Our writers provide their opinions on the latest Dallas Cowboys news during our weekly review on the Roundtable.
Every week, we gather the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have David Howman, Brian Martin, RJ Ochoa, Tom Ryle and Jess Haynie.
After watching Rico Dowdle’s performance against a stout Pittsburgh run defense, is confidence growing in this Cowboys run game?
The Pittsburgh Steelers came into last week as a top-five defense against the run, allowing a low average of just 86 rush yards per game. That was up against Dallas who ranked last in total rush yards. Dowdle wanted to make a point and rushed for an average of 4.4 yards per carry, and ended the game with 87 rushed yards, going over 100 yards all-purpose and scoring a touchdown.
Jess: It certainly should be. Dowdle had nearly the same production against the Steelers as the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor did a week ago, and that’s a nice comparison. The improvement feels multi-faceted; Dowdle finding momentum with more touches, the offensive line finding its groove, and the high-yardage passing game opening up more lanes. Dallas won’t face many better run defenses than Pittsburgh’s this season.
RJ: I would not go that far. Sunday was productive and impressive and those things matter, but Dowdle still had 0 (as in zero) rushing yards over expected. Ultimately I think this is a situation where the alternative options have been so poor that any sign of life has us hoping it is legitimate. To be clear this is legitimate relative to the field, but the group is still in need of help in my opinion.
Brian: What Rico Dowdle was able to accomplish against the Steelers defense is encouraging, but doesn’t move the needle all that much as far as the Cowboys rushing attack is concerned just yet. Dallas’ OL is still a bit of work in progress, especially after Tyler Guyton’s injury, and until that is worked out the jury is still out about the run game. I’m hopeful, but still need to see a commitment to running the ball moving forward before casting judgment.
Howman: I’ve been adamant all along that the run game was just fine, so yes. Rico Dowdle is the lead back in this offense, and deservedly so. Ezekiel Elliott has been legitimately good as a short-yardage option, and the Cowboys have smartly used him in only that capacity. Hunter Luepke is their pass-blocking back with plus ability as a pass catcher. Things are rounding into form now that the Cowboys can actually run the ball and aren’t playing catch up the entire game. Also, let’s keep in mind that the Steelers entered this game leading the league in run defense by nearly every metric. It’s not like they did this against, well, themselves. They faced the best run defense in the NFL and managed to have success running the ball. If that doesn’t get you excited, then I’m not sure what will.
Tom: Well, can we see it for more than one week before we declare that all is well with the run game? And for me, it isn’t about the running back. It’s about the blocking and playcalling. This was certainly encouraging for how the holes were opening up for Dowdle, but the offensive line is battered and being shuffled to get five players on the field. Do this for two or three or weeks in a row, and we can talk about things getting on track.
The team loses Demarcus Lawrence to injured reserve, Micah Parsons is out for an extended time, now Marshawn Kneeland is reported to have a knee injury. What’s the plan for the next few weeks at defensive end for Dallas and how concerning is this injury problem at the position?
It was reported Monday afternoon that defensive end Marshawn Kneeland avoided a season-ending injury after a diagnosis from last week’s game. Kneeland went down early in the game after attempting to bring Justin Fields down on a play. He spent time getting checked before being seen carted off to the locker room. He will undergo surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear and will look to return later this season. More news on his injury can be found here on Blogging The Boys and will have regular updates as the news comes in.
Jess: It’s pretty simple; survive. There’s no move to make at this point and even trading for a player comes with an adjustment period. The Week 7 bye offers some hope that Parsons might only miss one more game, but even then it will be tough without the other guys. Thankfully, Mike Zimmer just showed that he can make lemonade out of the likes of Chauncey Golston and Tyrus Wheat. Unfortunately, better offenses than Pittsburgh’s may not let him.
RJ: I agree with Jess in that the plan is just to hope for the best. While I, and many others do as well, have issues with the way that the Cowboys made their roster this offseason, this particular firestorm was unpredictable. It is not conceivable for them to completely make this over in five minutes time. They have to hold on and hope that reinforcements arrive before it is too late.
Brian: The plan is always the same when certain players succumb to injuries. The Cowboys have no choice to go with the “next man up” approach until reinforcements arrive either via new additions or players getting healthy. Hopefully the Week 7 bye week will help sort this issue out one way or another. Until then, all they can do is keep moving forward and hope for the best.
Howman: Honestly, I was impressed by the group we saw on Sunday night. The Steelers only had 31 dropbacks in the game, 12 of which were either a screen or play action. That means the Cowboys faced just 19 true pass rush reps in the game, and Justin Fields was pressured 11 times. I’ll take that any day, but especially when you’re missing your top two edge rushers. Micah Parsons might be back in time for the Lions game anyway, and if not then he should return after the bye week. I’m not too worried about this pass rush, though another injury could change that.
Tom: This was perhaps the most impressive part of the game. The backups certainly rose to the occasion and deserve kudos. And I’m with the survival plan. But the best thing that could come from this is for the team to quit waiting for the superstars to get the job done and start finding the depth they need to survive a 17 game NFL season.
This weekend the Dallas Cowboys will face the Detroit Lions. After the way this matchup ended last year, how determined will the Lions be to get revenge?
This Sunday the Cowboys will face the Detroit Lions in a revenge game after last year’s controversy that ended the game in a narrow win for Dallas, 20-19. The game will commence at 4:25 p.m. (ET) in AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys currently are underdogs in this game at +3.5. The two teams have played each other 31 times and Dallas leads the series with 19 wins. The Cowboys currently hold a six-game winning streak against the Lions and have won eight in the last ten meetings. The Cowboys are currently 3-2 and second in the NFC East, where the Lions are 3-1 and coming off a Week 5 bye.
Jess: Between their multiple grudges against Dallas and the need to keep pace with Minnesota in the NFC North, Detroit won’t be messing around this week. But the Cowboys seem to always find ways to get it done in this matchup, going 6-0 against the Lions since 2015. If Dallas can make it a shootout, I’ll take Dak Prescott at home over Jared Goff.
RJ: I’m not certain which outlet it belongs to, but I believe there is a Lions-related podcast with a name based around “reporting as eligible” given the events of last year. This is a big deal to Lions fans in my experience, what happened in the 2014 Wild Card Round certainly doesn’t help, and Aidan Hutchinson even said after Detroit beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in last year’s Wild Card Round how much they were looking forward to payback. I’d anticipate a very motivated Lions group on Sunday afternoon.
Brian: Sure, you can probably define this game as somewhat of a grudge match. The Detroit Lions probably have a little extra added motivation for revenge against the Dallas Cowboys after the way things played out between these two teams last year. But, this is also one of the more feisty teams in the league who feed off the raw emotions of their head coach Dan Campbell. Revenge game or not, this will be a physical game with plenty of trash talk back and forth.
Howman: This will be the third straight season that the Cowboys and Lions meet, and Dan Campbell’s squad has yet to get a win against his former team. There will be plenty of mention of the whole reporting controversy, of course, but the Lions will be more motivated by finally beating these Cowboys, on top of keeping pace in the divisional race with a surprisingly undefeated Vikings team. The Lions under Campbell have been a physical, gritty team with zero concern about being too aggressive. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have just pulled off two gritty wins in a row. This promises to be a really tight game, and that alone should motivate both teams plenty.
Tom: Revenge? The fans may care about that, but the Lions are on a different mission entirely, and that is to get to the Super Bowl. Oh, Dan Campbell may bring it up in prep for the game, but when the initial kickoff takes place, all both teams are going to be thinking about is how to win this one – and it is going to be a real challenge for Dallas with the injuries piling up.