Cowboys news: Dallas still has plenty of questions heading into week 14

Check out today’s latest and greatest news surrounding America’s team!

ESPN Analyst Is Concerned About The Dallas Cowboys – Hunter Hodies, The Spun

Is Ryan Clark right?

Ryan Clark appeared on ESPN’s Get Up on Friday morning and continues to feel worse about Dallas, not better.

“I continue to feel worse about the Cowboys every single week,” Clark said. “When you watch this team, there was so much going on that was good early on in the season. There was always a bright spot to every close game. Obviously, the only loss at the time was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but you felt like the quarterback was playing at an MVP level. The run game was at an elite level. The protection was exactly where it needed to be and the defense at some points was opportunistic and at other points stingy. We aren’t getting that football team anymore. This was a team I saw carrying the NFC into the Super Bowl. I no longer feel that.”

Clark has a point in away, but Dallas has also been severely banged up these last two weeks.

Receivers CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper were both out going into Thursday night’s win against the Saints, which is a big deal. They’re the two best pass-catchers on the team and do everything for Dallas.

Can The Cowboys’ Offense Regain Its Rhythm? – DallasCowboys.com

The Cowboys offense is currently broken.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – To be clear, it’ll be a cold day in hell before anyone in the NFL apologizes for winning a ball game.

In a league with this much parity and this few games, even the ugliest victory will be cherished – and rightfully so.

When you include that this 27-17 win against the Saints was the Cowboys’ third game in the 11 days, and that they’ve managed it throughout a COVID-19 outbreak that forced them to leave head coach Mike McCarthy back in Texas, savoring the accomplishment is understandable.

“I mean, a win is a win. It means a lot,” said Dak Prescott. “The adversity we’ve had, we’ve faced coming off the last two weeks and then coming in this week and being hit with the COVID, losing the head coach this week. So many people stepped up.”

All of that is fair and worth noting. It also doesn’t allay the concern of watching Prescott’s offense sputter through another inconsistent outing. As fun as it might have been to watch the Cowboys’ defense put together a pick party against Taysom Hill, it’s disconcerting to think this team forced four takeaways and scored a defensive touchdown – and still finished with just 27 points.

“That’s complementary football,” Prescott said. “When we’re not doing well, they’re going out there and continuing to get us the ball back. They played their asses off.”

The reasons for the offensive struggles are plentiful. For yet another week, the Cowboys failed to establish much in the way of rhythm. This was an offense that punted seven times on the night, and five of those punts came after three-and-out possessions.

Give credit to the Saints for slowing a once again inconsistent running attack. The Cowboys did hit big plays outside the tackles, with Tony Pollard turning the game on its head with a 58-yard toss sweep touchdown. Still, it speaks volumes that the Cowboys ran the ball 24 times on the night, and just six of those carries went for more than three yards.

“You keep hitting them and keep hitting them, that big one is going to come,” said La’el Collins. “We just have to keep working, keep pounding and trust it.”

Rank’Em: Parsons Leads Top 10 Cowboys vs. Saints – DallasCowboys.com

Micah Parsons is the DPOY.

The Cowboys didn’t have their best offensive game of the season, but there are a few players form that side of the ball that made this week’s Top 10.

But to no surprise, it starts with defense, led by a rookie who is taking the NFL by storm, and taking down records in the process.

Check out the Top 10 players from the Cowboys’ 27-17 win over the Saints.

How do you explain Dallas Cowboys rookie Micah Parsons? Jerry Jones: ‘He has IT.’ – Stefan Stevenson, Star-Telegram

You can’t explain Micah Parsons.

Jones talked with Parsons on the field before Thursday’s game. Parsons intensity is impressive, Jones said. “It’s not uncomfortable intensity. It’s uncomfortable for those quarterbacks out there, but it’s not uncomfortable,” Jones said. “We call it ‘it,’ but he’s got some of that thing that we can’t define, but it’s there. It’s there.” Parsons is the first player with 70 tackles and at least 10 sacks through his team’s first 12 games since linebacker James Harrison hit those marks while with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010. With five games remaining, Parsons is on pace to finish with more than 100 tackles and 14 sacks. Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith is the last player to do that. He did that nearly 30 year ago, when he was with the Buffalo Bills in 1993. Parsons is the 13th rookie linebacker to record at least 10 sacks and he’s the first rookie since Joey Bosa in 2017 to record a sack in five consecutive games. He has 23 pressures over the past three games. Only J.J. Watt had more in a three-game span in a season in the past five seasons. $2 for 2 months Subscribe for unlimited access to our website, app, eEdition and more CLAIM OFFER The Cowboys (8-4) next play the Washington Football Team (5-6) at noon on Sunday, Dec. 12.

Cowboys Carlos Watkins’ ‘thick-6’ INT return reaches speeds of 17.26 mph – Reid Hanson, SportDFW

Thick Six.

The Dallas Cowboys are now gaining a reputation for being a team you don’t errantly throw on because this is a team that will make you pay for your recklessness. The Cowboys proved that once again Thursday, pulling in four interceptions and introducing their newest ballhawk to the league – Carlos Watkins.

Carlos Watkins became the Cowboys newest ballhawk, running at speeds of nearly 18 mph enroute to his first career “thick-6”.

Taysom Hill never stood a chance. The dynamic Saints quarterback was outmatched (and outmassed) in the race to the endzone. The splint-fingered signal caller is known to be one of the most explosive runners in the NFL. But he was no match for Cowboys ballhawk extraordinaire, Carlos Watkins.

Watkins, standing a lean 6-foot-3, 300lbs, had Hill right where he wanted him. Like a lion ready to pounce on a grazing gazelle, Watkins waited, watched, and attacked. On 2nd-and-10, late in the fourth quarter, he rose from the weeds and shot his shot, leaping to steal away a pass, and taking it roughly 30-yards for his first career Pick-6…excuse me…”Thick-6.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing and high-steps, though. Watkins had to earn it. All of those hours spend in the offseason speed training would be put to test when Watkins went head-to-head with Taysom Hill.

Calculating the speed of his pursuer and the angle for success, Watkins only needed to do one thing to ensure he hit pay-dirt: run like hell.

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