Dallas Cowboys – Week 7 Preview

Post by Matt Meyer, Sports Morning and College Football Coverage Producer @bluto51 on Twitter

Turnovers and penalties. Not even the great teams can overcome them very easily, and the 2022 Dallas Cowboys aren’t a great team. Are they a good team? Possibly, time will tell. What we learned on Sunday night is that they’re not the best team in the NFC East. Philadelphia 26 Dallas 17. Philadelphia 6-0, Dallas 4-2.

Several costly penalties hurt the Cowboys on Sunday night. An unnecessary block in the back by CeeDee Lamb negated a first down near midfield on the Cowboys’ second drive. Three plays later, Dallas had to punt. Next series, Philly lines up to go for a 4^th and 4 at the Dallas 10, an obvious situation to draw the defense offsides, and Dante Fowler does just that. Next play, Miles Sanders is in the end zone, 7-0.

Ensuing drive, Dallas gets a little impatient, and Cooper Rush throws his first pick of the year. 7 plays and 44 yards later, Eagles up 14-0. Next drive, Lamb comes up just short of a first down at the Cowboys’ own 34, and instead of punting the ball or even calling a QB sneak or inside run with Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys try to get cute and call a boot pass, incomplete. Eagles literally have to go nowhere to score, which they do, gaining one yard before a FG makes it 17-0. Drive after that, Rush throws his second pick of the quarter, and a Philly FG makes it 20-0, Cowboys in a deep hole.

To Dallas’ credit, they fought their way back in. After a fantastic kick return from KaVontae Turpin set the Cowboys up at the Eagles’ 41, Dallas was able to at least get on the board with 3 before the half. Then, a dominant third quarter with TD drives of 79 and 93 yards puts Dallas squarely in the game, trailing 20-17. The second of those TD drives came after a penalty wiped away a 34 yard punt return by Turpin. 

Eagles responded with a fantastic drive, 75 yards on 13 plays, and at 26-17, it looked like the Eagles’ game. Next drive, once again, Dallas gets a little impatient, tries to go deep to Lamb, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s second INT of the game essentially sealed it for Philadelphia. Dallas would drive but miss a FG, a rarity for Brett Maher this season, and the Eagles had cemented themselves as the clear frontrunner in the division.

So, turnovers, penalties, the Eagles’ terrific roster even with a banged up offensive line, and one other matter cost the Cowboys in this showdown. There’s an old saying: if you know who you are, then you’ll know what to do. At times in this game, Dallas forgot who they were, so at times, they forgot what to do, meaning they got impatient offensively and asked Rush to do a little too much. It doesn’t take much to make the difference in an NFL game, and in this game, the Cowboys had too much to overcome. Not a devastating loss, but a missed opportunity to establish themselves as one of the premiere teams in the league this season.

Now, the Cowboys get their QB back in Dak Prescott. He’s the better player and will give the offense more ability to go downfield. However, here’s hoping the coaching staff, particularly Kellen Moore, will stick with the same approach of running the football with Elliott and Tony Pollard, and letting that open up the passing game. Just having Prescott back should open things up offensively, but it’s key that Dallas doesn’t ask Prescott to do more than he’s capable of. Prescott’s a good player and I’m glad he’s on my team, but he’s not reached the elite level yet, so I hope they don’t ask him to do things elite players do. This defense ought to be able to keep Dallas in games to the point that 38 a night won’t be necessary to win every game. Not to mention what Turpin can do in the return game to set the offense up with good field position.

Detroit comes to AT&T Stadium on Sunday. One would think a relatively easy game to win, but these are the Cowboys and games are rarely easy for them, no matter the opponent. Lions are last in the league in total defense, last in the league against the run, and 26^th against the pass. Even in Prescott’s first game back, there’s no reason to not expect the Cowboys to put up points. However, believe it or not, Detroit is 2^nd in total offense, 7^th in passing offense, and 7^th in rushing offense, so the Lions could present challenges to the Cowboys’ defense, particularly on the ground. That’s still the weak spot of Dallas’ defense, when teams run right at the Cowboys, and we saw it again in Philadelphia. Dallas wins, but not in a blowout.

Cowboys 30 Lions 24.