Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Joe Burrow is going to be a tall test for the Cowboys defense. The Dallas Cowboys are now on a two-game winning streak after defeating two division rivals in the Washington Commanders and the New York Giants. The Cowboys were finally able to stack a few wins together after five straight losses largely due to improvements on the defensive side of the ball. The defense has done a great job keeping the team in it these past few games, holding the opposing offenses to 10 points or less each in the first three quarters of play. There is room for improvement in the fourth quarter to shut these games out, of course, but they’ve done enough to support this Cooper Rush-led offense. One of the major reasons for this improvement is a healthy Micah Parsons. Having a player like Parsons on the field is a surefire way to improve the defense. Looking at his individual stats, he contributed two sacks against the Commanders and 1.5 against the Giants. Now that teams are needing to focus on Parsons again, opportunities are opening for the players around him as well. As a whole, the defense logged four sacks against Washington and six against New York. For reference, the last time the Cowboys were able to get six sacks in a game was the season opener against the Cleveland Browns. A lot of different players are stepping up along with Parsons. Players like DeMarvion Overshown, Eric Kendricks, Osa Odighizuwa, Carl Lawson, Josh Butler, Mazi Smith and Donovan Wilson have each had their turn contributing to the sack count the past two games. It’s not just sacks either. The Cowboys defense is finally generating turnovers at a higher rate. Just a few weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys were at the bottom of the league when it came to turnover ratio. During that five-game losing streak, the Cowboys had 14 turnovers with only four takeaways. These past two games, however, they were able to protect the ball with only one turnover while generating five takeaways. While the Cowboys defense has been improving this season, they will have to face one of the toughest challenges on Monday Night Football when they welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to AT&T Stadium. Now at 4-8, the Bengals’ record may be deceiving. Seven of their losses were lost by one score or less. If the wind had blown just a little bit in a different direction, this Bengals team could be looking at a much better record. In these losses, the Cincinnati offense has been doing their part to win football games with their defense coming up a bit short. In fact, the Bengals have the number one passing offense in the NFL when it comes to total passing yards and passing yards per game. They are also top five in total points scored and points per game. Those stats look a little daunting when considering that the Cowboys defense ranks 29th in total points allowed and points allowed per game. This game might be the biggest test yet for the Cowboys’ defense, but they may have a few things working in their favor. After this mini bye week, there is a longshot possibility that DeMarcus Lawrence may return to the defensive line this week, bolstering the pass rush alongside Parsons. Trevon Diggs is another name that has a chance to play on Monday and if so, it would be the very first time in over a year that Diggs and DaRon Bland will be on the field together, something every fan has been anxiously anticipating for weeks. There is no doubt the defense will have their work cut out for them against Joe Burrow’s high-flying offense that will look much different than the Drew Lock-led offense they faced on Thanksgiving. But if the defense is able to hold up their end of the deal, the Cowboys’ offense might have a shot at getting ahead against the Bengals’ defense. The Cowboys could have a real chance at earning their second home win of the season and third win in a row.

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images Who is your favorite draft prospect so far? College football is coming up to Bowl Season, that means in scouting terms this is when the hard work begins. Before draft season starts we give you a top-10 ranking for each position for the 2025 NFL Draft. Each position ranking has an overall ranking (in brackets). QUARTERBACK Sheduer Sander, Colorado (4) Cam Ward, Miami (11) Jalen Milroe, Alabama (17) Carson Beck, Georgia (23) Quinn Ewers, Texas (34) Garrett Nussmeier (40) Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss (49) Drew Allar, Penn State (58) Riley Leonard, Notre Dame (63) Dillon Gabriel, Oregon (83) People have their own take on Sanders and whether he’s deserving of the top spot at the quarterback position. As scouts it’s about ranking talent, the off-field issues or character questions are on the front office to decide. RUNNING BACK Ashton Jeanty, Boise State (18) Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State (26) Omarion Hampton, North Carolina (32) Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State (42) TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State (46) Phil Mafa, Clemson (52) R.J. Harvey, UCF (76) Nick Singleton, Penn State (80) Raheim Sanders, South Carolina (84) Jo’Quavious Marks, USC (92) This position is a rags to riches from last year to this season. The top talent on the board is insane in comparison to last season, but the position is also super deep. Day 2 is the sweet spot for this position group. WIDE RECEIVER Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona (6) Luther Burden, Missouri (9) Isaiah Bond, Texas (14) Evan Stewart, Oregon (21) Isaiah Bond, Texas (30) Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State (36) Tre Harris, Ole Miss (50) Jalen Royals, Utah State (67) Elic Ayomanor, Stanford (72) Kyren Lacy, LSU (79) This year’s wide receiver class is good, it’s not as good as some have been in previous years. TIGHT END Colston Loveland, Michigan (20) Tyler Warren, Penn State (57) Gunnar Helm, Texas (60) Mason Taylor, LSU (68) Harold Fannin Jr, Bowling Green (71) Jack Velling, Michigan State (74) Terrance Ferguson, Oregon (91) Jake Briningstool, Michigan State (94) Oronde Gadsten, Syracuse (96) Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame (100) The tight end position left everyone in a state of relaxed expectation over the last few years, this year does not look the case. If it weren’t for one or two players, this position would have left a lot to be desired. OFFENSIVE LINE Kelvin Banks, Texas (3) Will Campbell, LSU (22) Cameron Williams, Texas (28) Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota (33) Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona (37) Josh Simmons, Ohio State (39) Tyler Booker, Alabama (54) Emery Jones, LSU (65) Wyatt Millum, West Virginia (73) Donovan Jackson, Ohio State (75) Last season the offensive tackle talent was phenomenal and will be tough to beat in terms of depth. Tackle talent looks good and this year, even the guards have a healthy crop. Some of the players ranked outside the top 32 could very easily jump right in and make this another successful offensive line draft. INSIDE DEFENSIVE LINE Mason Graham, Michigan (8) Walter Nolan, Ole Miss (10) Kenneth Grant, Michigan (29) Deone Walker, Kentucky (34) Tyleik Williams, Ohio State (41) Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M (43) Derrick Harmon, Oregon (51) Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati (59) T.J. Sanders, South Carolina (62) Jordan Burch, Oregon (85) There was a lack of enthusiasm about the inside defensive line last year, have no fear of that this year. It’s got some interesting talent at the top with potential breakouts as the draft process gets rolling. EDGE DEFENDERS James Pearce Jr, Tennessee (2) Abdul Carter, Penn State (13) Mykel Williams, Georgia (15) Nic Scourton, Texas A&M (18) Princely Umanamielen, Ole Miss (24) JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State (31) Landon Jackson, Arkansas (47) L.T. Overton, Alabama (66) Jack Sawyer, Ohio State (86) Mike Green, Marshall (90) Pass rusher talent in a draft class is always a good measuring stick for an entire draft class, so this year should be a solid class. There is a plethora of pass-rush talent and a couple that will raise some eyebrows as people begin to dig deep on them. LINEBACKER Jalon Walker, Georgia (16) Jihaad Campbell, Alabama (44) Harold Perkins Jr, LSU (48) Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma (55) Barrett Carter, Clemson (61) Lander Barton, Utah (69) Deontae Lawson, Alabama (87) Jaishawn Barham, Michigan (95) Jeffery Bassa, Oregon (98) Jay Higgins, Iowa (99) This year’s linebackers exhibit a certain “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” quality (not that it’s any different from previous years). Among them, we have excellent tacklers and some skilled pass rushers. However, identifying players who excel in both areas remains challenging CORNERBACK Travis Hunter, Colorado (1) Will Johnson, Michigan (5) Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame (7) Tacario Davis, Arizona (25) Shavon Revel Jr, East Carolina (27) Denzel Burke, Ohio State (38) Trey Amos, Ole Miss (70) Jahdae Barron, Texas (78) Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky (81) Daylen Everette, Georgia (93) Some want to put Hunter in the wide receiver position, and that’s fine. Either way he remains the top prospect in this year’s draft and if he plays two-way in the NFL that wouldn’t at all be shocking. SAFETY Malaki Starks, Georgia (12) Xavier Watts, Notre Dame (45) Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina (53) Kevin Winston Jr, Penn State (56) Rod Moore, Michigan (64) Malachi Moore, Alabama (77) Sebastian Castro, Iowa (82) Keon Sabb, Alabama (87) Andrew Mukuba, Texas (89) Kamari Ramsey, USC (97) Last year’s draft had serious safety deficiencies but this year it looks improved. Not by much, but improvement is always good.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 2024 NFL Week 14 Keep track of everything related to Cowboys vs. Bengals in NFL Week 14 as Dallas hosts Cincinnati on Monday night. Contributors: Sean Martin The Dallas Cowboys are riding a two-game winning streak, and if they want to add to it then they are going to have to take down one of the NFL’s weirdest teams in the Cincinnati Bengals. Entering Monday night the Cowboys actually have a better record than Cincinnati which speaks to how snake-bitten the Bengals are this season. Joe Burrow leads the NFL in passing and Ja’Marr Chase in receiving, it is hard to feel like the Cowboys have the horses to contend with that between the likes of Cooper Rush and CeeDee Lamb, but more impossible things have certainly happened. Such was the case the last time that Dallas played Cincinnati back in Week 2 of the 2022 season. It was Rush’s first start for the Cowboys at that point in time, the first of four games in a row he would help the team win. Perhaps there is some sort of magic that he can recapture, but he is likely going to need help from players like Micah Parsons, DeMarvion Overshown, Trevon Diggs (if he plays) and other. Diggs is one of a few Cowboys with questionable statuses for the game as Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence both are a bit unknown at this time. We will see what this week yields. Here’s our stream for everything you need to know about it all. We will update it throughout the week to include all relevant news regarding the game, injuries and everything else.

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images For the second time this season, a football Sunday has come and gone with the Dallas Cowboys serving as spectators having already beaten the New York Giants on a Thursday. This time, it was a 27-20 home win on Thanksgiving that got them off the hook of not winning a game inside AT&T Stadium in five previous tries this season. The win on Turkey Day felt different from the previous Thursday night win all the way back in week four against the Giants for a lot of reasons. At the forefront of this is the fact it came on a holiday, and sent fans into a weekend where it can be hard to differentiate which day is which and the general feel for the season. The time between Thanksgiving and the Monday that follows is like a small warmup for the stretch between Christmas and New Year’s where many echo the same sentiment about losing track of time. One thing will be clearer when it comes to how the calendar is concerned for the Cowboys at the turn of the new year though. With just one scheduled game at the moment to conclude their season on January 5th at home against the Commanders, the Cowboys are still facing long odds to change this and play beyond Week 18 into the playoffs. At the same time, their active two-game win streak against the Commanders and Giants has them at a 5-7 record that would be good enough for second place or a game behind it in exactly half of the league’s divisions – just not their own. In a down year for so many teams, the Cowboys’ down year has no clear path to the playoffs right now. It’s not time to count this team out of playoff consideration yet, but it is also not time to totally lose sight of the early season ineptitude that put this team so far behind the eight ball to begin with. Trying to figure out how to feel about the current state of the 2024 Dallas Cowboys is a bit like trying to figure out when it’s time to start Christmas shopping at the moment. Anything goes. Another smaller detail about what made Thursday’s win for the Cowboys unique in the broader picture of Week 13 around the NFL is that Sunday’s main slate of games did not feature FOX’s number one team of Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady anywhere on the air. The crew had the Sunday off after already calling a record-breaking Cowboys and Giants matchup on Thursday. Brady’s airtime, of which he has had plenty to discuss the Cowboys this season starting with his first ever telecast in week one, did not come and go this week without some interesting comments about the state of the Cowboys as it relates to head coach Mike McCarthy. Oh, I think Coach McCarthy is a great coach. His 18th season as a head coach. He’s a great leader of men. But not only as a play-caller, he’s a developer of players, of talent, of quarterbacks. “He’s got a very consistent personality to him. He won in Green Bay. He’s got a championship DNA. I think he’s one of the better coaches in the NFL, absolutely.” These comments during the Cowboys’ eighth straight win against the Giants also came just days after owner and general manager Jerry Jones told the local Dallas media that the idea of McCarthy earning an extension while coaching out the final year of his current contract is “not crazy”. Now, not every viewer (of which we know there were literally millions in epic proportion) of Thanksgiving football may follow the Cowboys close enough to know that Jones said this, and even more of the true Cowboys fans watching may also naturally understand the way Jerry spins things and be able to take this for what it’s worth, but Brady’s comments are different entirely. They were echoed on televisions in living rooms full of families about a coach that’s equally been on television in a HC capacity since 2006 with the Packers and now Cowboys. Speaking of things that are “not crazy”, those within the Cowboys organization hearing this public praise for their coach and truly taking it to heart as a reason to still believe in the direction of a team that hasn’t given up on McCarthy. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images It takes some reading between the lines to truly dig into what Brady was saying about McCarthy though, and the hows and whys of it not just being a 100% positive thing or 100% negative for the Cowboys. It is indisputable that Brady knows what great coaching looks like in the NFL, having spent most of his first ballot Hall of Fame career with the widely-considered GOAT, Bill Belichick. The characteristics Brady points out that make McCarthy a “great” coach in his eyes are being a leader of men, play-caller, developer of players (and specifically QBs), and consistency in personality. Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images The first trait here, McCarthy being a leader of men, has perhaps been most evident in the midst of his team’s current two-game win streak. The Cowboys have picked themselves up off a three-game skid that very well could have snowballed into this year’s team going down as one of the worst in franchise history. Dallas has lacked consistency in the starting lineup at just about every position on the field this season, and more times than not the players that have suited up have hardly been able to keep the Cowboys in games against better competition. The Cowboys are still fourth worst team in the league in point differential, less than a touchdown’s worth away from the Giants team they just beat. The same Giants team that is in contention for the number one overall pick. Again, there is absolutely room to have a real discussion about the Cowboys and playoff probability right now, but not

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images All the Dallas Cowboys news that’s fit to print. Cowboys’ defense revitalized since Micah Parsons’s return – Todd Archer, ESPN The Cowboys weathered the injuries and now the defense is on the rebound. In the past five games, the Cowboys have allowed more than 400 yards once, and that came with the Washington Commanders gaining more than 200 yards on their final three possessions. They gave up more than 6.2 yards per play just once. They have not allowed a team to convert more than 40% of their third-down opportunities. The Cowboys have given up 17 runs of 10 yards or more and 11 passes for 20 yards or more. In the first seven games, the defense faced short-field situations eight times and gave up points six times. In the past five games, they have faced that situation 14 times and given up points eight times while also creating two takeaways. “We have a little bit more confidence,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “People are understanding the scheme a little bit more.” Some issues remain. They are still allowing an average of 28 points per game. Opponents have scored points on their first possessions in 10 of 12 games. In the wins against the Commanders and Giants, the late-game execution was lacking. See Terry McLaurin’s 86-yard touchdown catch for Washington and the Giants’ 80-yard touchdown drive that made it a one-score game with 2:18 to play. “I just think we’re starting to get a little consistency of guys playing together,” coach Mike McCarthy said. There also might be a Parsons’ effect. After missing four games with a high left ankle sprain, Parsons has played in the past four games and has 5.5 sacks. He leads the team with 6.5 sacks, despite missing 17 quarters of action with the injury. With offenses needing to pay more attention to where he is, other players such as Osa Odighizuwa, Mazi Smith and Chauncey Golston are being more productive. Cooper Rush’s confidence, connection with receivers growing – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com It was a home win against the Bengals in Cooper Rush’s second career start in 2022 that sparked a four-game win streak for the Cowboys in Dak Prescott’s absence. In his four starts this season, Rush has seen a growth week-to-week in his QBR and has led the Cowboys to back-to-back victories over division opponents. A large part of that success has come from being on the same page with Mike McCarthy as the play caller, as well as his receivers. “It’s not just us knowing Cooper, I do think now Cooper is more comfortable, consistently saying ‘Hey, I like this, hey, I don’t really like that, I’m not as comfortable with this.” Schottenheimer said. “There are certain things that maybe [Rush] likes differently than Dak likes, and so that moves up or that moves back based on those conversations, the more we go the more comfortable I would say he is of speaking his mind.” In Thursday’s win against the Giants, Rush exhibited that comfort level with his fellow veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks. In Cooks’ first game back from injury, he caught three passes for 16 yards and touchdown. Those numbers don’t blow you away, but two of those receptions were the biggest plays of the game: A two-yard touchdown pass to Cooks to give the Cowboys the first points of the third quarter, and a diving three-yard catch on third down coming out of the two-minute warning to ice the victory for Dallas. Both of those plays weren’t set up by anything special on gameday, but instead on what the Cowboys had worked on during the week in practice, including plenty of conversations between Rush and Cooks to ensure they were on the same page, and in the right spots and the right times. Jimmy Johnson drops wisdom on Cowboys – Richard Paolinelli, Inside The Star For the 2024 Cowboys, even “false hope” should count as some form of praise from a former Super Bowl winning coach. In the pregame leading up to the Cowboys’ 27-20 win over the Giants, Johnson dropped this after picking the Cowboys to win. “They won last week, they’re gonna win today,” Johnson said. “Then they’re going to win the next two games.” After a pause, making everyone in the studio believe he was going to predict a charge to the playoffs, he added: “And give their fans a lot of false hope.” Ouch. But Coach is right. Even if Dallas claws their way back to 7-7, they will be hard-pressed to win two of their last three games. That’s assuming 9-8 would get them into the playoffs. Two Reasons: Cowboys only have selves to blame for disappointing 2024 – Mike Crum, The Cowboys Wire The Cowboys are figuring some things out late in the year, but the resounding sentiment is that it’s too little too late. The issues began with inactivity. The decision not to extend Prescott or star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb earlier in the offseason instead of right before September was a two-fold error. Not only did it put them behind on the field, as it caused Lamb to miss training camp, but those extensions would’ve freed up cap space for Dallas to sign free agents to replace the nine players who signed elsewhere. The only outside free agent the Cowboys signed before training camp began was Eric Kendricks, who was a direct replacement for a cut/retired player, Leighton Vander Esch. That doesn’t negate the poor performance of the head coach and play-caller, Mike McCarthy. Only recently did he make Rico Dowdle the primary running back, instead choosing a committee approach instead of featuring one of the top 10 running backs (success rate) on the season. In games Dowdle had at least 20 touches the Cowboys are 3-0, but only 2-6 in games when he gets under 20. After rushing 20 times for 87 yards against the Steelers’ top-three rush defense, Dowdle should’ve been the clear top back

Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Who wins tonight… Cleveland or Denver? The Cleveland Browns play the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. FanDuel has the Broncos as 6.5-point favorites over the Browns. Final score prediction: Broncos 30 – Browns 21. Check out FanDuel for all of your NFL betting needs. This is an open thread for game chat.