Dallas Cowboys – Week 12 takes

Post by Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on X

Another week, another blowout win of a bad team for the Dallas Cowboys as they go to Charlotte and pummel the Carolina Panthers 33-10 in a game that was rarely in doubt. Cowboys are now 7-3 as they get set for the Washington Commanders in their annual Thanksgiving home game.

Dallas led this game 17-3 at the half before Carolina scored to make it 17-10 with 1:59 left in the third quarter. Momentum was starting to turn the Panthers’ way before the Cowboys went 75 yards in 8 plays, capped by a 21 yard TD run by Tony Pollard, to extend their lead back to two touchdowns. On the first play of the next drive, Daron Bland picked off Bryce Young and returned the interception 30 yards into the end zone, essentially putting the game away. Young fumbled on the Panthers’ next drive, and the Cowboys kicked a FG to cap the scoring.

That’s Bland’s 4^th pick six of the season, tying an NFL record shared by Ken Houston, Jim Kearney, and Eric Allen. Bland wasn’t even one of the Cowboys’ top two corners coming into the season, but he has done much more than just fill in for an injured Trevon Diggs. The 5^th round pick in the 2022 draft is making more money for himself by the game. Bland’s an example of what the Cowboys have been missing for a long time: quality depth. For years, Dallas’ top 8 or 10 players have been as good as most teams out there. What the Cowboys have been missing is that 3^rd or 4^th corner, that 4^th or 5^th LB, that 4^th or 5^th WR, that 7^th or 8^th OL, who when called upon can play well enough to not be a liability. That depth is one of the things that has kept Dallas from truly making a run at a Super Bowl. One thing we know about the NFL is that injuries will happen. Yes, teams must have superstars, players that can make game changing plays at any moment. Championship teams don’t just have the superstars; they have guys who can do the job all throughout the roster.

Another guy that you can count on to do the job is Micah Parsons. Lot of folks, myself included, raised an eyebrow when looking at the box score of last week’s win over the Giants and not seeing Parsons’ name in it. Yes he played, but he didn’t register a sack, a tackle, a QB hurry, a deflection…nothing. Something tells me Parsons heard a thing or two about that this week. Parsons was a menace in this game, with 2 ½ sacks and 6 tackles, even while getting sick on the sidelines. The Cowboys racked up 7 sacks altogether as Bryce Young simply didn’t have a chance to do much. Greg Olsen was correct on the FOX broadcast; it’s too early to evaluate Young because the Panthers need to put some semblance of an offensive line in front of him. Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders are a decent tandem at RB and they combined for 107 yards rushing in the game. Adam Thielen is still a productive WR, as he caught 8 passes for 74 yards. However, Young needs a lot more help before making any conclusions on his ability to drive an offense.

Dak Prescott was solid in this one, going 25-38 for 189 yards and a pair of TD passes. Tony Pollard rushed 12 times for 61 yards and the score, although the majority of his yards came on a couple of carries. I would’ve liked to seen the Cowboys have more production on the ground, considering that’s the weak part of Carolina’s defense. Brandin Cooks caught 3 passes for 42 yards, and CeeDee Lamb had 6 catches for 38 yards and a score. As Olsen pointed out on the broadcast, Lamb’s TD was a fantastic example of professional QB play. Prescott recognized man coverage pre snap, told TE Jake Ferguson to stay in and help protect against the blitz, and Lamb beat his man to the corner of the end zone. Prescott doesn’t get enough credit for things like this, elementary as they should be for NFL signal callers. Best part of Prescott’s afternoon was 0 turnovers. After throwing a career high 15 picks a season ago, he’s only thrown 6 through ten games this season, and 3 of those were against the 49ers. No reason to get too excited about a blowout win over Carolina, as the Cowboys have tougher opponents the remainder of the season. But, Prescott is playing very well, completing a career high 70% of his passes and taking better care of the football than a season ago. Here’s hoping that continues.

Washington comes to Dallas on Thursday at 3:30. Nothing like a Cowboys home game on Thanksgiving, especially with a longtime rival coming in. That rival will not be in too good of a mood after a 31-19 loss to the New York Giants dropped them to 4-7 on the season. Six turnovers doomed the Commanders in this one. Yes, six. Don’t see that too often, and I wouldn’t count on it Thursday afternoon. Sam Howell through 3 picks on Sunday, but despite that, he’s played good football for Washington, throwing for over 3,000 yards to lead the league while completing 67% of his passes and tossing 18 TD’s. Seven of Howell’s 12 picks have come in two games. You could make a lot of money betting your buddies on who leads the NFL in passing yards at the moment. However, Howell has been sacked 51 times in 11 games, so expect the Cowboys’ defensive front to be active as usual. Brian Robinson, Jr. leads Washington with 558 rushing yards and 5 scores, averaging 4 yards per carry. Terry McLaurin has caught 56 passes for 644 yards and a pair of scores to lead the Commanders’ receiving corps. Washington traded away two of their best DL a few weeks ago, as Chase Young is now in San Francisco and Montez Sweat is now in Chicago. Despite that, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne can still be a load to handle on the defensive front. Benjamin St-Juste is active in the secondary with 15 pass deflections, but the Commanders only have 6 interceptions as a defense this season. Washington is 29^th in total defense, 30^th against the pass, and last in points allowed.

After the debacle on October 8^th in San Francisco, I thought the Cowboys’ next game against the Chargers was a very important one to win. They did. After the bye week, I thought Dallas needed to win four of their next five, which would put them at 8-3 coming out of Thanksgiving. A win over Washington would get them there. The Commanders are better than the last two opponents that the Cowboys have faced in the Panthers and the Giants, but this is a game that Dallas can’t afford to drop with a difficult portion of the schedule approaching. I’d expect Washington to hit some throws, but if Dallas protects Prescott, the Cowboys should be able to move the ball well and hopefully hit some big plays against a Commanders secondary that has not been very productive this season.

Cowboys 31 Commanders 20