Your Sunday morning Cowboys news.
Bye-ology Report: Assessing the Cowboys at the break – Staff, DallasCowboys.com
Looking forward for the Cowboys after the break.
Need (much) more from this guy …
Tommy – Dak Prescott. Sure, the run game has struggled to open up the offense, but the highest paid QB in the NFL needs to make plays to help counter that.
Nick – One of my favorite players of all time is Zack Martin. And I get it, players get older and it’s not the same. But with the youth on this O-line, the Cowboys need to be able to rely on Martin more than ever.
Patrik – CeeDee Lamb: On this offense, he is him, period. Problem is, there hasn’t yet been four quarters of him destroying a defense. It will all go as he does, offensively.
Expectations between now and Thanksgiving …
Patrik: Impossible to know what comes out of the bye, so I’ll lean on recency under McCarthy and expect them to use the humiliation against the Lions, plus the bye, as a launching pad.
Nick: You’ve split the first six games – oddly enough with undefeated on the road and winless at home. But even if they can manage another split, they’ll be in decent shape. While I wouldn’t dare look past this 49ers game next on the schedule, the Nov. 3 game in Atlanta seems to be one this team absolutely has to have.
Tommy: Find a way to win at home. The Cowboys are 16-2 over the last two seasons at AT&T Stadium coming into this year, and the fans haven’t gone anywhere. Regaining the advantage and confidence on home turf is going to play a big role in how the rest of the season plays out.
Russini’s what I’m hearing: Jerry Jones, master of deflection – Dianna Russini, The Athletic
Is Jerry Jones really the master of deflection as Russsini explains, or did he simply lose his cool in public? In any case, forget about any coaching changes or further trades this year.
In the aftermath of his heated exchange with local radio hosts, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has succeeded in one thing: deflection.
Despite the team’s blowout loss on his 82nd birthday, Jones has completely taken the heat off his players and coaching staff during their bye week. It’s been all about Jerry’s outburst — very little about the Cowboys’ underachieving offense or their struggling defense.
Jones told me at the owners’ meetings in Atlanta that he has no plans to fire head coach Mike McCarthy or any coordinators. He also added that Dallas won’t be making roster moves before the NFL trade deadline in November. He may be an irritated owner at the moment, but he still believes in what “Jerry the GM” has built.
Cowboys Corner: Grading the season so far, including an ‘F’ for defense – David Helman & Ralph Vacciano, Foxsports
Will Jerry Jones try to fire everyone who doesn’t kowtow to Jerry The Munificent?
Owner/GM Jerry Jones
Vacchiano: He already got an F for the offseason when he passed on all the available running backs (including Derrick Henry, who got just $9 million guaranteed from Baltimore). Now he’s passed on available receivers like Davante Adams (traded to the Jets) and old friend Amari Cooper (traded to the Bills). Meanwhile, he continues to make the laughable excuse that they don’t have the salary cap room to add any outside help.
He does get credit for locking up Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to long-term contract extensions and for his plan to lock up Micah Parsons in the offseason. That’s great for the future, but what about the now? Maybe he’ll wake up before the trading deadline. But for now, the only good thing Jones has done to help his team is not panic. He could become reactionary and fire McCarthy or something. But he at least is smart enough to recognize they’re just one game back in the NFC East and the division and conference are very ripe for the taking. He just has to do something to help them take it.
Grade: D
Head Coach Mike McCarthy
Helman: I’ve been a longtime defender of McCarthy, because he’s brought a level of stability to Dallas that the organization hadn’t seen in decades. You can scoff at the playoff failures all you want, but 2021-23 was the first time the Cowboys had strung together three consecutive playoff appearances since they were winning championships in the 90s.
With all of that said, I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to defend six weeks into 2024. This team looks mostly abysmal on both sides of the ball, and a lot of that lies at McCarthy’s feet. He certainly deserves some blame for a shaky offensive performance, as he is in his second year as the playcaller. Everything looks hard for that unit. The Cowboys can’t run the ball, their receivers can’t generate separation and they can’t convert in the red zone. There are no “easy” buttons in this offense. Some of that might be on the front office for failing to upgrade the personnel, but a good playcaller can negate some of that. McCarthy has not.
McCarthy might not oversee the Dallas defense on a day-to-day level, but as the head coach, he still bears some responsibility for that side of the ball — which, yikes.
All in all, I’ll give McCarthy credit that the team is 3-3, and the Cowboys have managed to outplay some of the manageable teams on their schedule. That’s not the expectation or the standard in Dallas, though.
Grade: D-
Dallas Cowboys fan viewing guide for Week 7: Grouping games to watch during the bye – Aaron Kasinitz, Lone Star Live
Even though the Cowboys are off this week, there’s plenty of reason to tune in to the NFL this weekend.
Keeping an eye on the division
New York Giants (2-4) at Philadelphia Eagles (3-2); 12.p.m. on Fox
Carolina Panthers (1-5) at Commanders (4-2); 3:05 on Fox
The NFC East race is jumbled entering the Week 7 slate, as the Commanders, Eagles, Cowboys and Giants all sit within two games of each other.
Philadelphia’s been the toughest divisional challenger to Dallas in recent years, but the team seemed out of sorts down the stretch of last season and is still aiming to iron out some issues after five games. A home loss to the Giants could signal real trouble for Eagles, while New York would slip further from contention with another setback.
Meanwhile, Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels leads the NFL with a 75.3% completion rate and will attract attention from Cowboys fans or anyone else watching football Sunday. With a victory over the lowly Panthers, the Commanders would remain in first place.
Studying upcoming opponents
Seattle Seahawks (3-3) at Atlanta Falcons (4-2); noon on Fox
Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) at San Francisco 49ers (3-3); 3:25 p.m. on CBS
The Cowboys come out of the bye with a game at the 49ers on Oct. 27 and then play at the Falcons the next week. Considering the direction of the season and the way the NFC wildcard race is shaping up, that two-game stretch is positioned as a crucial part of the season.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Falcons are still angling to become a factor in the conference title race, and the 49ers are hopeful to find their rhythm in a Super Bowl rematch. With running back Christian McCaffrey sidelined and quarterback Brock Purdy taking on more responsibility, San Francisco’s offense looks different this year than it did when the team pounded the Cowboys last October.
Cowboys mailbag: Questions on the bye week, offensive line, and best Cowboys player – Mike Poland & Dana Bartholomew , BTB
Answering your burning questions about the Dallas Cowboys.
“Coming off that horrendous home loss to Detroit, how grateful are the Cowboys that now is their bye week?” (@MrEd315 on Twitter)
Mike: Well, at least they can’t lose this week. The bye week for this coaching staff needs to be a moment of serious reflection and to figure out what steps they need to take to get the wheels back on track for this season. The front office proclaimed there will be no trades coming to help bolster the this roster. So the only thing left to do as fans is hold on tight get ready for the ride. For some optimism, the Cowboys will face the San Francisco 49ers who are facing their personal struggles. They will face the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend so the hope is the Chiefs will play hard against them and demoralize the 49ers team enough that it softens them up for the following against Dallas.
Dana: One of the biggest benefits to having the bye week this week, is it gives time for the injured players to heal up. And the Cowboys are going to need to get back as many players as they can to make the game competitive against the 49ers next week. Guys like DaRon Bland, Caelen Carson, Tyler Guyton, Eric Kendricks, Nick Vigil, and Micah Parsons all have a chance to play in Week 8. The 49ers have a long list of players on their injury report as well. So, one advantage that the Cowboys have over the 49ers is that they don’t have to play the Chiefs this week, the 49ers do.
“How do we revamp this O-line for next season, maybe keeping Zack Martin. Every team knows we can’t run the ball.” (@Jörgen Veisland on Facebook)
Mike: By the way Martin is playing it looks more likely retirement is coming. There’s a physiological phenomenon where whenever someone talks about retirement, mentally they have already retired. It’s possible this is the case with Martin. As for how to fix the problem with the offensive line, well that’s not something that can be done overnight. An offensive line is only as good as it’s weakest link and there are a couple of links that need addressing. That will mean using draft picks next year or trading for productive linemen (which is unlikely). Or there’s a chance a veteran lineman worth the time enters the free market next year and Dallas manages to snag one (also unlikely).
Dana: Next season, Cooper Beebe and Tyler Guyton will have a season under their belt and I expect both to be improved over this year. The main concern for next season is at RG and RT. Even if Zack Martin chooses not to retire, it might be worth looking for a replacement to start to develop behind him. Next to him RT Terrance Steele just hasn’t been able to get back to the level he was at before his injury a few seasons ago. It may be worth looking for new options there as well.
2 Cowboys players will see a decreasing role after bye week – Mark Heaney, Inside the Star
The umpteenth rant on why Ezekiel Elliott should see a reduced role for the team.
Ezekiel Elliott: RB1 Debate Is No Longer
[…] We can’t pretend anymore that a lack of opportunities, a need to get “warmed-up,” or offensive line problems is the cause of Elliott’s slow start.
It’s his declining ability in 2024. That’s why he is struggling to make the same impact this year. He is facing career lows in rushing success rate, yards per carry, and yards per game. I mean for crying out loud, his longest rush on the season in just under 40 attempts is a nine-yard rush.
[…]
Rico Dowdle is clearly the Cowboys’ best running back, and we need to see Mike McCarthy and the offense recognize that fact in their Week 8 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
In Week 5, Dowdle doubled Elliott’s best yardage performance of the year with a career-best game. It is simply not a debate between these two anymore.
