Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images There are certain players this week expected to shine. As the Cowboys prepare to host the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday, all eyes are on Dallas’ difficult task of trying to stop QB Lamar Jackson. But that’s just one matchup that will impact the outcome of this game. How might some others lead to fortune or failure for certain Cowboys? BUY QB Dak Prescott Baltimore’s 0-2 right now largely because they’ve been unable to slow down opponents’ passing games, with a pass defense ranking near the bottom in several categories. Struggling against the Chiefs in Arrowhead was one thing, but last week the Ravens gave up nearly the same number in a home game against the Raiders. This points to a potentially big game for Prescott, who goes into it knowing that he can’t count on the run game or his defense to get the job done. Getting TE Jake Ferguson back will only help open up the offense. WR CeeDee Lamb One reason that opposing passing games have done so well is that the Ravens have had no answer for number-one receivers. Rashee Rice hit them for 103 yards on seven catches in Week 1 and Davantae Adams had nine catches for 110 yards and a touchdown last Sunday. We’ll take Lamb over either of them, especially after two weeks and more time for him and Prescott to find their groove again. Look for Lamb to have a big day against Baltimore. EDGE Micah Parsons Lamar Jackson has only been sacked three times in two games, but all three have come from defensive stars in the Chiefs’ Chris Jones and Vegas’ Maxx Crosby. After getting shut down by New Orleans, Parsons will be extra hungry this week and should have opportunities to affect the game. SELL Running Backs If things weren’t already bleak for Dallas’ run game, Baltimore has yet to allow an opposing RB to average over 3.0 yards per carry. Isiah Pacheco only had 45 yards on 15 carries and then Zamir White had just nine rushes for 24 yards. Unless the Ravens overcompensate for their pass defense and open up the running lanes, it’s hard to see how Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle will fare any better given what we’ve seen so far. WR Brandin Cooks It’s already been a slow start to the year for Cooks with just six catches for 59 yards, albeit with one touchdown. That could continue as second receivers haven’t done much in Baltimore’s last two games. Kansas City’s Xavier Worthy and the Raiders’ Jakobi Meyers had a combined six catches for 76 yards and one score in their games against the Ravens. That’s partly due to how effectively the passing game ran through the top receivers, so the big game we predicted for Lamb could mean another quiet one for Cooks.

Madden believes the Ravens are going to cruise (relatively) to victory against the Cowboys. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this week has carried the least amount of optimism from Dallas Cowboys fans so far on the season. Obviously we are only three weeks in, but the mood and vibe have been low. Such is the case when you are coming off of a 44-19 loss and one of only 11 teams in NFL history to allow 44+ points to be scored against you in consecutive games at home (playoffs included). It goes without saying that a win could go a long way around here. Oddsmakers believe that is unlikely though as Dallas is a home underdog against the Baltimore Ravens this week. We have seen oddsmakers be wrong in each of the last two Cowboys games at home though as Dallas was favored significantly in both of them only to be blown out in each contest. What about Madden, though? What does the video game have to say? Every week we run a simulation to see how it has the Cowboys doing and this week the game is calling for more bad vibes. Madden has Dallas losing to Baltimore by a final score of 21-14. Entering Week 3, Madden had not been kind to the Cowboys as last week the game called for Dallas to lose a high-scoring affair and while that was halfway true the Cowboys did not live up to any sort of high-scoring output themselves. Clearly they did lose. Madden predicted a Dallas win in Week 1 only for the Cowboys to walk away with a smooth victory. So far this season the game is all over the place. Week 1 Madden Prediction: Dallas Cowboys lose to Cleveland Browns, 18-17 Week 1 In Actuality: Dallas Cowboys beat Cleveland Browns, 33-17 Week 2 Madden Prediction: Dallas Cowboys lose to New Orleans Saints, 36-29 Week 2 in Actuality: Dallas Cowboys lose to New Orleans Saints, 44-10 This particular simulation was interesting though as it had Dak Prescott getting hurt down the stretch with Dallas trying to tie things up. Cooper Rush pulled off some amazing throws on a third and fourth down to get Dallas down to the goal line, but Ezekiel Elliott was stopped at the 1-yard line. Amazingly the Cowboys got the ball back around midfield with the score the same and under a minute to go, but a Rush checkdown to Elliott landed four yards shy of the endzone for the game’s final play. Should the Cowboys lose they will fall to 1-2 on the season, a record they have had 12 times in franchise history. They have only made the playoffs on four of those instances (Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott were part of the group who pulled it off in 2018), but Madden seems to think they will soon have to try and do it again.

Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images This is fantastic to see. The past two offseasons have seen the Cowboys undergo a complete and total reorganization of their analytics department, starting with the hiring of John Park to run the department following the 2023 NFL Draft. It seems that this effort has not gone unnoticed, as the Cowboys received plenty of praise from the latest NFL analytics survey conducted by ESPN. This is a survey that ESPN has been conducting for several years now, and the list of questions are sent out to each NFL organization. While multiple analytics staffers can answer the question from each team, only one submission per team is permitted. So, for example, Park could answer one question on the survey and then have the rest of his team answer the remaining questions. This year’s survey received responses from 22 teams, with some leaving additional comments and follow-up conversations. As has been the case since this survey began, the Cleveland Browns take the top spot when asked about which team is the most analytically advanced, produces the most analytics work, and incorporates analytics the most into their decision-making. That’s no surprise, as the Browns have the largest analytics department in the NFL, and have for some time. However, the Cowboys have received the most votes in a question for the first time in this survey’s history. The question posed was centered around which team has improved the most in terms of analytics capability and implementation in the last two years. Out of 20 responses to this question, the Cowboys received 13 votes; only one other team received multiple votes. The following was said about the organization: Dallas was chosen as the clear runaway most-improved franchise here over the past two years. The Cowboys have made substantial staffing changes since last summer, when they hired John Park as their director of strategic football operations from the Colts. They’ve since added four more full-time employees to their analytics group in addition to Kathy Evans — a former VP at Monumental Sports (Washington Wizards and Mystics) and a big name in sports analytics — and a pair of strategic football fellows. “The growth of their team,” an AFC staffer said on why they picked the Cowboys as the most improved. “It’s Dallas, they have more resources than anybody. It’s been cool to see that department grow.” The Cowboys also received the fourth-most votes when asked about the top five most analytically advanced teams. Their nine votes placed them behind analytical heavyweights like the Browns, Ravens, and Eagles but ahead of teams like the 49ers and Vikings, the latter of which is run by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, previously the top analytics staffer in Cleveland who also helped orchestrate the current analytics infrastructure in San Francisco. When talking about football analytics, this is very good company to be in, and it signals the seismic shift in the Cowboys’ attitude as an organization to the integration of analytics into their decision making. We previously detailed the nature of that shift and the growing trust in the new-look analytics department, but these survey results indicate that the rest of the league is also taking note of the Cowboys’ data science efforts.

Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Baltimore’s defense is going to make things tough on Sunday. The Cowboys are 1-1 on the year, and while that’s not terrible, their offensive output hasn’t been great. To be fair, though, they’ve faced two extremely talented defenses in those two games in the Browns and the Saints. Up next: another franchise who is known for their defense, and the only defense to rank better than Cleveland a year ago, the Baltimore Ravens. While the Ravens have been known for their defense for quite some time, they’ve struggled on that side of the ball so far this season. Part of that has to do with facing Patrick Mahomes in Week 1, but another part has to do with the new man in charge of the defense. The Ravens were the league’s most efficient defense last year. Much of the praise for that was directed to defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. Schematically, Macdonald hadn’t done anything new or revolutionary for the Ravens, but he did make things more efficient. Macdonald first joined the Ravens in 2014 as an intern and he rose up the ranks under two different Ravens coordinators in Dean Pees and Wink Martindale. Both coaches ran the same scheme, but with different styles and preferences. That base scheme is one that had been prevalent in Baltimore all the way back to the 2000 season, when the franchise scored its first Super Bowl win. Along the way, each coordinator added a few new wrinkles to the scheme, mutating it over time into a bit of a beast. By the time Macdonald took over, he noticed the need for some serious streamlining. The efficiency with which Macdonald achieved this helped the Ravens put up consecutive years of extremely productive defensive football. This led to Macdonald’s coaching stock soaring, and he’s now the head coach of the surprise 2-0 Seahawks. Taking Macdonald’s place is Zach Orr, a former Ravens linebacker whose rookie season in Baltimore was also the year that Macdonald starting with the Ravens. Orr began coaching in 2017 and, aside from one year with the Jaguars, has been with the Ravens his entire career. At just 32 years old, Orr is one of the youngest coordinators in the NFL. So far, the inexperience has shown up on the field. The Ravens didn’t have many answers for the Chiefs, frequently exposing linebacker Roquan Smith in coverage against Kansas City’s speedy receivers. And the defense allowed 13 unanswered points in just over nine minutes to the Raiders to cost them the game last week, sending Baltimore to an 0-2 record and setting off alarms everywhere. The secondary has been the biggest issue. They’ve allowed explosive passing plays (15 yards or more) on 17.7% of passing downs, the second-most in the league. They’re also 19th in pass defense DVOA. Safety Kyle Hamilton, who’s been rapidly ascending the list of top safeties in the league, has yet to force an incompletion and is allowing the second-highest passer rating among safeties with at least eight targets. Smith and fellow linebacker Trenton Simpson have also been heavily targeted, and each are in the top 10 among linebackers in yards after the catch allowed. This is all in spite of a very good pass rush for Baltimore. They’re currently sixth in pressure rate and tied for third in sacks despite having the ninth-lowest blitz rate. In short, they’re only rushing four on a majority of plays and winning a lot of the time. The problem is that quarterbacks are also getting the ball out and hitting open receivers with room to run. In fact, the Ravens are giving up the most yards after catch in the league right now, an uncharacteristic trait for this franchise. Now they’re facing an offense that prefers to throw the ball, even when their run game is working, and are doing so with a few players that thrive in YAC situations. Last year, CeeDee Lamb had the second-most yards after catch in the league (he was only three yards out of first place) while Jake Ferguson finished sixth among tight ends. KaVontae Turpin also has the tools to rack up the YAC, especially with an expanded receiving role this year. And, of course, there’s Dak Prescott. The highest paid player in the NFL has put up middling performances against two defenses with elite secondaries, but the Ravens have looked susceptible against quick and accurate passers thus far. Prescott has a real opportunity to get back on track against this defense, a sentence that would have seemed a fantasy just two weeks ago. Of course, the Ravens have enough talent that things still won’t be easy even when they’re not playing well, but the Cowboys surprisingly match up well against this unit heading into the matchup.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Both the Cowboys and Ravens have interesting rookie classes. Previously we broke down both team’s offense and for the upcoming game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens. Now we dive back into the position battleground, this time looking at how some of each team’s rookie class stack up against each other. (Grades for each player are the overall offensive of defensive grade handed out by PFF.com) Dallas Cowboys Tyler Guyton First RoundGuyton has his work cut out again this week facing a reasonable pass rush threat. The rookie is developing well as a pass blocker, but it’s clear he still has some way to go. Staying on top of pass rushers and not allowing them to get into him so easily is a key area for him to improve on. This week he faces the threat of Odafe Oweh. Oweh is a threat, but he represents a pass rush threat lower than what Guyton has faced the first two weeks. Grade: 49.1 Marshawn Kneeland Second RoundKneeland had an inspiring first game but for what ever reason he was in on only 18 snaps last week. With the reduction in snaps he came away with only one assisted tackle. Facing an offensive line that has uncertainty with inconsistent play, Kneeland could benefit this week if he gets more reps. His run defending is at a standard where playing him against a team that has both Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry will give this Cowboys defensive line a boost.Grade: 54.3 Cooper Beebe Third RoundThere’s no major negative comment to write on Beebe so far, and that’s a good thing to say about your starting center. Apart from the small blip he had last week he’s been fine, and let’s face it, last week there were some major blips in that game. Beebe has his work cut out this week with a solid group of inside defensive linemen for the Ravens. He’ll need to snap and set quickly this week as the Ravens have some explosive and quick-footed defensive tackles at their disposal. Grade: 63.7 Marist Liufau Third RoundLiufau got unfairly put through his paces last week. People can point out issues with him being indecisive or not drifting quickly enough, but the rookie linebacker was having problems with his defensive linemen getting thrown around like an empty suitcase which gave him more work than he could handle. He’s able enough and quick enough to get in and bring Jackson down when he gets his skates on. Liufau is one linebacker this week whose skill set really is good at chasing down mobile quarterbacks. It just relies on how effective the defensive line can be to keep Liufau clear to make the tackles.Grade: 38.4 Caelen Carson Fifth Round Carson needs to be on his toes this week as he’ll face either Zay Flowers or Rashod Bateman. Flowers leads the wide receiver corps in receiving and Bateman is sneaky good. Either way, Carson will look to improve his performance from last week (which is true for all the defensive backs). One major positive is through the first two weeks the Ravens wide receivers have only scored one touchdown.Grade: 52.5 Ryan Flournoy Sixth RoundInactive Grade: N/A Brevyn Spann-Ford UDFA How much Spann-Ford plays this week totally depends on what happens with Jake Ferguson. If Ferguson takes a full load of reps, Spann-Ford will go back to his support duties and concentrate on special team duties. If Ferguson is on a pitch count, Spann-Ford will get some run at tight end. Mostly used as an extra blocker on rushing plays and running a limited number of routes.Grade: 56.0 Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images Baltimore Ravens Nate Wiggins First Round Wiggins was a top cornerback in this years draft and he is extremely talented. He has all potential and athletic skill to be one of the league’s top corners one day. He played 17 snaps in Week 1 and did as expected. But he missed last week’s game and his availability is still unclear after he got into a car accident and suffered a neck injury and concussion. The good news is he will be fine and there’s no long term injury, but so far this week Wiggins hasn’t cleared concussion protocol. Grade: 76.0 Roger Rosengarten Second Round Rosengarten is on the roster as the backup right tackle. He’s played 38 snaps this season so far with mixed results. He allowed a sack during their Week 1 games against Kansas City. Then last week on 14 passing sets he managed to stay clean. Right now he stays on the bench behind starting right tackle Patrick Mekari. Grade: 52.4 Adisa Isaac Third RoundInactiveGrade: N/A T.J. Tampa Fourth RoundInactive Grade: N/A Devontez Walker Fourth RoundInactive Grade: N/A Devin Leary Sixth RoundInactive Grade: N/A Sinoussi Kane Seventh RoundInactive Grade: N/A Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Our latest mailbag features plenty of questions about the Dallas Cowboys. Every week, we take questions on X (Twitter) and Facebook about Dallas Cowboys players and other issues surrounding the team. So let’s get9 right into it. “How do we stop the run?” (@Jess Warren on Facebook) Mike: The answer to that question needs to be answered this weekend. The Ravens aren’t a huge passing team but can run the ball between Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry very efficiently. The inside of this defensive line needs to anchor and not get bullied like last week. Last weekend against the Saints the defensive tackles were often pushed back way too easily and it’s no surprise we see the team shut Jordan Phillips down with a “wrist injury”. If the battle in the trenches is lost the linebackers can’t flow to the ball and shut the run down, then it becomes a long day for Dallas. Dana: If the Cowboys are going to be able to stop the run, it starts with the DTs. Last week was a pretty poor performance from them and it affected the rest of the defense, especially the LBs trying to come up and fill multiple gaps. The Cowboys have made a move to hopefully help in that area, adding Carlos Watkins to replace Jordan Phillips (IR). Watkins takes pride in stopping the run and wants to help lead in that room. He had a great season in 2021 with the Cowboys and is hoping to get back on track after surgery last season. Outside of bringing in Watkins, the entire team needs to make sure that the effort, execution, and discipline are on full display. “Was Mike Zimmer to blame for last weeks downright terrible defense? It was embarrassing!” (@Dale Brown on Facebook) Mike: It’s a fair question. The defensive plan before the game has to come into question when a team puts 35 points against your defense in one half. But it doesn’t mean Zimmer is totally to blame. The players on the field have to do their jobs and Zimmer can only do so much from the sideline. Can we blame Zimmer for defensive linemen getting pushed back five yards into their own endzone? Can we blame Zimmer for a defense not moving laterally quickly enough and clog the holes? Last week was a total failure from Mike McCarthy, down to Zimmer and filtering down to the players. The perfect storm. Dana: Looking at the replay, it was clear that the execution and effort for the Cowboys defense were no where to be found. However, at some point, there should be some blame on the coaches for not having the team motivated and ready to go. That being said, the Saints deserve some credit for their game plan that included shutting down Micah Parsons. They were using many different players to throw off Parsons and the other defensive players were not able to make up for it. Hopefully, moving forward that is something that Zimmer will be able to anticipate. “How do you think we manage keeping Lamar (Jackson) in the pocket!” (@Steven Barker Mountford on Facebook) Mike: Playing a Spy linebacker will definitely help. Don’t let Jackson out the pocket and the freedom to move, that means having players like Demarcus Lawrence and Marshawn Kneeland setting the edge consistently and effectively. If the defensive ends and tackles hold up front and having either DeMarvion Overshown or Marist Liufau spying in the middle, that should help this run defense contain the ground game. In the passing game, the Ravens have only scored two passing touchdowns and you would like to think the Cowboys defensive backs will bounce back and keep the Ravens receivers in check. Another big positive is playing at home for Dallas. The noise and energy from Cowboys fans will make things trickier for Jackson and his offensive linemen to communicate. Dana: The Cowboys defense did a pretty good job of making Deshaun Watson uncomfortable all day long in the season opener. Now, Watson is no Lamar Jackson but the idea should be the same. The defense was able to stop the run, force Watson into throwing situations and then attack with the pass rush. It starts with discipline and getting off blocks, but the not-so-secret weapon that the Cowboys should utilize is DeMarvion Overshown. His vision and speed could be the perfect solution to contain Jackson on Sunday. He lead the team in tackles in Week 1 with 11 total and had a crucial sack on fourth down. While he was curiously held back last week against the Saints, look for him to be unleashed this weekend. DEMARVION OVERSHOWN SACK (via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/zw52HcGpNW — Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) September 8, 2024