DALLAS — Make no mistake, the Dallas Cowboys are not where they want to be. After another loss in a measuring stick game, the Cowboys will have to deal with the realities of their failures, again.
However, this loss wasn’t like the others, the Cowboys played well enough to win, but things didn’t bounce their way. All the little things that went wrong added up to a gut-wrenching five-point loss instead of a glorious win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9.
It stings to lose, especially to your rivals, but all is not lost. The Cowboys showed that they can contend with a top caliber team on the road. The loss hurts, but hopefully lessons were learned, and the team can build on their shortcomings for the rest of the year.
There were plenty of positives to take out of this game; here’s what we learned about the Cowboys from the hard-to-swallow Week 9 loss:
Dak Prescott is back leading an explosive offense
After struggling early in the season to kick the passing game into high gear, Prescott and head coach Mike McCarthy have figured it out. Prescott now looks just as efficient as he was earlier in the year, but he’s also gotten the offense back to their explosive ways.
With 374 yards passing and three touchdowns against the Eagles, Prescott put up back-to-back 300 yard passing games for the first time since Week’s 5 and 6 of the 2021 season. The last three games have seen Prescott average over 8.5 yards per completion, a number he hadn’t hit in the first five weeks.
It was another stellar performance for Prescott and the offense, who are now finding a groove. Even in the loss, steps were continued in the right direction.
CeeDee Lamb continues to soar
If Prescott is back on his game, that means that his No. 1 wide receiver is back to getting the ball. Lamb now has three straight 100-plus yard games for just the second time in his career and tied Cowboys legend Michael Irvin with his third 10-plus-catch, 150-plus-yard game.
The effort to get the ball to Lamb, and moving him around the formations, has helped the offense take off. Against the Eagles, Lamb torched their secondary with a career-high 191 receiving yards and converted seven of his 11 receptions for first downs.
Lamb was the best wideout on the field in Philadelphia and his play keeps getting better as the season moves on.
Terence Steele is anything but a Superman
Steele was one of the best feel-good stories for the Cowboys in recent years. He was an undrafted free agent who worked himself into a quality starting right tackle. The Cowboys rewarded him for his hard work with a big contract in the offseason – 5-year, $86.8 million extension – despite Steele coming off a torn ACL injury.
Halfway through the 2023 season Steele doesn’t look anything like the player they re-signed, and his worst game came against the Eagles.
Of his four sacks allowed, Steele got beat for three on the final two drives. All three were crushing blows to the comeback effort. It’s clear that Steele hasn’t fully recovered from his injury and needs more time, but without having that luxury right now, the right tackle played a dubious role in the loss.
The Cowboys need to seriously consider other options or give Steele more help on the right side.
Jake Ferguson arrives
Dallas let veteran tight end Dalton Schultz go this offseason with the idea that Ferguson and second round pick Jake Schoonmaker could fill his shoes. While the rookie hasn’t been bad, it’s been Ferguson who’s been a big part of the offense and he had his best game against the Eagles.
Ferguson collected seven receptions, and a touchdown while setting a career-high with 91 yards receiving. That’s two straight games with a score for Ferguson, who continues to be more involved in the offense. Prescott leaned on Ferguson with 10 targets and threw to him on four third and fourth down opportunities.
The Cowboys utilized their second year tight end by lining him up in the slot and getting him in favorable matchups in the loss. Ferguson is on the path to becoming a dangerous part of Dallas’ passing game.
Running game needs a jolt
The Eagles have the best rushing defense in the league and the Cowboys ran for more yards than Philadelphia’s unit had been allowing but the rushing attack was still virtually nonexistent. Starting running back Tony Pollard doesn’t look like he’s got the same speed/pop as he’s had the last few seasons, and his backup has looked quicker.
Rico Dowdle has been good when replacing Pollard and his 18-yard run that was taken off the board due to a holding penalty was the best run of the game. Giving Dowdle only two carries isn’t enough and not how the Cowboys had been divvying up their touches last year with two good running backs.
The Cowboys need to spruce up their running game and giving Dowdle more carries should be where McCarthy starts.
Do you think the Cowboys can build upon the close Week 9 loss? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
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