Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images The latest news from around the division. Giants’ Malik Nabers officially cleared to play vs. Eagles – Dan Benton, USA Today New York gets its biggest weapon back ahead of a division duel. After two games on the bench due to a concussion, New York Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers will make his return on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. After clearing the final hurdle of concussion protocol on Thursday and practicing in full, an independent neurologist officially cleared Nabers later in the afternoon. Nabers suffered the concussion in the final moments of a Week 4 game against the Dallas Cowboys and faced a long trek back. At one point, head coach Brian Daboll seemed to imply that the injury was on the more serious side. Before missing the past two weeks, Nabers had led the NFL with 35 receptions and his 386 receiving yards were good for second best. From the Giants: His 35 receptions through four games are the second-most in NFL history (Puka Nacua had 39 in 2023). The other two players with 30+ receptions in their first four games each went on to break the single-season rookie record (Nacua, Anquan Boldin in 2003). Nabers also had at least five receptions in each of his first four games, tied for the fourth-longest streak to start a career since at least 1970. The three players with the longest streaks to start their careers are CeeDee Lamb (six games in 2020), Nacua (five games in 2023), and Terry Glenn (five games in 1996). That’s a lot of offensive production the Giants are getting back. Commanders Coach Still Believes in Struggling Young CB – Jeremy Brener, Sports Illustrated Washington’s 2023 first-round pick has been struggling in his second season. It’s been a rough start in the career of Washington Commanders cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. After being chosen with the No. 16 overall pick in last year’s draft, Forbes has gotten beat plenty on the field, mainly for his size, and has been sidelined for most of his second season. There’s a new regime in town than the one that drafted Forbes last year, but coach Dan Quinn instilled some belief in his young cornerback. “I had that conversation specifically and kind of remind him it’s not always going to be this rocky,” Quinn said. “By the work that you put in the things that you want to emphasize, and then you work like hell to go improve upon those specific things and the chance is going to come back around. And when it does, you want to be able to go nail it. But the reason you can is because all the work that you put in, so when that chance comes again, you say, ‘Okay, I’ve put the work in, I’m ready to go do it.’ So, that was my message to him about the readiness and that next chance, it’s going to be there again and absolutely be ready for it.” Forbes, 23, has played in just three games for the Commanders this season after dealing with being sidelined and injured, but with a long season ahead, things will start to open up potentially for him. Forbes could have a chance to return to action in Week 7 when the Commanders host the struggling Carolina Panthers. Eagles give Saquon advice for emotional return against former team – Dave Zangaro, NBC Sports Philadelphia The former Giants star prepares to play his former team for the first time. It’s just any other week. You’ve heard the lies before. Whenever there’s a big game, professional athletes will lie — mostly to themselves — about the significance of that game in an attempt to steady their preparation and emotions. And it’s a worthwhile attempt. But then ask that same player about it after the game is over and, no, it wasn’t just any other game. And that’s what Saquon Barkley is walking into on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. He was once the Giants’ No. 2 overall pick, a Pro Bowler, the face of the franchise and now he’s returning as a member of one of their biggest division rivals. Any other game? No way. Of course, it’s not like Barkley is the first NFL player to play in a potential revenge game. In fact, he’s just the latest Eagle to have the experience. This week, we caught up with several of Barkley’s teammates who have been through it to see if they have any advice for him as he heads back to North Jersey. WR A.J. Brown The Eagles traded for Brown during the draft in 2022 after the former second-round pick had spent the first three years of his career with the Titans. Tennessee didn’t want to give him a huge contract, so they shipped him to Philly and he has since been a two-time Pro Bowler and one of the best receivers in the NFL. “I think [Barkley is] handling it the best way he can,” Brown said. “I think the beast will probably be let out on Sunday. But he’s doing a great job keeping it one day at a time and he’s just doing what he regularly does, that’s coming to work and doing the little things.” Brown really let out the beast the first time he faced the Titans. When they came to Philly in Week 13 of the 2022 season, Brown made them pay for their mistake. He had 8 catches for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 35-10 win.

Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images How do you think the rest of the season will play out for the Cowboys? Show of hands, how many of you have taken the time to ponder how the rest of the season is going to turn out for the Dallas Cowboys? If you have, you probably come to the conclusion things don’t look all that great. There is hope they can turn things around coming out of the bye week, but that’s probably minimal at best. Today, we thought we’d share some predictions for the remainder of the 2024 season for the Cowboys. It’s things we thought about this week that we believe could realistically come true with the way things are heading right now. We still have hope for the best, however, that keeps diminishing after each loss. Prediction #1 – Mike McCarthy remains Dallas’ HC the rest of the season Logically, if the Cowboys were going to fire Mike McCarthy they would’ve done it in the bye week with extra time to better prepare for the rest of the season. Since they didn’t do that it doesn’t make much sense to cut ties at any point in the rest of the season. They don’t have Jason Garrett waiting in the wings like they did in 2010 when they fired Wade Phillips, and there’s no one else on the coaching staff who could do a better job turning things around. Prediction #2 – Micah Parsons will finish with double-digit QB sacks Micah Parsons has played in a total of four games so far this year, missing the last two with a high ankle sprain. To date, he only has one QB sack and 21 total pressures. He’s more than likely out of the running for Defensive MVP this year, but still has a chance to hit double-digit QB sacks for the fourth consecutive year in a row. It won’t be easy considering the attention he receives, but he has 11 games to hit double digits. That’s one QB sack a game. Prediction #3 – No Cowboys RB will have a 100-yard rushing game this year The Cowboys have played six games and still don’t have a single running back who has hit the 100-yard mark in any one of those games. Rico Dowdle came close with 87 rushing yards against the Steelers, but that looks more like a fluke compared to his other rushing totals this year. If someone’s going to do it it’s going to be Dowdle, however, with the way the OL is struggling and the Cowboys playing behind more times than not it seems unlikely. Prediction #4 – Cowboys’ will finish below .500 this year The Cowboys are currently sitting at 3-3 through the first six weeks of the 2024 season and are lucky to be sitting at .500. They have been completely embarrassing at home this year and still have six games to play at AT&T Stadium. Of the six only two look winnable against the Giants and Bengals. If that wasn’t bad enough, the teams they have remaining to play on the road are all playoff caliber except the Panthers. Finishing below .500 looks likely. Prediction #5 – Cowboys’ will earn a Top 10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft With the way the Cowboys are playing and the way the rest of the schedule shapes up for them this year, it’s difficult to envision them winning a lot of games from here on out. They are currently winless at home, usually where they are at their strongest, and have barely managed to squeak by with the few victories they have on the road. Looking at the remaining schedule, they could easily go 3-8 and get locked into a Top 10 pick in 2025.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images It’s safe to say the Dallas Cowboys 2024 season has not gotten off to the start that the organization hoped it would. Coming into the bye week with a 3-3 record before heading into the toughest part of their schedule is not something Dallas would have hoped for before the start of the season. There’s as much uncertainty surrounding the Cowboys as a whole as there has been in years. The organization has plenty of short-term and long-term questions that will need to be answered in the coming months. With that in mind, today three of our writers tackle the task of answering some of the questions facing the Cowboys six games into the season, and give their thoughts on what is to come. Let us know your thoughts on the questions in the comments section. Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images 1) Dallas’ offense has looked out of sorts all season long. What do you believe is the biggest contributing factor to their lack of offensive success? What can they do to fix the problem? Howman: This is tough, because there’s lots of things wrong with this offense right now. I think it all boils down to this group just not having any chemistry right now. Dak Prescott has shown great trust in Jalen Tolbert but outside of that, everything feels disjointed. I think some of it is due to a lack of reps in the preseason, some due to rookies starting along the offensive line, and some due to the Cowboys having to play from behind in nearly all of their 3 home games. They just don’t have any rhythm right now, and that’s hard to just switch on Holleran: There’s plenty of ways you could go here, but I think the biggest issue is the offensive line, particularly their struggles in the run game. Against good teams the Cowboys don’t just have a bad running game, they have a horrendous rushing attack. You’re not going to win many games against good teams when you force yourself to be completely one-dimensional. The Cowboys don’t need to build their offense upon their rushing attack like this is 2016, but they need to be at least an average running team to make up for their lack of offensive weapons outside of CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson. If they continue to have zero success running the football it’s going to be a long season. Poland: The biggest issue facing the offense is the offensive line. Everything starts and finishes in the trenches and unfortunately for Dallas the line is failing. The offensive line is allowing the ninth-most sacks, and seventh-most pressures, that’s almost impossible for any quarterback to operate from. Then everyone complains about the running game, again that can be attributed to the offensive line. There’s very little push or moments where the Cowboys offensive line is being the aggressor in the run game. All this leads to an underperforming offense, fix that and fix some of the offensive woes. Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images 2) Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb have seemed out of sync from the start this year. The duo of All-Pros have been at the center of plenty of Dallas’ offensive mistakes. What do you believe is the biggest reason the two are unable to get on the same page? Should the Cowboys be concerned about this long-term? Howman: I don’t know if the Cowboys are concerned about it, but I am. Without knowing the intricacies of the Cowboys playbook, I can’t say with certainty who’s to blame for all the miscommunication between these two. All I know is I don’t see Dak having these issues with Tolbert or Ferguson or even Jalen Brooks. What I do see is Lamb routinely being soft at the catch point or getting taken out of the play when he matches up with a physical cornerback. With how much this offense revolves around Lamb, you just need a little more fight in him, and Lamb hasn’t shown that this year Holleran: If the Cowboys are going to turn this season around, it has to start with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb getting back on the same page. It’s easy to blame Lamb’s lack of a training camp on their early-season struggles, but there’s a chance this goes much deeper. If I’m the Cowboys, the disconnect between the two is as worrisome as anything that has happened so far this season. The Cowboys are committed to both of these guys long-term so there’s no way out of this. Dallas needs the duo to get back on track not just for this season, but to have any semblance of optimism on offense heading into the coming years. Poland: We got asked this question last week and spoke to some members of the media team in Dallas. The answer was don’t panic and that the tandem are unified and working together. The biggest issue with the on-field production is the fact the pair missed an entire preseason and training camp regimen working together, meaning the first few weeks have been more like preseason for the pair. Even still, Lamb has connected with Dak for the eighth-most receptions and has the fifth-most receiving yards. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images 3) Dallas’ run defensive has been historically bad through six games. Will the return of Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence be enough to turn the run defense from awful to at least decent? If not, who is one outside addition you would like to see the Cowboys target to sure up their run defense? Howman: I’m not sure there’s anyone out there that can fix this run defense right now, because there’s so many things wrong with it. Getting back DeMarcus Lawrence, one of the best run defending EDGEs in the league, will definitely help but I’ve not been pleased with what the interior DL has shown. Mazi Smith has flashed but he hasn’t been consistent, while Linval Joseph just doesn’t have the motor

Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Troy Aikman has some passionate thoughts on the route running of current Dallas Cowboys wide receivers. The Dallas Cowboys have three wins this season, but in a sense it feels difficult to find anything positive going on with the team right now. It is possible that this is the result of a rather intense week with idle hands with the team on bye. As the dust was sort of starting to settle over last week’s loss to the Detroit Lions, the worst one in the Jerry Jones era of ownership, Mr. Jones took to the radio airwaves of 105.3 The Fan and went on an all-time tirade that involved threatening the abilities of the hosts to continue to interview him. Later in the day Amari Cooper was traded to the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns netted more for him than they originally gave to the Cowboys when they first acquired him. It was one of those days. Maybe it is one of those seasons, though. As noted the Cowboys have had three happy Sundays so far this season, but all of their wins have felt difficult and like pulling teeth. It is a tough time and that seems agreed upon by many. Franchise legend DeMarcus Ware spoke to us here at Blogging The Boys on Wednesday and discussed a lack of effort that he is seeing from the current group. One of the greatest players in franchise history in Troy Aikman made his weekly appearance on 1310 The Ticket and questioned effort as well, but he was more specific in where he is not seeing it from. Aikman has a problem with the wide receivers. As transcribed by The Athletic’s Jon Machota: “I think the routes are terrible. I think they run terrible routes. And I’ve thought that beyond this year. I think CeeDee (Lamb) has got to improve in his route running. As a quarterback, if you’re not certain where guys are going to be consistently, it’s hard to play the position. That’s what I see. I see guys lazy coming off the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they run, usually if they do, it’s because they’re anticipating they’re going to get the football on that play, but if they’re not, they don’t. And it all ties together. I’m not impressed with that part of it. “I just finished watching the Baltimore Ravens because I have them this week. You put on film of theirs and watch their receivers run routes and they come off the football, so does San Francisco’s and Green Bay’s and others. But it’s hard to play the (QB) position if you’re not certain how guys are going to run routes or where they’re going to be. And I’m not speaking for Dak (Prescott). Dak may say, ‘Hey, I think (their routes) are amazing.’ But as a former quarterback watching it, it’s gotta get a lot better.” It is important to note that Aikman specified that he was offering his own individual opinion and that Dak Prescott may not share it. Obviously though, it goes without saying that Aikman’s opinion on this matter is well-founded given his on-field accomplishments and longstanding broadcasting career that involves an enormous amount of studying. From a feel standpoint it is hard to disagree with Aikman given that the offense “feels” broken and that there appears to be an issue with the connection between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. It is important to make sure that we don’t go simply off of that feel so let’s look at other sources. NFL Pro has a statistic that they track called average separation. This is defined as the average distance between the receiver and the nearest defender at pass arrival (not the moment the ball leaves the quarterback’s hand). This should be an interesting way to look at things given that we are talking about route running specifically. There are three teams who have multiple players in the bottom 20 in this area. Obviously the Cowboys are among them, but so are the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos and their offenses (especially San Francisco’s) are thought to be manned by elite minds. The former even has three different players on the list. NFL Pro It is difficult to draw a proper conclusion off of this alone, but if we look at the data set a bit more closely then we can see that CeeDee Lamb is sticking out like a sore thumb in certain ways. Lamb has a catch rate over expected of -5.6% which is clearly not good, and certainly is a reflection of being involved in attempted catches with not a ton of separation all the more difficult. As you can see though, other players are making lemonade when given the same lemons if not worse ones, so to speak. Of the players on this list, only Denver’s Courtland Sutton has a worse CROE. Looking one column over, Lamb has a -2.2 receiving EPA. Once again Sutton has Lamb beat in this sense, but the only other player more worse off is Indianapolis’ Michael Pittman. These are tough numbers in general, but that they are coming from the Cowboys’ number one wide receiver and somebody who commands (rightfully so) a bulk of the targets is certainly part of what has the offense in such a funk right now which proves Aikman’s point. Lamb is responsible for his share of the blame in this entire sense and that should be noted, but Mike McCarthy needs to do a better job of scheming players like Lamb into positions where he and they can win more frequently. Of course this is a bit of a chicken and the egg sort of discussion as this may in fact be an effort issue from Lamb and Co. as Aikman sort of said and Ware did (although Ware wasn’t talking about any one specific player). Needless to say there are problems in a number of areas right now and the Cowboys

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images The latest headlines surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. What led to the Cowboys’ roster woes, and is there a fix? – Todd Archer, ESPN Offseason management, relying on young rookies, and injuries to key players have all contributed to Cowboys’ struggles this season. It goes beyond the length of time it took to sign wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to contracts that make them the second-highest-paid receiver in the NFL and the highest-paid player in NFL history. After the stunning 48-32 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round in January, the Cowboys knew they faced difficult decisions on their impending free agents. They tried to keep running back Tony Pollard with a lucrative multiyear offer that was not far off the three-year deal he signed with the Tennessee Titans (three years, with a max of $24 million and $10.49 million guaranteed). He has 339 yards on 78 carries and three touchdowns in five games. The Cowboys never made a call to Derrick Henry despite the fact that he lives in the Dallas area. The free agent running back signed a two-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens that guaranteed him $9 million. After seeing Henry rush for 151 yards and two touchdowns against Dallas in Week 3, Jones said the Cowboys could not afford him. With a different structure of the deal, though, the Cowboys could have matched that guaranteed money, but it was their choice to pass on Henry, who leads the NFL in rushing (704 yards). Instead, the Cowboys re-signed Rico Dowdle to a one-year, $1.255 million deal, including a $200,000 signing bonus, and signed Ezekiel Elliott, the franchise’s third-leading rusher of all time, who spent last season with the New England Patriots. Elliott received a one-year deal worth up to $3 million with $2 million guaranteed. After 6 games, CeeDee’s stats look like 2023 – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com CeeDee Lamb is consistently being doubled, which may lead to lower than desired production. Obviously, the expectations are much higher now after his training-camp holdout and then signing a four-year, $136 million extension as one of the highest-paid receivers in the league. But after six games this year, Lamb has 32 catches for 467 yards and two touchdowns. In 2023, at the six-game mark, Lamb had 34 catches for 475 yards and one touchdown. Clearly, there are some differences and Cowboys WR coach Robert Prince says the coverages have been more consistent in doubling Lamb. “Yeah, there’s probably a little bit more cloud (coverage) on him and especially on third down,” Prince said. “ And you’ll see they’ll play some man with double coverage on him (but) he has the opportunity to still beat double coverages, but he also knows that hey, if he’s doubled, some other guys are getting single coverage. He just wants to win and whatever we have to do, that’s what he wants.” Prince was asked if putting Lamb in motion more before the snap might help free him up more. “Yeah, but the thing is … he wears 88 for every game, so even though we move him around, they can find 88 and we’re still moving them around,” Prince said. “But I think teams are doing a little bit better job of finding him and trying to double him. But we have some things that it can still defeat double coverage, so we feel pretty good about it.” High 5: Which player has been missed the most? – Kyle Youmans, DallasCowboys.com The Cowboys have been plagued with injuries this season. Getting these players healthy and back on the active roster cannot come soon enough. 3) Demarcus Lawrence (Foot) – Like Kendricks, Demarcus Lawrence brings an element of leadership to the defense. This defense wasn’t perfect before Lawrence was injured. Nor will it be once he returns. But having him back on the edge provides a strong foundation for growth in the run defense, allowing the other guys around them to play within the scheme and not do too much. Lawrence is undoubtably the best run defender on the defensive line and that’s even more apparent when he’s not in the fold. 2) DaRon Bland (Foot) – Anytime there’s an All-Pro missing out of the lineup, it’s going to hurt. Not only from a production standpoint, but a scheme one as well. Teams aren’t afraid to test Bland’s replacements on the boundary or even try throwing at Trevon Diggs and Jourdan Lewis as starters. But the three together again presents a challenge to any offensive coordinator that relies on the passing attack to have some success. It was unfortunate to not have him out there in Week 6 against Detroit, but now he can be ready for San Francisco. 1) Micah Parsons (Ankle) – Any objections? One of the top two or three edge rushers in football has been missing off the defensive line for a few weeks. Of course he’s going to be missed. Parsons had his fair share of struggles adjusting to a new scheme and new defensive coordinator prior to the injury. But his impact is still unquestioned. He and Demarcus Lawrence had combined for 47 percent of the Cowboys pressures entering Week 5. And since Parsons was drafted in 2021, the team pressure rate is nearly six percentage points higher with him on the field, than off it. Teams don’t fear the current pass rush without Parsons, but they will when he returns. New York Jets Struggling WR Named Trade Candidate for Dallas Cowboys – Jon Conahan, Sports Illustrated Jets WR Mike Williams may be a possibility if the Cowboys were looking for a trade. Williams is only on a one-year deal due to returning from an ACL injury. He needs to show NFL teams that he deserves another contract. With how he’s currently playing, he’s not in line to get paid handsomely next offseason. Looking for potential fits if he were to be traded, Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report

Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images How much blame do you put on Mike zimmer for, um, everything? In the aftermath of a stunning 47-9 defeat to the Detroit Lions, whispers of doubt have begun to swirl around Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Once heralded as a mastermind of defensive strategy, his solutions appear increasingly ineffective as the team flounders on the gridiron. Fans filled Twitter with their frustration, voicing how a team with such talent can crumble so badly on defense. Zimmer’s unit has, frustratingly, lost alignment, been unable to contain explosive plays, or play tight in crucial matchups. Even as players scorn injuries and fatigue, and the weight of expectations burdens them, the glaring gaps in fundamentals speak volumes—neither speed nor strength seems enough to hide a faltering strategy. The Cowboys defense finds itself grappling with some of the toughest statistics in the league. Ranked third-worst in total points allowed, and ninth-worst in total yards allowed. Zimmer’s defensive unit has recorded just 14 sacks this season, placing them eighth-least in a league that gravitates more toward chaos than composure on the pass rush like last season. Adding to the angst, the turnover tally is similarly dismal. Zimmer’s group has created the fourth-fewest takeaways, a glaring flaw in an era that champions opportunistic defenses. To compound their woes, the statistics reveal a striking fragility in their tackling. An alarming 61 missed tackles have been logged this season—ranking fourth-most in the entire league. This holds serious implications for Zimmer, who has managed to convert a dominant defense from last season that was considered in the top-five, to what is easily shaping out to be the worst in the NFC East. The defense now find themselves grappling with an unexpected home turf dilemma this season. With an unfortunate record of 0-3 at AT&T Stadium, the electric atmosphere that typically bolsters team spirit has been dampened by a staggering total of 119 points surrendered in these three home outings. Last year, the team went undefeated the entire year and was on a streak that was close to tying a franchise record. The upcoming five-game stretch after the bye contains formidable opponents—San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans, and Washington Commanders—and will be a critical litmus test not just for the team’s playoff aspirations, but also for Mike Zimmer’s tenure as defensive coordinator. By the time Dallas faces the Commanders, the scenario could become increasingly grim. With all eyes on Zimmer, each opponent’s ability to problem-solve where his defensive schematics falter could affect not just the game’s outcome, but his very future with the franchise. Will he adapt and rise to the occasion, returning his troops to form? Or will the struggles bear down on him, igniting whispers of a coaching change before the season reaches a conclusion. Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer said he thought the defense was making progress the previous two weeks. He expected a better showing against the Lions. “I probably panicked on some calls early. … When we’ve been bad, it just steamrolls.” pic.twitter.com/hG0LCeJTrO — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 15, 2024