Cowboys news: What we learned from Dallas’ preseason loss to the Seahawks

3 takeaways from Cowboys-Seahawks: Dallas dealt tough blow by DeMarvion Overshown injury - Calvin Watkins, DMN

What is your takeaway from Saturday night’s action?

The backup running back is ...

Looks like Rico Dowdle took the lead for the No. 2 running back job Saturday night. Dowdle gained nine yards on his first carry of the game and then four more on his second attempt. When his night was over, he rushed for 38 yards on nine carries with a touchdown reception.

“I think it went pretty smooth,” Dowdle said. “Guys up front, give them the credit, they did a good job of finding small creases in there and just trying to go north and south.”

He also made a nice block on a blitz pickup as Cooper Rush completed a 10-yard third-down pass to Jalen Tolbert. Dowdle had shared the backup role with Malik Davis and Deuce Vaughn since veteran Ronald Jones went out with a concussion in the middle of training camp. Dowdle’s health prevented him from taking over the No. 3 spot last season behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard.

JALEN TOLBERT IMPRESSES FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK - Shane Taylor, Inside The Star

The Cowboys may have found their WR4.

Tolbert, for the second straight preseason game, was a standout player.

In last night’s loss to the Seahawks, Tolbert finished with four catches for 66 yards.

After the first two games, Tolbert has six catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.

After an offseason wondering who would emerge as the Cowboys’ No. 4 wide receiver, Tolbert has now distanced himself from Simi Fehoko, Jalen Brooks, and others.

“I am just building on what I have been trying to build on the whole training camp,” Tolbert said.

“My takeaways can be speed and being able to play faster than everybody else. … Not thinking too much, just going out there and really trying to be comfortable and confident.”

What a huge turnaround from year one.

Cowboys WR Jalen Tolbert caught four passes for 66 yards Saturday vs. Seahawks despite having played just 26 offensive snaps. Here is story from June on what clicked for the 2022 third-round pick: https://t.co/ome7L31HT5 pic.twitter.com/2ynccGePDO

— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) August 20, 2023

After struggling to grasp the playbook during his rookie season and hardly seeing the field, Tolbert has found his way in the first couple of weeks.

This is a great sign for the Cowboys.

Adding Brandin Cooks and a healthy Michael Gallup with CeeDee Lamb and Tolbert.

‘Still Blessed!’ DeMarvion Overshown Reacts to Major Cowboys Injury News - Mike Fisher and Jonathan Alfano, Sports Illustrated

Nothing but optimism from the training camp standout, despite the injury.

The Dallas Cowboys are back home in Frisco now, evaluating film from having lost their second straight preseason game on Saturday night, falling to the Seattle Seahawks 22-14 on the road. ... but more importantly, waiting on the evaluation of doctors as a result of injury issues.

Rookie linebacker DeMarvion Overshown’s issue is the biggest concern. The third-round pick was eventually taken off to the locker room with what could be a significant knee injury.

“You never want to see any of your guys get hurt,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “That’s what is so tough about these games. We had a couple young guys go down, and you just say your prayers and hopefully the (MRI) points in the right direction.

Overshown, who late into the night tweeted “Still Blessed” with a praying hands emoji, ‘’has had an incredible camp,’’ McCarthy said. “We talked about him seems like almost ever other day. ... He was climbing the charts. ... Really has excellent command for a young player, young linebacker. So just hopeful.’’

Dallas’ other injuries from Saturday also include rookie tight end John Stephens (knee) and offensive lineman Matt Waletzko (shoulder).

3 standouts (and 2 duds) from Cowboys loss to Seahawks in Week 2 of preseason - Randy Gurzi, The Landry Hat

Who came out on top, and who is at risk of sliding down the depth chart, after week two of the preseason?

Cowboys Standout: Isaiah Land, EDGE

During the offseason, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn let everyone know he was a huge fan of Isaiah Land. Quinn had been watching the undrafted free agent from Florida A&M since early 2022 and was thrilled to get to work with him this season.

Land’s debut was modest as he had just two tackles in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In Week 2 of the preseason, he made some noise when he sacked Holton Ahlers for a seven-yard loss and forced a fumble as well.

I literally just said out loud that Isaiah Land has been quiet tonight. Two plays later, he causes a fumble.

I should’ve said it earlier.

— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) August 20, 2023

Seattle was able to recover the fumble but it was still a great play out of the rookie. It also set the Seahawks up with a third-and-15, which should have ended their drive. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen when SaRodorick Thompson was able to break free for a 29-yard run — but that’s not on Land.

Greg Olsen: All eyes are on Dak Prescott to get Cowboys over the top - John Buhler, FanSided

Fair or not, Olsen is right.

Since he calls a boat load of Dallas games for FOX, Olsen has seen far too often good to potentially great Cowboys teams come up short when it matters the most. Will this year be different? Maybe.

“Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. I think every year Dallas is an intriguing story, maybe no more so than this year. They’ve been so close at times. You can make an argument that in the last year or two that they’ve been the best team in the league at various moments during the season. Then, it just seems like they can’t get over the hump.”

Of course, the biggest thing Olsen has his eyes on is if franchise quarterback Dak Prescott can take his game up another level. Keep in mind that head coach Mike McCarthy will be calling the plays after Dallas parted ways with former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after last season ended.

“Mike McCarthy’s rolling the dice. They’ve had a top-five offense the last couple of years. Scoring, call it 30 again, for a while. A lot of teams out there would cut their arm off to score 30 points and they go ahead and fire their offensive coordinator … But I think all eyes are on Dak. I think all eyes are on this offense. Can they go from a team that is known for scoring a lot of points, to a team that can win a meaningful game in the playoffs? Can they win a tough game in January? I think that’s what Dak and Mike McCarthy are searching for.”

Eagles Prove Why Cowboys Fans Should Be So Grateful for Cooper Rush - Jason Schandl, Sport DFW

Thank you, Philly, for allowing us to appreciate our strengths.

This offseason the Eagles are giving us a prime example of the reverse scenario too. They brought in Marcus Mariota as a high-profile backup to Jalen Hurts, and the experiment has been a disaster so far.

There’s been almost no buzz around Mariota from training camp practices, and he seems to be struggling to throw the ball in his new offense. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s a guy who is most dangerous with his legs, and QBs aren’t allowed to run much in practice, so the live-game scenarios in the preseason would be better suited to show what he can do.

Well he averaged just 5.3 yards per pass attempt in his preseason debut against the Ravens, then completely chunked it against the Browns on Thursday. Mariota went just 9/17 for 86 yards (5.1 per attempt) with an interception, getting sacked three times and only notching 5 yards on his lone carry. That’s a straight up bad performance.

So now the Eagles are in a brutal spot. If you bring in someone else as the QB2 now they’ll be getting a very short training camp to learn the offense and build chemistry with the team. Not to mention the free agent market is mostly dried up, and that moving on from Mariota would cost $5 million in dead cap space.

The options behind him on the depth chart aren’t great either. Ian Book is probably getting cut, and Tanner McKee is a sixth-round rookie.

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