One day later… the Dallas Cowboys season opener feels even better than it did in real time.
The Dallas Cowboys took care of business on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns and needless to say it was the kind of thing that we all needed to see from this team.
Just about every headline about the team between last season’s playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers and kickoff on Sunday in Cleveland had to do with a lack of free agency activity or contract extensions that were not happening. The Cowboys took care of extensions for both CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott recently and on Sunday the team in no way looked like one under the cloud that appeared to hover over them to this point.
It was impressive in this respect. We do not need to overreact and plan a trip to New Orleans, incidentally Dallas plays the Saints next, but we can celebrate that this looks like one of the better teams in the league.
Context matters in all discussions which is why we perform the exercise we are about to every week.
Here are our thoughts on Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys game, one day later.
The Eric Kendricks signing may have been a much bigger deal than we originally made it out to be
Remember that Eric Kendricks initially agreed to terms with the San Francisco 49ers. No, seriously. This happened.
It was an eleventh hour sort of thing how the Cowboys got the player who might wind up winning NFC Defensive Player of the Week with how he played in Cleveland. Kendricks was the first free agent signing that Dallas made and given all of the “all in” stuff, the initial deal with San Francisco and Dallas’ history with free agency in general, it was kind of a yawn sort of reaction from folks.
Kendricks was a star on Sunday against the Browns. While the Cleveland offense is hardly one to brag about slowing down, Kendricks was everywhere and manning the group with serious authority.
What’s more is that Kendricks did something the Cowboys franchise has not seen in almost 40 years. He joined Tommy Haynes and Jim Jeffcoat as the only three players to record two sacks and an interception in a single game.
Dallas Cowboys LB Eric Kendricks recorded 2 sacks and 1 interception during Sunday’s win against the Cleveland Browns.
This is the first time a player has done this in Cowboys franchise history in 37 years and only the third overall.
Tommy Haynes (1987) and Jim Jeffcoat (1985)… pic.twitter.com/ILhfxpDS5J
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) September 9, 2024
It would be foolish to expect these kind of performances every single week, and for what it’s worth while Kendricks’ name is the one in the history books, Micah Parsons deserves an enormous amount of credit for the statistics he picked up.
But that is sort of the thing. Dallas finally has a linebacker capable of capitalizing on the chaos created by the teammates around him. Kendricks may have been the perfect fit for what this team has needed in the heart of its defense.
Speaking of!
Along those lines, Mike Zimmer may have been exactly what this team needed
It will be interesting to measure this defense against Derek Carr’s Saints next week (what a time to be saying this in total seriousness), but right now Mike Zimmer looks like the perfect person for the Cowboys to have turned the defense over to.
I’ll admit that I was skeptical and ultimately was down on the move. It felt like Dallas doing something comfortable and not trying hard to change, but maybe that’s because they knew the exact kind of change needed and the perfect person to implement it.
All throughout training camp we heard Cowboys players talking about the level of accountability that Zimmer was instilling within them. Cleveland ultimately put some points on the scoreboard in this game, but they happened when the Cowboys had called off the horses with the game well out of reach.
Maybe the Cowboys had a plan all along and it actually worked. Respect.
The Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb connection will define this team, both now and long-term
CeeDee Lamb “only” had five catches for 61 yards in this game, but the majority of his work came early on when the game was competitive. As Dallas put it on ice he also got a chance to rest.
That Lamb looked so good in the first bit of action we have seen him during was highly impressive. The same can be true for his quarterback in Dak Prescott, and seeing how the organization just made substantial commitments to them for the next half-decade, what the team does or does not accomplish will rest largely on their shoulders.
It is not hyperbole to say that the success of this relationship is among the most very important things going on with the Dallas Cowboys for the next handful of years. Seeing their connection and chemistry thrive on Sunday, albeit in a small sample size, was a great reinforcement on the idea that Dallas has made the right bet here.
