The latest headlines surrounding the Dallas Cowboys as we head into the weekend.
3 Dallas Cowboys keys to victory vs. Atlanta Falcons: Time for some wild creativity? – Abraham Nudelstejer, Dallas Morning News
The Cowboys must have success in these areas if they wish to beat the Atlanta Falcons this weekend.
Containing Cousins
Mike Zimmer knows Kirk Cousins well, but that may not be enough to slow down one of the league’s best quarterbacks. The two met when the current Cowboys defensive coordinator served as head coach of the Vikings. Zimmer will need a solid game plan for Dallas to come out of Atlanta with a win. The mission is complicated as Cousins, in his first season with the Falcons, is living up to the high expectations placed upon him after signing in free agency. With 2,106 passing yards, the Atlanta quarterback is third in the NFL. He has connected for 14 touchdowns and has seven interceptions. Cousins is averaging 263.3 yards per game. The Cowboy’s defense has allowed an average of 218 passing yards per game. On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys have been missing All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons (ankle), defensive back DaRon Bland (foot) and defensive tackle DeMarcus Lawrence (foot), but there’s an outside chance Bland could return this week.
Take care of the football
Turnovers are killing the Cowboys, among other things. Dallas is the third-worst in the NFL with a minus-8 turnover differential. Only Las Vegas and Tennessee have worse marks at minus-13. Dallas has given up nine interceptions and four fumbles. Against the Falcons, Prescott will have to avoid putting the ball in the opposing team’s hands. The Cowboys quarterback has thrown two interceptions in each of his last three games. Prescott, who has eight of the Cowboys’ interceptions, had nine during the entire regular season in 2023.
“Dak is as fierce a competitor as there is,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said in a recent appearance on “K&C Masterpiece” on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM). “And of course, when you’re having a season like we’re having right now, where we’re not playing to the level that we felt like we can play … I think all competitors push, and he’s pushing to make plays.”
Atlanta is in the league’s bottom half for passing yards allowed per game, representing a good opportunity for Prescott to bounce back.
Science Lab: Dak needs to run more; here’s why – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
Patrik Walker makes the case for Dak Prescott to use his legs more instead of staying a pocket-passer.
Flash forward to the present and it’s as if something is handcuffing Prescott to the pocket, with head coach and offensive playcaller Mike McCarthy identifying that Something as the flow of each game.
And then there’s owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who would prefer Prescott to stay put and not risk injury by scrambling as he once did; and there is some credence to that take, yes.
I, however, land wildly on the opposite side of it…
…Additionally, until he creates the threat of running past the line of scrimmage, his rollouts will continue to be less than effective in forcing linebackers and cornerbacks to abandon coverage for fear of Prescott running.
At this point, they know he won’t run and so they’re not even remotely considering crashing down to try and stop him; and that fuels another issue entirely:
Interceptions.
Cowboys Today: Here’s why Dallas might not be getting as many takeaways – Jon Machota, The Athletic
Trevon Diggs gives an explanation for the decline in turnovers this season.
“Our defensive scheme now doesn’t really allow us to get a lot of turnovers,” Diggs said. “It’s more so just playing good football. Playing 11-man football.”
Is it because there is less vision on the ball?
“Yeah, a lot less vision on the ball,” Diggs said. “Just us being able to read our man, a lot less man (coverage). … Definitely a very unique defense, a lot of calls, we got a lot of formations, shifting, different calls. It requires you to play a little bit slower, got to think more, instead of knowing what you have. Like knowing, ‘OK, I have this man. I can play faster. I can be on my man, I know what I have,’ instead of reading stuff and reading players. It’s a little bit more effort.
“But it’s still a good defense at the end of the day. We just have to all buy into it and put our best foot forward. … Definitely just learning how to play fast in that system.”
2024 NFL trade deadline: Which teams should add, subtract? – Bill Barnwell, ESPN
Will the Cowboys participate in a trade before the deadline on November 5th?
It has been an ugly start to the season for the Cowboys. They can’t run the ball. Dak Prescott’s interception variance has veered the wrong way, as the $60 million quarterbackhas thrown eight picks in seven games. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is coming off his best game of the season, but wideout Brandin Cooks is on injured reserve and rookie first-round pick Tyler Guyton has struggled at left tackle.
Oh, and that’s comfortably the positive side of the ledger in Big D. This defense is a disaster. Dallas ranks 30th in EPA per play allowed, 29th in QBR allowed and 29th in success rate against the run. It has been without cornerback DaRon Bland all season and hasn’t had star pass rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence for the past three games. The unit wasn’t any good before they got injured, either.
Could the defense turn things around in the second half? Potentially. Getting Parsons back will obviously help. A unit that thrived in creating takeaways under Dan Quinn the past few seasons has forced only five turnovers in seven games, which should improve in the second half. Coordinator Mike Zimmer’s defense has recovered one of the six fumbles that have hit the ground on defense, which is more bad luck than anything else.
The schedule gets a little easier from here on out, and after a trip to Atlanta this week, four of their next five games are at home. If the defense doesn’t improve, though, they might not want to face the fans in Arlington so often. This feels like a season that already has gotten away from the Cowboys, although it wouldn’t be shocking if they made a superficial move to add a running back at the deadline to try to spark some interest and allow team owner Jerry Jones to brag about opening his checkbook.
The verdict: The Cowboys should subtract at the deadline but likely will add.
Cowboys seeing small steps of improvement from rookie offensive lineman Tyler Guyton – R.J. Coyle, Dallas Morning News
Rookie LT Tyler Guyton has shown some improvement since returning from injury.
Guyton returned to game action for the first time in three weeks against the 49ers and played one of his best games thus far against San Francisco. His pass-blocking grade of 72.0 given by Pro Football Focus is the highest of his career.
“It’s a constant improvement everywhere,” Guyton said when asked how his game has improved through the first nine weeks of his NFL career. “As a whole, I try to get better at everything. I still have everything in the world to work on. I’m not polished up, but I’m still working.”
Guyton exited the Cowboys’ Week 5 game against the Steelers with a knee injury, then missed the game against the Lions despite practicing that week and being expected to start. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy had explained that Guyton simply “wasn’t ready to go” against the Lions.
Guyton recovered during the bye week, however, and in 44 pass blocks against the 49ers allowed just 4 QB pressures. He didn’t allow a sack. His PFF pass-blocking grade on the year is 53.7, 84th out of 122 tackles in the NFL.
Small steps.
Dak Prescott says Dallas Cowboys Week 9 gameplan has him ‘excited’ – Josh Sanchez, Sports Illustrated
Dak Prescott is confident with the preparation that this offense has had this week as they prepare to face the Atlanta Falcons.
Cowboys star quarterbak Dak Prescott discussed the team’s preparations for the Atlanta Falcons this week and showed some excitement about what the team has in store.
“Excited about this game plan. Think we’ve got a great one in the making” Prescott told the media on Thursday. “Now it’s about for us just locking in, being focused to it, and going out there and not only implementing it but executing it to the way that we want to.”
The Cowboys offense desperately needs a spark, so hopefully Dak’s excitement is a sign of things to come. If players are excited about the gameplan, that could bring the energy that the team has lacked.
