Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Cooper Rush is projected to perform well against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Dallas Cowboys will do battle against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, and as they do, they will be seeking their third win in a row. How the tides have turned. It remains to be seen whether or not the Cowboys can pull off a win of this variety. They may have shocked the world from an underdog perspective (literally speaking, in terms of betting underdogs) when they won at Washington a few weeks back, but Dallas is almost a touchdown dog at home against a Bengals team that is 4-8 on the season. That says a lot. Entering Week 14 the Bengals feature the league’s leading passer in Joe Burrow and receiver in Ja’Marr Chase. You can expect that they will perform rather well, and projections certainly suggest that for obvious reasons. Each and every week we examine the projections that our friends at NFL Pro have for the Cowboys in their upcoming game and it is always worth pointing out how they did in the most recent game. Projected Cooper Rush vs. New York: 217.7 yards, 1.1 TD, 1 INT, 13 rush yards, 0.1 rush TDActual: 195 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT Projected Rico Dowdle vs. New York: 46.1 yards, 0.3 TD, 2.1 rec, 15 rec yards, 0.1 rec TDActual: 112 yards, 1 TD, 3 rec, 11 rec yards Projected CeeDee Lamb vs. New York: 6.6 rec, 67.6 yards, 0.4 TDActual: 2 rec, 39 yards Projected Jalen Tolbert vs. New York: 2.4 rec, 28.7 yards, 0.2 TDActual: 2 rec, 41 yards Projected Luke Schoonmaker vs. New York: 3.9 rec, 41 yards, 0.3 TDActual: 5 rec, 33 yards Clearly it was not a day full of offensive explosions for the Cowboys as they had two total touchdowns that they were responsible for (DeMarvion Overshown made the other possible). We may be reaching the point where taking the under on CeeDee Lamb’s prop lines is the wise play, but he is such a talented player that you are doing that at your own risk given that he could go off at any given moment. Will that moment come against the Bengals? Here are the projections for this week for both sides from NFL Pro. There is a bit of an uptick in Rush’s passing here, but there is a bump down for Lamb from both a receptions and receiving yards standpoint. Maybe the model is getting shy. You will note that Brandin Cooks is featured in projections for the first time in a while. Cooks obviously played last week, he caught Rush’s lone touchdown pass, but when the projections came out it was still unknown whether or not he would. Consider that the model does have Jake Ferguson listed but that injury reports will fluctuate until kickoff and he may or may not play. As noted, this figures to be a challenging game for the Cowboys in many ways as the Bengals are a pretty stout team for holding a 4-8 record. Cincinnati has a right to be favored as NFL Pro’s advantages prove. Given that Cincinnati has Burrow and Chase, they are going to be favored in the passing game against just about anyone. From a rushing standpoint, the Cowboys may be coming off of their most impressive game as a team (and from an individual perspective with Rico Dowdle) but their poor run (no pun intended) all the way up to that point really weighs them down in the collective.

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images Zack Martin is set to undergo season-ending ankle surgery. It was 10 years ago when we were witnessing one of the greatest rookie seasons in NFL history. That it was unfolding for the Dallas Cowboys in the middle of a magical year made things more special. Somehow, some way, we blinked and an entire decade passed. Zack Martin has been wonderful to watch throughout it all and reality is setting in that we may have seen the last of him. Mike McCarthy announced on Thursday that Martin will undergo season-ending ankle surgery after playing just 10 games this season. The news came just a few hours after it was announced that Martin is the Cowboys’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award this year. Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin will undergo season-ending ankle surgery, Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy announces. pic.twitter.com/T368yl9Omb — David Moore (@DavidMooreDMN) December 5, 2024 Martin was injured during the team’s loss to the Houston Texans so it has been a minute since he has played. It appears that his ailment has been so severe that season-ending surgery is now the choice being made. It has felt like retirement is just around the corner for Martin for a while now so this really hits in that sort of sobering way. Obviously there is a long time to go until any kind of decision along those lines will be made, but it makes what is normally devastating news from a football perspective hit just a little harder. Zack Martin has been one of the best players for the Cowboys for a decade now. If this truly is the last that we will see of him in the team’s uniform, it was a commendable run. He belongs in the Ring of Honor and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All the best to Zack Martin.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images The Cowboys have a handful of players who are playing well, even in a down year for the team. Don’t look now, but the Dallas Cowboys are on a two-game winning streak, and they clearly aren’t conceding to the 2024 season being over with just because their playoff chances aren’t that high. Say what you want to, but Dallas is fighting until the end, although it will likely end up with them not making the postseason, the grit and determination they’re showing in a season full of injuries should be respected. The Cowboys will host the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. Their team may not be performing great as a whole, but quarterback Joe Burrow leads the NFL in passing yards and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is tops in receiving yards. It’s a great challenge for a Cowboys defense who have found a spark in the last few weeks, albeit against the Washington Commanders and New York Giants. Before that battle takes place, let’s look at three things we have learned about the Cowboys entering Week 14. CeeDee Lamb is quietly having a productive season In 2023, Lamb was arguably the best receiver in the league as he led the NFL in receptions and finished second in receiving yards. It hasn’t been as gaudy this year, but Lamb sits at 79 receptions for 880 yards, which rank second and fifth in their respective categories. Looking at his averages, he’s on pace for 112 receptions and around 1,250 yards. Mind you, he’s played four games without quarterback Dak Prescott, and the guy filling in, Cooper Rush, is limited as a passer. Also, Lamb has been dealing with a shoulder injury that forced him to exit the Thanksgiving game against the Giants. All things considered, Lamb is having another good year. It just might not be a first-team All-Pro type of season like the previous. Osa Odighizuwa is having his best year Odighizuwa will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025, making this a contract year. Well, the former third-round pick is playing like it with 33 tackles, three sacks, 40 pressures, and 27 hurries. That puts him on pace to have career-high numbers in all of those categories, which is exactly what you want to see from a guy in his fourth year because it shows he’s still trending upward in his play. While this is great to see, it also may put the Cowboys in a bind when it comes to a new deal. Odighizuwa isn’t a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro, but he’s a quality defensive tackle that can give a team tremendous value, and teams are going to be willing to give him a sizeable pay increase. So, it’ll be interesting to see what Dallas does with Odighizuwa in the offseason. Carl Lawson has earned a second deal with the Cowboys The Cowboys came into the season needing more edge rushers, and it got worse when the position got decimated with injuries. However, Lawson, who was signed to the practice squad in August, is having quite the productive season for the Cowboys. He’s played in 10 games with three starts and logged 280 snaps, which has resulted in four sacks for the year. Lawson also has 13 quarterback hits, 18 pressures, and eight hurries. He signed a one-year deal with Dallas, and he won’t cost a lot to bring back, which is right up the Cowboys alley. So, it would behoove them to seriously consider bringing Lawson back in 2025. Micah Parsons with maybe DeMarcus Lawrence, a healthy Sam Williams, Marshawn Kneeland, and Lawson would set the Cowboys up pretty nicely.

Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. This Cowboys UDFA rookie making case to be featured in long-term plans – Reid Hanson, USA Today Dallas has a knack for finding diamonds in the rough. The Dallas Cowboys are masters in finding steals through nontraditional avenues. From Brandon Aubrey and KaVontae Turpin who were found in other professional leagues, to Dak Prescott and DaRon Bland who were found in the latter portions of the draft, to Tony Romo and Miles Austin who were signed as undrafted free agents, the Cowboys have a knack for finding treasure in the rarest of places. When Dallas signed undrafted tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford following the draft last spring, they were hoping they found their next big treasure. Standing almost 6-foot-7, 270-pounds, “big” might be an understatement. The rookie from Minnesota was in demand following the draft. Players his size don’t come around very often and to many scouts, Spann-Ford had a draftable grade. What transpired was a bidding war, with team pit against team in an auction the Cowboys are all too familiar with. As fate would have it, Dallas won, outbidding the competition by guaranteeing $225,000 and throwing in a signing bonus of another $20,000 for good measure. A blocking specialist by nature, Spann-Ford is already the Cowboys’ top-rated blocker at the TE position. Blessed with the size of a left tackle, Spann-Ford has the potential to develop into an elite blocker one day, possibly giving the Cowboys a mismatch player to design plays around. Ferguson, reportedly close to coming back, will likely seize back his role as true TE1 the moment he’s cleared to play. And Schoonmaker, a player who has stepped up in Ferguson’s absence, will likely continue to be a player the Cowboys seek to develop. At face value this isn’t good news for Spann-Ford stockholders, but a deeper look shows Spann-Ford’s value and role remain intact. The Cowboys rarely use three TEs at the same time (1.3 percent) but that doesn’t mean three TEs won’t play each week. Spann-Ford is an exciting player who may be carving out a major role for the near future. Mike McCarthy responds to Dak Prescott’s comments about Cowboys future – Josh Sanchez, USA Today Dallas’ head coach responded to his star quarterback’s support for him. The conversation surrounding Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has shifted drastically. Entering the year, many considered McCarthy to be a lame -duck head coach. Just a few weeks ago, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones criticized the team’s play-calling and offensive schemes during a radio appearance. This week, with the team on a two-game winning streak, he refused to close the door on a potential contract extension for McCarthy. Then, star quarterback Dak Prescott campaigned for McCarthy to get another shot during an interview with Yahoo! Sports. One of the interesting parts of Prescott’s comments was the signal-caller saying McCarthy deserved an opportunity “to coach this team amongst more influence. On his terms.” “On his terms” was perceived by many to be a jab at Jerry Jones. McCarthy was asked about Prescott’s comments on Wednesday and shared his thoughts on what the star quarterback had to say. When asked about the “on his terms” comment, McCarthy downplayed the idea that he did not have direct influence. An endorsement from Dak Prescott could go a very long way with Jerry Jones, so if the Cowboys can string together a few more wins, the head coaching drama is going to be at an all-time high. There will be plenty of high-profile coaching candidates this offseason, but the Cowboys could end up staying away from the market — something no one would have every fathomed in early November. Mailbag: Does snap cadence help opposition? – Tommy Yarrish, Mickey Spagnola, DallasCowboys.com Digging into the details of the game is quite interesting. It seems like about 95% of the Cowboys’ plays start after the cadence, “Here we go!” Doesn’t this give the defense a tremendous advantage? Why don’t they mix this up? Our offense has enough to overcome without giving the defense so much help. – Dallas Mowen/Mac, IL Mickey: Here’s what you need to understand about “Here we go!” That is not the snap count, like once you hear that, the ball is snapped. It is to signal to the offensive linemen, be ready, no more talking or adjustments at the line of scrimmage, we’re about to start snap count of the ball. The ball is snapped then on the next clap by the quarterback, or next two or three claps. Or maybe the next sound or sounds. Or if on a silent count, then in the next what two or three seconds. That would be way to simple if the QB says,” Here we go!” and then the ball is immediately snapped. More to it than just that Mac. Tommy: If it is giving the defense an advantage, I’m not really seeing where it’s coming from. Especially in pass protection, as Cooper Rush has only been sacked once in the last two weeks. Every team has a cadence, and it’s something the opposing team gameplans for every week, so I don’t think it gives that much of a leg up to the opposition. In regards to mixing it up, if you do that, you risk the possibility of confusing your own players who are already used to one thing, which would lead to more pre-snap penalties. The Cowboys certainly don’t need any more of those this season. NFC East power rankings Week 14: Cowboys and Commanders build momentum – Lucas Mascherin, TheLandryHat.com Dallas may have a losing record, but they are still fighting. In a losing season, you must look to the next season and the future of the franchise. the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants succeeded in their respective goals with Dallas winning at home against New York. The Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles put the NFL on notice in their wins. It’s a positive outlook for

Chris Jones-Imagn Images How much stock are you putting into the current winning streak that the Cowboys are on? The analytics roundup has returned for the first time since Week 11, a result of the quick turnaround from playing on Thanksgiving. And what a difference the time has made, too, as the Cowboys have won two straight games, both against division opponents. The team has certainly looked better these past two games, but does it actually mean anything? Let’s dive into the advanced statistics and see what value there is in these two wins and where the Cowboys are headed. As if it wasn’t already clear, the Cowboys have improved. Their team DVOA has jumped up two spots in the rankings during this two-game winning streak. Interestingly, the offense has taken a slight step back while the defense is making strides. That will be a recurring theme throughout this report. In terms of weighted DVOA, which is more a measure of how efficient a team is playing right now rather than from start to finish, the Cowboys are still 25th but their defense is creeping up to the league average line. 2024 NFL Team Tiers, Weeks 1-13, courtesy of rbsdm.com The EPA-based team tiers aren’t quite as kind to the Cowboys. They’re still stuck in the bottom three of the league, just narrowly ahead of the Raiders and Panthers, the latter of whom they play in two weeks. Dallas is also just behind Cleveland and Jacksonville, two other teams playing without their franchise quarterback right now. This chart probably offers the biggest reality check for anyone getting excited about this win streak. Offense So, the offense has been scoring points somewhat regularly now, but they’re still a fairly inefficient bunch. In a fit of irony, the run game has plummeted in efficiency since Rico Dowdle started getting more carries, although the running back is still sixth in the league in rushing success rate. There’s not much out there to suggest that the offense is playing good right now, but they’ve done good enough to win with the way their defense has played lately. That’s about all you can ask for right now. Cooper Rush has rebounded nicely from his disastrous first start, and he’s now playing the kind of football we saw from him in 2022. That is to say that Rush is good enough to stay on schedule and move the chains, but he won’t be playing Superman any time soon. That’s pretty much what you want from a backup quarterback, too, and Rush’s metrics reflect that. He’s ranked between 33 and 35 in all but QBR, which suggests he’s one of the top backups in a league of 32 starters. The offensive line has been banged up lately, with Zack Martin missing each of the last two games. Tyler Smith missed a game too, and Tyler Guyton left with an ankle injury that will likely cause him to miss time. That said, the unit hasn’t seen a steep decline with all the shuffling going on. They’re seventh in both pressure rate and adjusted sack rate and saw modest improvements in adjusted line yards and run block win rate. The Cowboys could still use better production from the trenches, but given the current state of the line, they’ll take this. Defense Don’t look now, but the Dallas defense is playing great football right now. In the four games since Micah Parsons has returned, the Cowboys are 10th in EPA/play and fourth (!) in EPA/dropback. The run defense has still been bad, but Dallas has been downright elite through the air since their best player returned. That’s because Parsons has been dominant in his return, too. He’s notched 5.5 sacks with 22 pressures and has opened things up for the rest of his teammates too. On Thanksgiving, he reclaimed the team lead in pressures and is tied for 19th in the league despite missing four games. Parsons has been on a tear, and it’s making everything easier for this defense. The coverage unit deserves credit, too, although Parsons has certainly meant less time trying to stick with their man back there. Josh Butler was rounding into form right before tearing his ACL. Israel Mukuamu has quietly been really great in coverage, although his usage has been limited. DaRon Bland is also back, though he hasn’t been the kind of playmaker he was last year. It looks like Bland is still knocking some rust off, which is fair. The hope is that Trevon Diggs, who missed the last two weeks, will make his return and finally play alongside Bland for the first time this year.

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/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 get right into it. “If Tyler Guyton is done for the year, should he move to right tackle next year?” (Ryan Thomas on Facebook) Mike: Right tackle is his natural position from college, but he did say he prefers playing on the left when Dallas drafted him. Tyron Smith played on the right side during his rookie year for Dallas and that year he gave up the most sacks in a season during his time playing for the Cowboys. Smith, as we all know, became the crown jewel of a dominant offensive line a decade ago so sometimes time and maybe a position change can do a player good. Dana: In order for the team to move Guyton to RT, they will first need to figure out a few other things. Player evaluation for a rookie that is dealing with injuries is a difficult task. Hopefully they will have enough of a sample size when deciding what to do next season, but a move to RT for Guyton brings other questions to light. What will the Cowboys do with Terrence Steele in 2025? Who will they get to play at LT? I don’t believe that they would move Tyler Smith to LT, so would they draft someone or look to free-agency? If there is someone that is available to the Cowboys early in the offseason to play LT, this is definitely an option worth considering. “Who was your MVP against the Giants?” (David Stephens on Facebook) Mike: Let’s go Rico Dowdle for two reasons. Number one, the Cowboys offense, specifically the offensive line, has struggled in the run game all season, but then we see Dowdle suddenly explode when given the opportunity. Secondly, Dowdle had his first 100-yard rushing game, and it was the first time this season Dallas had a 100-yard rusher in a game. We have seen Dowdle building up to it over the past few weeks and for him to go from special teams player, to backup running back, to then break the 100-yard mark and score a rushing touchdown in the same game, that’s some distance travelled to get there. Now let’s see some consistency from Dowdle and really gain some momentum in these last five games. Dana: DeMarvion Overshown gets my vote for the Thanksgiving Day MVP. After the Giants got a lead, Overshown took it upon himself to singlehandedly swing the momentum of the game. He was able to tip one of Drew Lock’s passes to himself and take it to the house for a touchdown giving the Cowboys the lead 13-7 in the second quarter. That set the tone for the rest of the game for the Cowboys defense. Hopefully after DaRon Bland’s pick-six last Thanksgiving, followed by Overshown’s this year, it starts to become a Thanksgiving Day tradition. DEMARVION OVERSHOWN DID IT ALL HIMSELF ON THE PICK-SIX Hit the block, tipped the pass, took it to the HOUSE (via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/ng4Vu3bEBS — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 28, 2024 “Can the Cowboys reach at least the .500 mark sometime this season with Cooper Rush at QB?” (@MrEd315 on Twitter) Mike: Yes they can. They have a very winnable remainder of the schedule with Cincinnati next who have a losing record, Carolina (well let’s not dig too deep on that one), Washington (who Dallas have already beat), Tampa Bay who are 6-6, which leaves just Philadelphia. There’s a very strong possibility that Dallas wins four of those last five games with just the Philadelphia Eagles being the one you have to say is out of reach. That puts Dallas at 9-8 and given the tribulations of the season and injuries that isn’t a bad ending. It’s not great as fans who want to see playoff wins, but in the full scope of it all 9-8 wouldn’t be a bad end and puts them over .500 for the year. Dana: In order for the Cowboys to get over .500, they would need to win four more games to put them at 9-8 for the season. That would require only losing one more game for the rest of the season. While anything is possible, it seems very unlikely when considering the rest of the opponents that they will face. First up is the Bengals whose record isn’t necessarily reflective of the strength of that team. They should be able to beat the Panthers but they have been putting up a fight in their past few games against some really tough opponents. The Buccaneers, Eagles and Commanders close out the Cowboys schedule, all teams that are eyeing the playoffs. While, it is possible that the Cowboys can pull off a win against any one of these teams, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do it against four of them.