Cowboys News: Unsung heroes, hype for 49ers, fear? No.
Week 5’s visit to San Francisco is shaping up to be a showdown of NFC powers, but the Cowboys come with a few question marks. When, for instance, is the red-zone offense going to start clicking? And what if one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the the game can’t go yet again? And can the run defense be as good as they were in their three wins when it’s Christian McCaffrey coming across the line? Sunday night won’t need much hype, but Jerry Jones is providing it anyway.
Meanwhile, Dallas has added practice squad depth at a position of need, Cowboys coaches talk about what they saw early on from DaRon Bland that made him a draft-day steal, and Terence Steele shares the heartfelt story of how he learned to face the kind of adversity that renders football pretty unimportant. All that, plus a few last looks back at the big win over the Patriots, how Cowboys players graded out in Week 4, and what the Dallas coaching staff is hoping to get from Trey Lance this week in regard to his former team. News and Notes; here we go…
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Why the Dallas Cowboys aren’t overly concerned about Dak Prescott, red zone struggles :: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Ranking 30th in the league in red-zone touchdowns with an efficiency rate 36.8% isn’t a good place to be as they gear up to play the best team in the conference. But the offense is moving the ball well, ranking 11th in yards and 7th in rushing. The coaching staff believes the dam will eventually break inside the 20s.
Cowboys' Jerry Jones hints at LT Tyron Smith missing 3rd straight game :: Cowboys Wire
The eight-time Pro Bowler is no lock to suit up Sunday after missing the team’s past two outings with a knee injury. “If he’s available, it would be iffy,” Jones said Tuesday. “But he could be.” Jones calls Dallas “well-prepared” to deal with Smith’s absence, but Chuma Edoga was shaky in Weeks 3 and 4 against defenses much less fearsome than the 49ers’.
4 Downs: The biggest turning points in Cowboys win over Patriots :: Cowboys Wire
DaRon Bland provided two of the biggest tide-turners in Week 4’s win. But don’t forget about Leighton Vander Esch’s first touchdown since high school and CeeDee Lamb’s touchdown grab, the first this season for a Cowboys wide receiver.
Unheralded: Spotlighting three moments from Cowboys’ Week 4 win vs. Patriots :: Dallas Morning News
Sometimes the biggest stars shine in the background. Tight end Sean McKeon hit 18.35 miles per hour (the fastest timed speed of his career) in blocking on a fourth-quarter sweep… and put himself in position to recover the fumble that ensued downfield. Neville Gallimore is proving himself to be a key piece of the puzzle on the defensive line. And KaVontae Turpin volunteered for a new special teams role- with zero practice reps- after he thought a teammate looked too winded to go.
Cowboys had 2 of 10 highest-graded offensive players in Week 4 :: PFF
The highest-graded offensive players in Week 4 pic.twitter.com/ZpazMRobAi
— PFF (@PFF) October 3, 2023
And 2 on defense, too :: PFF
Highest-graded defenders in Week 4 💪 pic.twitter.com/Ay0vHWslBU
— PFF (@PFF) October 3, 2023
‘He’s a wolf’: DaRon Bland answered the call with big shoes to fill in Cowboys secondary :: The Athletic
Bland blew Mike McCarthy away during his pre-draft 30 visit, causing the coach to ask Will McClay, “Why is he not ranked higher? Because there’s a lot there.” He’s played much bigger than his fifth-round-draft-pick status and has proven versatile enough to go inside or outside with equal aplomb. “I think he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Dan Quinn said.
3 Major takeaways from Cowboys first 4 games of 2023 :: Cowboys Wire
The 38-3 win was fun, but no one’s ready to pronounce the Cowboys’ red-zone offense fixed by a long shot; 3-for-15 in the last three games isn’t an encouraging trend to take into the tough stretch of upcoming games. And the 2023 draft class hasn’t done much to make a mark on the field. Creating turnovers, however, remains the team’s greatest superpower.
NFL Week 5 Power Rankings 2023: How all 32 teams stack up :: ESPN
Dallas sits at No. 5 in this set of power rankings, but ESPN points out that the team’s run defense has yet to face its biggest test. San Francisco (No. 3 in rushing) is up next, with two games against Philadelphia (No. 2) in the near future; after giving up 222 on the ground to Arizona, the Cowboys will need to remain true to their gap responsibilities to prove they’re for real.
Measuring Sticks: Jerry Jones wants to gauge Cowboys by 49ers standards :: Cowboys Wire
Jones called San Francisco “the most likely team to go win the Super Bowl,” but he predicted that they’d have to go through the Cowboys… and they may have to do it twice, starting this Sunday night. “You need the game to show you how you stack up against the best,” he said.
Cowboys OC admits they ‘definitely' will ask Lance for 49ers insights :: NBC Sports Bay Area
Ezekiel Elliott and Will Grier didn’t help New England much with intel on their former team in Week 4, but that doesn’t mean the Cowboys won’t turn around and squeeze what they can out of Trey Lance about his ex-employer. “Trey knows a little bit about what [the 49ers are] doing,” Dallas offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer told reporters. “The cool thing is, like I said, the [Cowboys] know them well, I know them well from being in Seattle, Trey knows them well. … They’re still really, really tough to go against just because they’re so talented.”
Terence Steele learned how to face adversity from his father :: Ben Rogers
Had a great conversation with Cowboys OT @terencesteele78 today during the @BenandSkin Show (10a to 2p) on @971TheFreak. Here’s video of him discussing his dad, an Army helicopter pilot who lost his leg in Afghanistan, who he credits for inspiring him to overcome adversity in… pic.twitter.com/879y1lHubq
— Ben Rogers (@BenRogers) October 3, 2023
Cowboys replace '22 draft pick with former Chargers flyer :: Cowboys Wire
Mikel Jones was a team captain while at Syracuse and a semifinalist for the Butkus Award. He’ll join a thin linebacking corps in Dallas as a practice squad replacement for Devin Harper, who signed with Cincinnati last week. The undrafted Jones spent this summer with the Chargers and lasted until final cuts.
