There weren't a ton of positives for the Cowboys to take away from their 17-7 loss to the Broncos in Denver Saturday evening. A record-setting 17 penalties for 129 yards dredged up ugly memories of the Cowboys' undisciplined loss to San Francisco in last year's NFC Wild Card game. In spite of a sloppy performance, Dallas only lost by 10, and wins and losses hardly matter in preseason games. Much more relevant are the performances of individual players, particularly players on the roster bubble. These three standouts from Saturday night made the most of their opportunities.

Ben DiNucci

Cooper Rusher battled questionable pass protection at times on Saturday, but that doesn't excuse his stat line or some of his inaccurate throws. Ben DiNucci wasn't perfect, but he took over a stagnant offense deep in his own territory early in the third quarter and made things happen.

DiNucci's first throw of the game was a 40-yard completion down the sideline to Brandon Smith. Later in the game, DiNucci displayed his athleticism on a couple occasions by escaping a collapsing pocket and extending the play. He even threw the Cowboys' first and only touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, a 12-yard dart to Simi Fehoko:

Rush won the Cowboys a football game in Minnesota last season, so he would have to fall pretty far to lose his grip on the backup quarterback job. After Will Grier's strong showing in Oxnard and DiNucci's lively entrance into Saturday's game, Rush will still need to do better than he did in Dallas' first preseason game.

Malik Davis

Easily the most consistent form of offense for Dallas Saturday night came from the running backs. Malik Davis led the team in rushing with eight carries for 51 yards. Davis' longest burst came towards the end of the second quarter when he found a hole for a 16-yard run. The rookie also caught three passes for 16 yards, making him Dallas' most productive offensive player in terms of yardage on Saturday.

There's no debate over who the top two ball carriers in Dallas' system are. After Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, things get pretty murky. Rico Dowdle has more experience than Davis or fellow rookie Aaron Shampklin, but all three backs looked solid Saturday night. Regardless, it was Davis who stood head and shoulders above the rest Saturday night. A few more performances like the one Davis put up Saturday night and the former Florida Gator might find himself on the sidelines on Sundays instead of in his living room.

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Quinton Bohanna

Denver's first two offensive plays of the game seemed to signal improvement in one of Dallas' problem areas from a season ago, the interior defensive line. First, Neville Gallimore shed a blocker and brought down Mike Boone in the Denver backfield. Then it was Quinton Bohanna who stuffed Boone at the line of scrimmage on the very next play.

Bohanna totaled four tackles in Saturday night's game, good for fourth most on the team. His performance was part of a larger positive showing from the Cowboys run defense. Dallas allowed Denver just 39 rushing yards in the game thanks in part to the efforts of Bohanna. Bohanna isn't exactly in dire straights in terms of making the team. As turbulent as the Cowboys' interior defensive line has been in recent seasons, he will do well to continue playing like he did Saturday night.