Dallas City News

September is over and the Dallas Cowboys have split their first two games. There have already been ups and downs and it’s hard to know what we have in this football team. Yesterday, we identified three reasons to be concerned about this team, but now we’ll take a more positive approach and discuss things we’ve seen so far that have made us feel good.

Run defense is starting to figure some things out

The best thing that came out of the Thursday night performance is how much better the run defense looked. This is extremely satisfying because of how incredibly bad they played against the Saints and Ravens. Now, the Giants’ run-blocking schemes were less effective than what New Orleans and Baltimore drew up, but just the idea that players showed a lot more discipline and stuck to their assignments is a great sign. The defense has talent. We know that. Dan Quinn didn’t take all the good players with him to Washington. But talent alone won’t cut it if the team is not mentally up to the task. It’s been no secret that Mike Zimmer asks his guys to think more, so it’s perfectly reasonable to expect a learning curve. Success isn’t immediate, but they should continue to get better as the season progresses.

Offensive line will continue to improve

One of the scariest things coming into this new season was relying on two new rookies on the offensive line to help keep the Cowboys’ most expensive commodity upright. Tyler Gutyon took over as the new left tackle while Cooper Beebe is the team’s new starting center. Four weeks in, and it still feels a little scary.

There are a couple of things to consider here. First off, they haven’t been bad. Sure, we see a bad pass rush rep here and there and we know about the penalties. But overall, this unit has been pretty decent. Dak Prescott has had an average of 2.4 seconds to throw the ball before the pocket collapses which ranks third best in the league. He’s been pressured just 18.4% which is the second-lowest rate of his career. He has only taken off running twice this season on plays designed to be passes.

Even better news is they’re only getting better. The rookies will improve with every additional rep. If this is the worst of it, expect a pretty stout group down the stretch.

Better health is coming

The Cowboys defense started banged up and it hasn’t gotten better. They lost edge rusher Sam Williams in training camp with a knee injury. He is out for the season. And right before the season began they lost All-Pro corner DaRon Bland to a foot injury that would land him on injured reserve. Unfortunately, injuries have continued to pile up for the defense. The rookie corner stepping in for Bland, Caelen Carson, missed Thursday’s game with a shoulder injury. And both DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) and Micah Parsons (high ankle sprain) suffered injuries against the Giants and will miss some time.

While the defense is in dire straights right now, most of these guys will slowly trickle back into the lineup. It shouldn’t be long before the team gets Parsons and Bland back and even if Lawrence took the full two months to recover, the Cowboys would still have him for the final five games of the regular season. In the meantime, depth pieces will have to step up. Players like Marshawn Kneeland and Chauncey Golston will see more action up front while Carson and recently promoted Amani Oruwariye help out in the secondary.