Back to winning ways, for now.
The Dallas Cowboys bounced back from a shock defeat to the Carolina Panthers with a straightforward 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders in Week 7.
All three phases contributed to a comfortable home win that has been a rarity over the last two years.
The defense showed significant signs of improvement and mixed up the game plan playing more man coverage than in previous weeks.
This is something we have been crying out for after Matt Eberflus’ zone-heavy scheme had been ripped apart time and time again in the early part of the season.
A weakened opponent?
There is no doubt the Cowboys were helped with the Commanders top two wide receivers missing for the game. If Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel had been fit to play, it may have been a different story.
However, you can only play against who lines up against you and the Cowboys dealt with the Commanders offense with relatively little fuss.
We do not root for injuries but Jayden Daniels going out of the game just after half-time sealed this one. The Cowboys were able to play some zone defense to blanket receivers and force back-up quarterback Marcus Mariota into mistakes.
Brandon Aubrey, record breaker
Special Teams were as reliable as ever with Brandon Aubrey becoming the NFL all-time leader in 60+ yard field goals after nailing his fifth from downtown.
Aubrey makes it look so easy and even started to fist bump and high five his teammates before the ball had made it through the sticks on his 61-yard kick.
One of my preseason takes was that someone would break Justin Tucker’s NFL record of 66 yards. If there is a player and a time to do it, it is Brandon Aubrey in Week 8 on the road at the Denver Broncos.
Dak for MVP?
The Cowboys offense continues to purr, and Dak Prescott continues to build his MVP résumé.
It seems wild that Prescott is currently seventh in the MVP running according to the bookmakers. You can get odds of 20/1 on the Cowboys’ signal caller winning the award.
That can not be down to Prescott’s level of play on the field. It surely must reflect the Cowboys as a whole.
Therein lies the current problem for the Dallas Cowboys. They have got a quarterback that is on pace to break many of the team’s single-season passing records, but the team’s overall record is 0.500.
The Cowboys have a tough game on the road against the Denver Broncos this week and they will need complementary football from all three phases to come away with an upset win.
