Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images The Cowboys defense has been great as of late. The vibes are good in Dallas right now, whether you like it or not. Many fans had come around to the idea of this season being lost and getting rewarded with a premium draft pick – and a new head coach – as a result. Now, though, the Cowboys have won three games in four tries and all the momentum seems to be pointing to continuity with the staff. Apologies to those who were hoping for a prized player in this year’s draft, but the Cowboys have found their winning ways lately with some plain ol’ good football. The defense has been especially good, and the recent surge offers legitimate promise in running things back with this coaching staff. Let’s dive into the analytics to get a better sense of it all. First, a dose of reality: the Cowboys are still not a good team. They are technically still in the hunt – Dallas currently has a 0.6% chance of making the playoffs, but they can only do so as the seventh seed – but it’s highly probable they get eliminated this week or next week. That said, the team is playing better lately. Both the offense and defense have better weighted DVOA grades than their season-long DVOA grades, a reflection of the improvements the Cowboys have made. It’s still not enough to make them a true dark horse contender, but it’s something to feel positive about. 2024 NFL Team Tiers, Weeks 1-15, courtesy of rbsdm.com The EPA-based team tiers paint a similar picture. Two weeks ago, they were in the bottom three in the league but have now climbed all the way up to 27th, and they’re likely to pull ahead of both the Patriots and Jaguars with the way those two teams are playing right now. Furthermore, if we look just at the last four weeks – during which the Cowboys have started to find their footing – the Cowboys are actually dead even with the Bengals for 10th in total team EPA/play. Granted, all three of their remaining opponents are well ahead of them even in this last stretch, but that offers an idea of just how much better the Cowboys are right now. Offense The offense has been notably better in these last four weeks, especially. They still perform about as you’d expect for an offense that’s starting Cooper Rush, but things have gotten better. McCarthy has settled into a groove in his first time calling plays for Rush on a consistent basis. Over the last four weeks, Dallas is 14th in both EPA/play and success rate. Even better: they’re fourth in rushing success rate. Rico Dowdle has emerged as a serious threat, with three straight 100+ yard rushing games. That’s a heck of a turnaround from where this run game was just a couple months ago. Of course, the run game has been such an emphasis lately because Rush is, well, Rush. Without throwing any disrespect his way, Rush is still just a backup quarterback. He’s not someone you want to be starting, but Rush is now showing why the Cowboys trust him to play when he has to. Outside of a very curious but consistent fumbling issue, Rush has been solid. His efficiency metrics all put him right where you want a backup to be: just on the fringe of the Top 32 in the league. He also seems to be getting more confident in his supporting cast, but Rush offers a sufficient starting level of talent to win with if other things can go right. And lately, they’ve been going very right. The Cowboys have had so many injuries along the offensive line this year that it’s become difficult to keep track of who’s actually playing these days. Chuma Edoga played two different spots this past week, for example, and Brock Hoffman has done the same at other points. Despite all the changes, the Cowboys line is playing its best football of the year. Aside from pass block win rate, they’re comfortably in the top 10 in every metric here. And the improvements in run blocking have played a huge factor in Dowdle’s emergence. Defense Here’s the fun part: this defense is balling out right now. Players are looking comfortable in Mike Zimmer’s defense, and Micah Parsons’ return has taken things to a new level. In the six weeks since Parsons came back from injury, Dallas is eighth in EPA/play and third (!) in EPA/dropback. Zimmer’s creative simulated pressure scheme has made it impossible to throw the ball against the Cowboys. The most impressive thing is how he’s doing it: Dallas is just 11th in blitz rate on the whole, but they’re third in blitzing on third downs. Not coincidentally, Dallas is fourth in pressure rate and sacks. Zimmer has been forcing opponents into third and long and then unleashing hell (read: Micah Parsons) on the quarterback, and it’s going gangbusters. Not to renew the debate about pass rush vs pass coverage, but the numbers for the Cowboys secondary kind of suggests that pass rush rules all. Or at least it does when your pass rush is this good. By most metrics, the Cowboys have not been great in coverage; Trevon Diggs, whose season is now done, has the best passer rating among Cowboys corners with a mere 89.3 rating. The pass rush has freed things up, though, particularly for Donovan Wilson. The safety struggled mightily early on in the year, but Zimmer has started to deploy him as more of a roaming monster near the line of scrimmage thanks to the great pass rush. Three of his last four games have yielded a 72.0+ grade from Pro Football Focus; prior to this stretch, Wilson’s single-game high for the year was 70.7 in Week 1. The numbers don’t look good for the secondary, but they’re playing better ball now that the pass rush is hitting its stride.

Peter Casey-Imagn Images Netflix has released the trailer for their documentary chronicling Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. It was about a year and a half ago when word first broke that Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys were serving as the subject matter for an upcoming documentary series from Netflix. These sort of things take time though and at long last we have gotten something substantial and legitimate relating to the documentary. Netflix released the official trailer for “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys” on Thursday afternoon. You can watch it below. AMERICA’S TEAM: THE GAMBLER AND HIS COWBOYS — the definitive story of Jerry Jones, his Dallas Cowboys, and the twists and turns on the road to becoming the most valuable sports franchise in the world. Coming to Netflix in 2025. pic.twitter.com/usmOiUE2uJ — Netflix (@netflix) December 19, 2024 If is not obvious, the documentary seemingly covers the Jerry Jones era of the Dallas Cowboys specifically. Interestingly the trailer sort of presents things as if the Cowboys became America’s Team under him when that is obviously not true. Nevertheless, there are clips shown with various members of the Cowboys’ glory days: Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. The trailer is short, but the final words are overlayed from Jerry Jones himself. “Keep ‘em talking.” “It’s a soap opera 365 days a year.” It stands to reason that the documentary will lean into the Cowboys nature of everything as projects like this often do. As far as release dates are concerned the only thing noted was that it is coming in 2025. Generally things like this are paired with something notable on the NFL calendar so maybe we get it around the NFL Draft or potentially the beginning of next season. Who is going to watch?

Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images The Cowboys offensive line has been figuring things out amid all sorts of chaos. The Dallas Cowboys took a big leap of faith this offseason when they let Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz leave in free agency. With the foresight of a deep offensive line draft class, the team made a concerted effort to get younger, ultimately using a first-round pick on Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton and Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe after a trade down. The Cowboys also loved what they have in some of their young depth guys like Brock Hoffman, T.J. Bass, and Asim Richards. Collectively, they felt good about what had with their savvy veterans and young players. After a good showing in training camp, both the rookies had secured starting jobs, and the Cowboys’ offensive line overhaul plan was in full swing. The season started with the following offensive line arrangement: LT Tyler Guyton (rookie) LG Tyler Smith (third-year, All-Pro 2023) C Cooper Beebe (rookie) RG Zack Martin (11th-year, All-Pro 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014) RT Terence Steele (fifth-year) The team was prepared to accept the expected growing pains with two rookies with both of them playing different positions than they played in college. It was bumpy, but a necessary evil that hopefully would pay dividends later. This unit stayed consistent in the beginning part of the year, but when things started to turn, it got messy in a hurry. On the season, the Cowboys have endured several injuries along the offensive line. Martin was lost for the year in Week 11 when he required season-ending ankle surgery. Smith hurt his knee against Houston and missed the following game against Washington. Beebe suffered a concussion against the Bengals 14 and has missed last week’s game against Carolina. Injuries have hit the reserves as well. Asim Richards went on injured reserve with an ankle injury and T.J. Bass left Sunday’s game with a thigh injury. Veteran Chuma Edoga finally returned to the field in Week 13 after starting the year on IR with a toe injur, but finds himself on the injury report again. All of these injuries have impacted the Cowboys’ offensive line, but the one that has caused the most dominos to fall is the re-occurring unavailability of rookie Tyler Guyton. His rap sheet for the year is not pleasing to the eye. Week 5 – exited the Pittsburgh game with a knee injury, missed the following game against Detroit Week 9 – exited the Atlanta game with a neck/shoulder injury, missed the following game against Philadelphia Week 11 – exited the Houston game when he aggravated his shoulder (when he picked up a fumble and tried to run) Week 12 – benched during the Washington game Week 13 – exited the New York game with a high ankle sprain, missed the following game against Cincinnati All the injuries have shaken things up, but Guyton’s absence has created a lot of shuffling along the offensive line. Here are the 11 different offensive line arrangements the Cowboys have had so far this season… That’s a lot of movement. There is good and bad in all of this. For starters, it’s rough to see Martin go out this way as this could be the last time we see him in a Cowboys uniform (or any uniform for that matter). It’s also unsettling that rookie Guyton is having fits, both in health and performance. Penalties, whiffs, and constantly being nicked up don’t inspire a lot of confidence for what the Cowboys hope is their future left tackle. There are some good things too. Steele has played 100% of the offensive snaps this season after leading the team with 99% of the offensive snaps played last season. His availability is a pleasant surprise considering the bad knee injury he suffered in 2022. He’s been looking better recently after getting past that wave of Defensive Player of the Year opponents he faced in the first part of the season. The transition to center is no problem for Beebe as he’s looked good all season. And the jump in progress for Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass makes people feel better about what life will be like without Martin as the interior offensive line has shockingly played well without him. The Cowboys played with fire by relying on so many young undeveloped pieces to make up the bulk of their offensive line and they have certainly been burned a time or two, but this young group is taking some promising steps forward. There is still work to be done, but when you consider all the moving around that the line has endured, it’s surprising things haven’t completely fallen apart. Thanks to the talent and versatility of this squad, the Cowboys offensive line keeps on truckin’. Don’t look now, but the Cowboys now have the fourth-best run-block win rate in the NFL. I would not have predicted that outcome after losing Zack Martin for the year, but here we are. pic.twitter.com/Oick7jiWf7 — Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) December 18, 2024

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. Broaddus: Cowboys to shut down DeMarcus Lawrence for rest of 2024 season – 105.3 The Fan The Cowboys are not going to get DeMarcus Lawrence back this season. Now the question is will he be back at all? The Dallas Cowboys are shutting down defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence for the rest of the 2024 season, Bryan Broaddus reported Wednesday on the GBag Nation on 105.3 The Fan. “They tried their best to get him back. There was a couple times where I was passing by the field, watching him, and I felt like [he was working hard with Cowboys trainer Britt Brown). … But they just couldn’t get that (foot) where it needed to be, and it wasn’t worth the risk for them going forward,” The Fan’s Brian Broaddus said. Lawrence has been out since sustaining a foot injury in the Week 4 win over the New York Giants in September. Shortly after that Lawrence was moved to IR. {…] Lawrence has played his entire 11-year career with the Cowboys but will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. He has previously stated that he plans on playing next season. But will that be in Dallas? “We may have seen Tank Lawrence for the last time in a Cowboys uniform,” Broaddus said. Mailbag: Where has Osa improved this year? – Mickey Spagnola, Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com The defensive lineman is becoming one of the brightest stars on Dallas’ defense. (Editor’s Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in ‘Mailbag’ presented by Miller Lite.) It seems like Osa Odighizuwa is finally getting some recognition with Greg Olsen calling him one of the best defensive tackles in the game during last Sunday’s broadcast. In what areas has he improved this season? Since he’s in a contract year, is he playing himself out of what the Cowboys’ can afford? – Roland Williams/Denver, CO Mickey: Well, it’s getting close, right? But if he keeps this up the rest of the way I would think he would become a Cowboys priority to re-sign since there isn’t really anyone waiting in the wings to replace what he does. Mazi is a one-tech, and there is not another young defensive tackle playing the 3 that I see on this roster. You know, like last year at defensive end when the Cowboys passed on the expensive Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr., they had Sam Williams ready to emerge. Unfortunately, he suffered the torn ACL in training camp. Now the cap will be tight again, maybe even tighter than it has been this year. But I’d imagine the Cowboys must look at Osa as playing a position of value. He is playing nearly 80 percent of the snaps this season, and at least 78 percent in the past five games and as much as 90 percent against the Giants. To me, he’s a keeper unless some teams just money whips him. Tommy: I think his ability to get after the passer and apply pressure has been his biggest improvement this season. That’s not to say he wasn’t good at that last season – he had 47 pressures and three sacks – but with three games left in the 2024 season, he’s generated 44 pressures and four sacks, with the fourth coming on Sunday against the Panthers. Add that to the fact that he’s equally as effective stopping the run (40 tackles and 8 run stuffs this season) and he’s certainly going to demand a pretty pay check heading into this offseason. Greg Olsen is absolutely right that he’s playing like one of the best defensive tackles in the league right now, and the Cowboys front office will definitely have a tough decision to make after these last three games. My two cents? If you’ve got one of the best in the league at their position, find a way to keep them around. Dallas Cowboys Stock Watch: Week 15 risers & fallers – Koby Skillern, Sports Illustrated Some stock continues to rise as the season comes to a close. The Dallas Cowboys on Sunday did their best impression of their glory days with hard-nosed football, dominating the run game alongside a stifling defense. The Cowboys convincingly defeated the Carolina Panthers 30-14, showcasing multiple standout performances on both offense and defense. Risers Rico Dowdle, RB Rico Dowdle has improved each week this season, which is exactly what the Cowboys need from their starting running back. Since Dowdle took over as the full-time running back, the Cowboys have had their best run-game since Ezekiel Elliott’s early seasons in the league. On Sunday, Dowdle had a career day with 25 carries for a career-high 149 yards, averaging six yards per carry. His performance helped the Cowboys surpass their previous season-high team rushing yards by 55 yards. Osa Odighizuwa, DT Osa Odighizuwa is having a career year in the final season of his rookie contract, adding to the list of star players the Cowboys will need to re-sign. On Sunday, Odighizuwa recorded four total tackles, three solo tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, and four quarterback hits. He has been one of the league’s best interior pass rushers and has continually increased his value as the season has progressed. CeeDee Lamb, WR Outside of Rico Dowdle, CeeDee Lamb was the only Cowboys’ weapon to make a significant impact on Sunday. Lamb surpassed 100 yards receiving for just the second time this season, finishing with nine catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. Lamb became just the second player in Cowboys history, alongside Michael Irvin, to achieve four straight seasons of 1,000 receiving yards. It is still early, but Lamb is currently well on pace for a Hall of Fame career. Cowboys Learn ‘Good News’ Prediction After DeMarvion Overshown Surgery – Mike Fisher, AthlonSports.com Dallas got some good news regarding their up-and-coming linebacker’s recent injury. FRISCO – The Dallas Cowboys, when it comes to

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images Penalties have been a big talking point for the Dallas Cowboys as of late. The Dallas Cowboys may have gotten the win this week, handling the Carolina Panthers with relative ease, but one of the more concerning trends of the last few years popped up again: penalties. The Cowboys were flagged 14 times and gave up 99 yards in penalties, though it didn’t really impact the game itself. Still, penalties have been a common gripe in Dallas. It’s often been attributed to Mike McCarthy, mostly because the head coach spoke so often about wanting to cut down on penalties during and shortly after the 2021 season. However, as we broke down earlier this year, penalties were not a problem for McCarthy in Green Bay, while they have generally been a recurring issue for the Cowboys over the last decade and a half regardless of coach. What’s interesting is that the penalties had become less of an issue than usual for the Cowboys this season. Let’s take a look at their week-by-week breakdown of penalties for the year: Coming into this game with the Panthers, the Cowboys had played five straight games where they were either penalized as much or less than their opponent. Additionally, over their past eight games, the Cowboys had just one game where they were penalized more than the opponent. When things kicked off against Carolina, the Cowboys were ninth in total penalties called against them. That may not sound great, but Dallas has been top five in penalties each of the last three seasons, so ninth is making real progress. After the game, though, the Cowboys moved back up to fourth. That’s a big climb, but 14 penalties in one game will do that. What if I told you that it isn’t a big deal, though? Or, at least, not as big of a deal as it seems. Penalties are certainly bad. They can kill promising offensive drives or wipe out big defensive stops. The Cowboys saw both happen this week, too. But with so much of the conversation focusing on how many penalties have been called against them, the focus should instead be on net penalties. What does that mean? Just as the chart above looks at the Cowboys’ penalties and their opponents’ penalties, net penalties tracks the difference in penalties between teams. This adds important context as to the overall impact of the penalties being called. Take the game against the Texans, for example. Both teams were flagged nine times, and the Cowboys were assessed 66 penalty yards to the Texans’ 99 penalty yards. In the grand scheme of things, penalties didn’t really hurt either team in that game. Now, in the case of the Thanksgiving game against the Giants, Dallas had roughly half the penalties and penalty yards as their opponent, making that one of several advantages that went the Cowboys’ way in that game. Obviously, net penalties don’t always equate to wins. The Cowboys were the less penalized team against the Saints, Ravens, and Lions and got blown out by all three of them. But if we’re talking about real impact of penalties, and any attempt to paint one team or another as particularly undisciplined, we have to take into account the full picture. Net penalties helps to accomplish that. So where do the Cowboys stand in net penalties? Excellent question! With three weeks left to go in the season, Dallas has the fourth-best net penalty standing at +13. That means that, on the whole, opponents have been called for 13 more penalties than the Cowboys. The three teams ahead of them are the Vikings, Steelers, and Rams, all led by head coaches who are in the running for Coach of the Year honors. Just as important, the Cowboys are fourth in net penalty yards at +137. They’re behind the Vikings, Steelers, and Bills here. Penalty yardage numbers can be skewed because of the different types of penalties – a couple really long pass interference penalties can completely corrupt this data – but it’s still important to pay attention to since it tracks the actual yardage impact. Some of the worst teams in the league are near the bottom in one or both of these categories, too. The Titans, Patriots, Jets, and Browns all find themselves within the bottom 10 in both net penalties and net penalty yards. Ironically, the Ravens and Eagles are the two worst in both, though it hasn’t impacted their records. For those who are wondering, the Cowboys have had a negative net penalty number each of the last three years, which isn’t surprising given how heavily penalized they’ve been. But this year has been a genuine reversal of fortunes, with just four games all year seeing them draw more flags than the opponent. That doesn’t change the fact that the Cowboys played a sloppy game against the Panthers, where they drew nearly double the amount of flags. Some of that may be attributed to the defense looking to pad their stats, as Greg Olsen explained on the broadcast, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to watch. Still, when we view this season in its total context, the Cowboys have made huge strides with regards to penalties. If they manage to finish this season with a positive net penalty number, it’ll be a first under McCarthy. It would also be the first time the Cowboys have done so since the 2017 season. That accomplishment should not go unnoticed.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images The Buccaneers enter Sunday on quite the streak. Mike Evans, ‘guaranteed Hall of Famer,’ explodes for 159 yards, two TDs in Buccaneers’ win over Chargers – Kevin Patra, NFL.com The Bucs’ top receiver had a huge day against Los Angeles. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers trailed the Los Angeles Chargers at halftime, needing some juice after two turnovers cost them dearly. Then, Mike Evans exploded The star wideout found green grass on a scramble drill and Baker Mayfield hit him for a 57-yard touchdown. Two drives later, Evans toasted the Chargers defense again for a 35-yard touchdown. Boom. Halftime deficit turned into a double-digit lead. The Bucs would go on to win, 40-17, scoring the final 27 points of the game. “I think he’s a guaranteed Hall of Famer,” coach Todd Bowles said of Evans, per the team’s official transcript. “He steps up and plays big. You can’t put a price on what he does for this team from a mental standpoint, from a physical standpoint and from a team standpoint. He is everything that a player aspires to be from a mental aspect. He’s tough. He does great in the community. He takes care of his body. He comes up big with plays, whether they’re singling him or doubling him, and he blocks. We can’t ask for anything more than what he is giving us right now.” Calling Evans a Hall of Famer shouldn’t be considered a hot take — before or after Sunday’s performance. The Bucs star has been consistently great for a decade. He’s currently chasing Jerry Rice’s record of 11 consecutive seasons with 1,000 receiving yards. Evans hit the 1K mark in each of his first 10 seasons. A hamstring injury that knocked him out three games put the streak in jeopardy, but Sunday’s explosion got him back on track. Entering the game, Evans had 590 yards on 43 catches with seven touchdowns. His massive 159 yards on nine catches with two TDs puts 1,000 yards within striking distance. He needs to average 83.6 yards per game over the final three contests. Could Chris Godwin Return To The Bucs For The Playoffs? – Scott Reynolds, PewterReport.com With Mike Evans rolling, having Godwin return would elevate Tampa’s offense even more. The Bucs had injury added to insult on Monday Night Football when Tampa Bay lost at home to Baltimore back in Week 7. Not only did the Ravens trounce the Bucs, 41-31, but wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin suffered leg injuries in the loss. Evans re-aggravated his hamstring in the second quarter, and that caused him to miss the next three games. But the injury Godwin suffered, a dislocated ankle, was far worse. Catching a pass with less than a minute left, Godwin was tackled by Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith, whose body weight landed on the receiver’s ankle. The Bucs immediately called for the cart and Godwin’s season was over in an instant. Or was it? The next day at his press conference, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles offered some optimism, suggesting that Godwin may be able to return if the Bucs make the postseason and go deep into the playoffs. “He’ll probably be out for the year,” Bowles said. “There’s a chance, if we make a late playoff run, that he could be back but he’s undergoing surgery and he’s going to be out.” Godwin spent a few moments discussing his recovery and was asked if he could return for the playoffs. “Man, recovery is going great,” Godwin said. “It’s a slow grind for sure, but like anything else, it just takes a lot of work. And that’s what I’m focused on – just putting in the work and trying to help and trying to get back to my teammates as quick as possible.” Jamel Dean Breaks Down Interception, Pre-Snap Process – Brianna Dix, Buccaneers.com Both sides of the ball put on a show against the Chargers. Defensively, Tampa Bay put on a clinic against the Chargers in Week 15. The Bucs limited the Chargers’ offense to just 206 total yards – the lowest total allowed by the Bucs in a game in 2024. The Chargers went 0-for-6 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down in the matchup and rushed for a season-low 32 yards. Los Angeles totaled just 14 first downs on Sunday, the fewest surrendered by Tampa Bay in a game all season. In the third quarter, Bucs’ veteran cornerback Jamel Dean intercepted a Justin Herbert pass intended for Quentin Johnston to record his first interception of the season and the eighth of his NFL career. Herbert had not thrown an interception on his previous 335 passing attempts – the fifth-longest streak all-time. He tied Tom Brady for the longest such streak by a quarterback within a season in NFL history (minimum of 15 attempts in each start) and Dean ended the prolific streak. With outside leverage and his eye on the ball, Dean spun around and hauled in the pick on Herbert’s floater, sparking the Bucs’ defense at SoFi Stadium. “I was guarding Quentin Johnston, and he is the fast, vertical guy,” said Dean on Bucs Total Access. ”In my mind, I thought, ‘He is the fast vertical guy, so they know I am going to take shots backed up. Eventually, he is going to test one of the corners.’ He does it at least two or three times a game and he helped me when he did an inside release. So, I was in a comfortable situation because I could see the receiver and I could see the ball. Once the ball was in the air and I could see that the receiver was not paying attention, I just played the ball.”