There are two stories this morning that shape how we prepare for the showdown in Minnesota with a Vikings’ side that is also coming off a bye week and more than capable of causing all manner of issues for this Cowboys’ train on Sunday night.
https://theathletic.com/2920766/2021/10/29/huge-test-against-mike-zimmers-defense-awaits-on-sunday-night-and-two-big-storylines-cowboys-pregame-riffing/
Trying to track a football team’s growth is similar to measuring your child’s growth — it is certainly not going to yield many results if you do it too often. If you are waiting for your kid to come down to breakfast so you can make them stand up straight and see if they grew overnight, you will likely not see much. But if you do it every 90 days or so, the differences might be stark.
https://theathletic.com/2916386/2021/10/27/cowboys-dc-dan-quinn-does-what-mike-nolan-couldnt-find-an-aggressive-complementary-approach/
As the bye week comes and goes, the Cowboys prepare for a stretch that they hope begins with QB1 in full health on Sunday night. Dak Prescott is said to be “good to go” after his calf strain, but we will know more as time creeps closer. We will over-report on this soon enough.
https://theathletic.com/2913224/2021/10/26/is-there-a-fatal-flaw-with-the-cowboys-offense-in-the-red-zone-decoding-kellen-moore/
Defensively, you would like to think you could manage a trip to New England without giving up four touchdown drives to an offense that has very little that can hurt you behind a rookie quarterback and is as conservative as the NFL gets these days.
You would like to think that you can go up there and show the world that your defense is new and improved.
But, things aren’t always neat and clean in the road in the NFL.
https://theathletic.com/2901099/2021/10/20/dan-quinn-turns-the-proper-dials-and-then-his-cowboys-playmakers-make-the-plays-against-the-patriots/
In a game of moments to scream at and about, the biggest moment of the night was the walk-off touchdown hit on a beautiful bootleg from Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb. It represented what this team is all about:
A run threat that sets up a brilliant passing opportunity through play-action and a rollout into a defensive secondary that is stretched too thin to slow down a receiver in so much space. To watch Lamb pull away from Jalen Mills was an exercise that was almost run at practice speed with its simplicity and devastation.
https://theathletic.com/2898566/2021/10/19/behind-the-power-of-12-personnel-the-cowboys-put-the-nfl-on-notice-decoding-kellen-moore/
We are lucky the bye week is next because it would sure be nice to watch this game again next weekend.
The Cowboys won a game we will talk about for quite a while in Foxboro on Sunday and extended their win streak to five games. They are learning to win games that are defined as “lose-able” and that is a trait the Cowboys were unfamiliar with for a very long time. But, feeling the slap of adversity late in games and collapsing or rising back and responding is an easy choice for this crew, it appears.
https://theathletic.com/2896974/2021/10/18/cowboys-win-instant-classic-in-new-england-and-dak-prescott-dominates-late-the-morning-after/
No, it is not a prelude to the Super Bowl. It just isn’t.
But, that won’t mean it won’t feel like a huge game. The Cowboys haven’t beat the Patriots since they have been defending Super Bowl champions.
Seriously.
The Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots have played 13 times to date in the history of the NFL.
https://theathletic.com/2890741/2021/10/15/cowboys-pregame-riffing-bill-belichicks-challenge-awaits-for-cowboys-offensive-machine/
The Cowboys defense is rolling and takeaways are the fuel.
There is no football deodorant quite like getting the ball. It can make a bad defense look good and a good defense look great.
https://theathletic.com/2886271/2021/10/13/the-glorious-cowboys-defensive-turnover-train-continues-at-full-steam-ahead-quinn-report/
We discussed on Monday that this team is certainly much better after five games than the teams that came before it and necessitated massive coaching changes. You may recall that the 2018 team felt like it was on the verge of something pretty special after its playoff win against Seattle and then falling just short in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
https://theathletic.com/2883698/2021/10/12/cowboys-continue-to-boss-games-with-another-dominating-offensive-day-decoding-kellen-moore/
The Dallas Cowboys approach their third road test this season with plenty to feel great about.
Sweeping through a three-game homestand is a sign of a team that has a strong likelihood to be playing meaningful football in January. Especially when that team is thoroughly posting divisional wins that are flat-out mismatch destructions.
https://theathletic.com/2882035/2021/10/11/cowboys-homestand-finished-with-another-demolition-of-battered-rival-the-morning-after/
Well, let us never suggest that the NFL schedule-makers do not possess a sick sense of humor.
Are you kidding me? Fifty-two weeks later — 364 days later? The exact fixture on the schedule as it was in 2020 when it all went down and the 2020 season all but ended for the Cowboys.
There is only one week where the Cowboys’ schedules in each of the last two seasons are completely identical. One.
Week 5.
https://theathletic.com/2875956/2021/10/08/cowboys-pregame-riffing-the-giants-present-issues-but-dallas-should-have-answers/
We had our plans for this defensive review piece until the news broke Tuesday night that the Cowboys finally decided that the Jaylon Smith era has come to a close.
In the interest of touching both ideas properly, allow me to give you initial thoughts on the release of Smith and then try to review the Carolina game as best we can in our allotted space.
https://theathletic.com/2871353/2021/10/06/the-end-of-jaylon-smith-with-the-cowboys-and-the-current-star-status-of-trevon-diggs-quinn-report/
We expected a true test for this Cowboys’ offense Sunday. It would be an opportunity to see what a team that was top-ranked in more than a few categories might do to slow down this machine.
Since securing Dak Prescott’s contract and the healing of Prescott, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin in the offseason, the expectation level was high enough around here that Prescott being on the fringe of MVP chatter was now an expectation — not a ridiculous dream.
https://theathletic.com/2868386/2021/10/05/the-cowboys-offense-continues-its-lethal-pace-by-beating-the-blitz-decoding-kellen-moore/
North Texas framing stores were not expecting the lines Monday morning when they opened their stores, but that was what they faced as lines formed at numerous stores. Cowboys fans had mobilized with the rising sun. They all had a common goal: To frame that third quarter of the demolition of the Carolina Panthers for purposes of posterity.
https://theathletic.com/2866557/2021/10/04/most-dominating-quarter-in-cowboys-modern-history-third-quarter-picture-perfect-the-morning-after/
You certainly are aware that the Dallas Cowboys have lived two lives. The first life would be from the birth in 1960 until the victory in Super Bowl 30 at the end of 1995. That marks the proudest era for the proudest franchise in the sport with championships and near championships at a level the rest of the league could only dream.
https://theathletic.com/2860785/2021/10/01/cowboys-pregame-riffing-undefeated-panthers-will-challenge-dallas-with-their-blitzing-defense/
