:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69946513/usa_today_16885044.0.jpg)
We have asked the Dallas Cowboys to impress us over each of the last two weeks and they have done so rather convincingly.
America’s Team is riding a three-game win streak (their first since the three weeks before last season’s finale) and looking like one of the top squads in the NFL. Much of what is making the Cowboys appear so formidable is that they are getting contributions from everywhere.
We discussed all of Sunday’s action during our official Dallas Cowboys Postgame Show on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel (subscribe here) and podcast network. Remember that you can listen to all of our shows on our podcast network by subscribing to one single feed. Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe right here.
With the sun shining a little bit brighter and food tasting a little bit better as a result of the last few weeks we are keeping things purely positive today.
11 winners and winners only! Let’s begin.
Winner: Trevon Diggs
He is playing like one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL and that is in no way any sort of hyperbole.
We are reaching a point where Diggs is able to will a turnover into existence when the Cowboys defense really needs one. The team was in some lesser spirits at the beginning of the second half after getting pushed around a bit and he responded by taking the ball away twice and giving the offense short fields to work with.
Diggs has five interceptions in four games.
Winner: Randy Gregory
There was reason to be a bit skeptical about Gregory entering this season. This didn’t have to do with him specifically, but we just hadn’t seen him play an entire season in forever. It felt like low odds.
Whatever the odds were Gregory is putting together a season. He is a constant and consistent force along this defensive line and someone who dramatically impacts the game. He led the team in sacks (two) and looks like he’ll continue that trend.
Winner: Osa Odighizuwa
If it weren’t for Micah Parsons we would be absolutely freaking out over Odighizuwa. It is quite the what-if to wonder if we ever would have learned about him to this degree if not for Neville Gallimore’s injury during the preseason.
Dallas is winning everywhere on defense and the fact that Odighizuwa (a third-round rookie) is a huge reason for that is good drafting.
Winner: Ezekiel Elliott
Is he back? Who cares.
Ezekiel Elliott is contributing to the cause of the Cowboys week in and week out by doing whatever they need for him to do. In this particular game it called for Zeke carrying the ball 20 times and he did so to the tune of 143 yards and a score.
Winner: Amari Cooper
We have known about Cooper’s rib injury for some time now, but during this game he dealt with a hamstring issue. None of that mattered, though. Cooper is the ultimate do-it-all-no-matter-what guy and played on through injury. He even had a 35-yard touchdown to serve as icing on the cake.
Winner: Jayron Kearse
Nobody has wandered through the wilderness of safety depth (or rather lack of it) like Cowboys fans have for the last who even knows how long at this point. When the team signed Jayron Kearse over the offseason the honest feeling was that it was more of the same.
Kearse has been a huge delight though and has impressed in every capacity. He brings a stable force on the back end which has been needed for way too long.
Winner: Chauncey Golston
If you are a defensive rookie on the Dallas Cowboys then odds are that you are going to prosper in 2021. Third-rounder Chauncey Golston got some play in this game and did a lot with it. Like just about everybody else, he was in Carolina’s backfield and in Sam Darnold’s face. He may have only finished with half a sack on the stat sheet, but Golston had a really impressive game and looks like someone that can develop nicely.
Winner: Kellen Moore
As mentioned, the first half of this game was a bit frustrating for the Cowboys, but things turned around in the second half. In the third quarter alone the Cowboys had multiple touchdown drives exceeding 50 yards (they also had a 37-yard one as well). Trevon Diggs did a great job of giving them the ball to work with, but Kellen Moore adjusted in the second half and made the mountain too tall for the Panthers to climb.
Winner: Dan Quinn
How much praise can we heap on Dan Quinn before it becomes disingenuous?
Back during the 2018 season, the last year that Dallas played serious January football, the team had nine interceptions - for the season. They are through four games this year and are currently sitting on eight.
Whatever it is, else the disposition for this defense is clearly different. Dan Quinn deserves an enormous amount of credit for getting this group ready week in and week out.
Winner: Mike McCarthy
Many were critical of Mike McCarthy’s handling of the end of the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, but this was one of the best games that we have ever seen from Mike McCarthy as the head coach of the Cowboys.
Adjusting and going for two after Carolina gave the Cowboys a short field to work with in the first half was incredibly wise, even if it didn’t end up working out (that ruling seemed suspect, but whatever).
What’s more is McCarthy’s decision to decline the penalty late in the first half that would have made it second and forever (something many are advocating in hindsight) was also extremely wise. McCarthy trusted his defense to get a stop on 3rd and 12, he cannot be blamed for that. Ultimately his team has won six of their last eight games and is looking very interesting entering October.
Winner: Dak Prescott
You would be hard-pressed to find a quarterback who is operating at a higher level right now than Dak Prescott. He is the best version of himself that we have ever seen at the moment and he had his way with the Panthers.
Onward.
Loading comments...