Against all odds, the Dallas Cowboys continue to get it done in the early stages of the 2022 season. Dallas' win over the Rams in Los Angeles was their fourth in a row, and their first over a defending Super Bowl champion since Week 7 of 2019 over the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a gritty win, and a win that unveiled some truths about this year's Dallas Cowboys.
Cowboys need to do a better job of protecting Tyler Smith
After the first few weeks of the season, it certainly seems like the Cowboys have something in rookie left tackle Tyler Smith. The Tulsa product got thrust into the starting left tackle role ahead of schedule, and has since taken the job and ran with it. Prior to the Rams game, Smith allowed a single sack and only seven pressures over 150 pass blocking snaps. That changed when Aaron Donald lined up across from him in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon.
Donald put Smith through the wringer, getting to Rush on more than one occasion as the Rams sent him to work on the rookie time and time again. It was an obvious mismatch, more to the credit of Donald than to the detriment of the guy playing his fifth career NFL game. Smith's performance so far this season has been a huge plus for the Cowboys, but they need to nurture his growth by keeping him out of spots like he got into against Donald. Whether it's by stationing pass blockers in the backfield or utilizing double teams, Dallas should be focused on setting Smith up for success, not putting him on an island against the Aaron Donald's of the world.
CeeDee Lamb officially has a drops problem
The narrative about him dropping balls has been largely anecdotal. Last year Lamb dropped eight passes, three fewer than eventual Rookie of the Year Ja'Marr Chase and one more than All-Pro Justin Jefferson. Lamb's drop on a third-down pass was the second time in three weeks that he has let a catchable ball hit the turf in a potentially game-altering situation.
Lamb's dropping problem is not about volume. He isn't letting an obscene number of balls fall incomplete. The problem is the situations that he is dropping balls in. There's a reason Dallas felt confident enough in his abilities to let a franchise pass-catcher like Amari Cooper go for scraps in the offseason. Lamb is the guy the Cowboys want to pass to in big spots. He needs to start catching those passes, and he needs to do it soon.
There is no single player responsible for the team's success
Any time a team is rolling you look to the stars for a reason why. With Dak Prescott on the shelf, a lot of people have looked to Cooper Rush as that reason after he rattled off five straight victories in his career as a starter. Rush has been all the Cowboys could hope for as a backup, but to place the burden of success on his shoulders alone is just a lazy way to explain the team's success.
The Cowboys are winning because of the overall performance from the entire roster in all three phases of the game. They're winning because Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and Demarcus Lawrence are leading a Super Bowl caliber defense week in and week out. They're winning because John Fassel's special teams unit is making plays every time they get the chance. They're winning because the offensive line has players like Terence Steele and Tyler Smith stepping up to fill the shoes of injured veterans. Dallas' success so far this season has entirely been team effort. That fact has never been clearer than it was at SoFi Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Matt Stafford more than tripled the passing yards of his opposing quarterback tonight. He lost because he also got sacked five times, lost a fumble, and threw an interception. Cowboys star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was unimpressive, logging just five catches for a team-high 53 receiving yards and another ugly drop in a big spot. The offense didn't stagnate because they were able to run for over eight yards per carry with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. Every single weakness the Cowboys showed Sunday afternoon was complimented by a strong performance from another unit somewhere else on the field. When that happens, winning games becomes a lot easier.
Follow Us
Subscribe