Cowboys News: Why rookies in the Dallas secondary are getting a lot of love

Refocused: Dallas Cowboys 30, New York Giants 10 - NFL Analysis, Pro Football Focus
The PFF team breaks down the Cowboys win over the Giants, with La'el Collins grading out among the best players on the field despite not practicing and playing with a herniated disc in his back. However, it was Dak Prescott who scored the team's highest grade:

Prescott completed 20-of-30 passes for 332 yards with 3 touchdowns and four dropped passes. Prescott averaged an impressive 11.07 yards per attempt. Prescott completed just one of his two deep-pass attempts (20 yards or more in the air) with his completion coming via an impressive pass up the seam to Jason Witten to essentially put the game away. Prescott was not asked to do the extraordinary, as the Cowboys played to their defense and running game to set up the pass, but he was consistent and mistake free. He was also clutch under pressure, as he completed 5-of-8 passes (including 2 drops) for 91 yards and a touchdown on pressured dropbacks.

DeMarcus Lawrence Jolts Giants In Ways Box Score Can't Say - John Owning, Fanrags
John Owning breaks down Demarcus Lawrence's game with his usual insights.

DeMarcus Lawrence is undoubtedly a craftsman, demonstrating a physical and intellectual mastery of the defensive end position that is rarely reached. Despite being blessed with a 6-foot-3 and 251-pound frame, he is not the best athlete, testing barely above-average athletically when compared with other NFL edge defenders. He has worked at, honed and mastered his craft despite not being blessed with otherworldly flexibility, speed or burst.

The results have been outstanding — he has registered 13.5 sacks (first in the NFL among edge defenders), nine QB hits (18th), 41 hurries (sixth) for 64 total pressures (third) and a pass-rush productivity score of 14.2 (third) while also dominating against the run.

After looking back on what Lawrence has accomplished so far this season, knowing that he enters this offseason as an unrestricted free agent, only three words come to mind:

Pay. That. Man.

Verizon, NFL agree to new 5-year deal worth nearly $2.5 billion- Darren Rovell, ESPN
Among all the dire predictions of the decline of the NFL the announcement of a $2.5 billion dollar deal shows the revenues continue to roll in for the league.

For the NFL, the deal gives the league greater distribution as people shift their viewing habits, said Hans Schroeder, chief operating officer of NFL media and business.

"This model allows our product to be much more broadly available and give greater access to our fans," Schroeder said. "People are still going to gravitate towards watching games on the best screen possible, which is television, but for people who are on-the-go and younger fans, this deal makes sense."

Cowboys’ rookie DBs have a sensational game in the spotlight vs Giants - K. D. Drummond, CowboysWire
K. D. digs into the impressive performance of the Cowboys’ rookie secondary trio:

For the first time in club history, the team went into battle with three rookies as their top three DBs when they traveled to New York to take on the now 2-11 Giants. No matter, Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods were ready.

Thanks to a few drops and ill-aimed Eli Manning passes, the defense was able to shut down the Giants’ passing offense. Dallas got their act together and was able to limit the Giants to 10 points without the help of a single sack. The rookie DBs combined for a whopping six pass deflections on the game.

Cowboys holding penalty statistics - David Helman via nflpenalties.com
David Helman took time to study how often holding penalties are called and dialed up the nflpenalties.com database to reveal (surprise, surprise) Cowboys opponents have been called for the least in the league.

Overcoming A Litany Of Frustrations To Keep Opportunity Alive - Mickey Spagnola, Dallas Cowboys.com
The mothership's Mickey Spagnola gives his thoughts on the team's victory over the Giants:

Yet, with the Cowboys actually trailing 10-3 and the first half dwindling to a close, Dallas was facing a second-and-6 at the 50. Giants safety Landon Collins inched up to the line of scrimmage, showing blitz. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott saw it. So did Dez

“We made a sight adjustment on the play,” Dak said.

Dak fired a quick pass Dez’s way. The cornerback, Brandon Dixon, was out there on an island. And when Dez broke his arm tackle …

“I knew exactly what was going to happen,” Dez said. “When I saw the safety come down, I already knew in my mind I was scoring. I swear I knew that was a touchdown.”

Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence: '(Expletive) them refs' - Tom Schad, USA Today
DeMarcus Lawrence railed against refs for not calling holding against the Giants offensive line.

Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman DeMarcus Lawrence ripped NFL officials Sunday for what he described as a lack of holding calls over the past several games, including his team's 30-10 win over the New York Giants on Sunday.

He concluded his lengthy comments with "(expletive), (expletive) them refs. That's all I got to say."

What Jason Garrett said about DeMarcus Lawrence's profane post-game rant towards officials - Brandon George, SportsDay
And of course Jason Garrett provided his thoughts on Laurence's comments:

Garrett was asked if he was aware Lawrence used profane language and was asked if anyone has had a conversation with him about his decision.

"Someone might have," Garrett said. "I have not seen it.

"It's not something that I really want to talk about, other than to say we always have good dialogue with the league on things that we have issues about. They do a great job allowing us to communicate with them. But it's our job to coach and play. It's their job to officiate."

Reversing this one trend has helped keep the Cowboys' slim playoff chances alive - David Moore, SportsDay

David Moore points out how the Cowboys have reversed their second half woes that plagued them during the team’s 3-game losing streak:

The Cowboys have outscored opponents 41-7 in the fourth quarter of the last two games. Dak Prescott has completed just six passes in those quarters, but they have resulted in 181 yards and three touchdowns.

"We're feeling ourselves, we're staying with it, we're staying within the game, not getting overwhelmed that we're not doing things well early,'' Prescott said. "But it would be nice to get going early, and that's what we've got to do moving forward, is get the way we're playing in the fourth quarter throughout the whole game.''

Nothing comes easy for these Cowboys, although Sunday's final score of 30-10 indicates otherwise. These last two wins have been a grind, especially early.