telling myself to not drop it because it was just me and the end zone.”
It was Bland’s sixth career pick-six, but his first since Week 12 of 2023 against Washington. That was one of five interception returns for touchdowns in his only All-Pro season.
Rod Woodson holds the NFL record with 12 pick-sixes.
Mariota joins Daniel Jones (22 yards), Mac Jones (54 yards), Matthew Stafford (30 yards), Bryce Young (30 yards) and Sam Howell (63 yards) as quarterbacks Bland has scored against.
“I was trying to make a play,” Mariota said. “You know, you come into the game and just with where [the score] was, I probably could have thrown it away at that point in time. I thought I saw J-Mac [Jeremy McNichols] open in the flat. I got hit as I threw and [the ball] didn’t get all the way over there, and the guy made a play on it.
NFL suspends Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw one game for incident with official after Sunday’s game – Staff, NFL.com
A big early story for the Cowboys week eight road game at the Denver Broncos.
The NFL said in a statement that Greenlaw “chased after referee Brad Allen and verbally threatened him as he tried to leave the field.”
Greenlaw will appeal his suspension, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
Greenlaw is set to miss Denver’s Week 8 game against the Dallas Cowboys and will be eligible to return to the Broncos’ active roster on Oct. 27.
Sunday marked Greenlaw’s first game with the Broncos after he missed the first six weeks of the season due to a thigh injury and he finished with six tackles and one QB hit.
Greenlaw signed a three-year, $31.5 million contract with Denver this past offseason following six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
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