Cowboys Beat Raiders on MNF – Both Sides of the Ball Dominate!
The Cowboys have been on an absolute roller coaster during the last two weeks. First, at the deadline, Jerry Jones traded for defensive pieces in Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson. Then, the tragic passing of EDGE Marshawn Kneeland. And on top of that, two players in DeMarvion Overshown and Shavon Revel come back from last season’s knee injuries to try and save this defense.
Coach Schottenheimer has been very vocal with the media, talking about everything the team has been doing to honor Marshawn’s memory, including a vigil, extra team meetings, setting up his locker, and even custom t-shirts for warmups and coaches on the sideline.
While the guys had a bit of a rusty start to the game, with a three-and-out and fumble (Maxx Crosby strip-sack on Dak Prescott), I thought it was over – a rerun of the game vs. Arizona. Neither CeeDee Lamb nor George Pickens got to start in the game as a result of a coach’s decision. The rumor is that they were out in a casino, spotted at 7:30 AM, but you wouldn’t have thought they were hungover.
Pickens went NUCLEAR, catching 9 of his 11 targets for 144 yards and a TD. Dak threw FOUR touchdowns, all different receivers (Lamb, Ferguson, Pickens, Flournoy), and realistically should have had a second one to Lamb.
Defensively, we have SERIOUSLY improved already: New addition DT Quinnen Williams had 1.5 sacks and SEVEN pressures (!!!), something we have been seriously lacking. Watching him and Kenny Clark collapse a pocket from up front all night was like going to Paris for the first time – you’ve seen it a million times, but you don’t realize its beauty until it’s right in front of you (or on your team).
The best sight I got all night was a 5-man front of Ezeiruaku, Odighizuwa, Clark, Q. Williams, and Clowney. You just can’t run on that. Speaking of – Ezeiruaku got Ashton Jeanty behind the line of scrimmage for a safety in the 4th quarter. The rookie may be our new DeMarcus Lawrence ESPECIALLY if he continues learning from Clowney.
We also saw some good play from the secondary: a couple of PBUs from DaRon Bland, absolutely perfect technique on those in a season where he’s been hot-and-cold. Caelen Carson continued looking promising. Safety Marquise Bell had an opportunistic interception later in the game. Donovan Wilson was getting moved around so much that he started blitzing off the edge. It was very fun to see Eberflus get to mess around with his new personnel.
Next week, we play a rematch vs. the Eagles. I think this was a perfect “get-right” game for us after the locker room had been so shaken up. We now sit at 4-5-1, with a GAUNTLET of a schedule ahead, and need to run the table to get into the playoffs essentially. In reality, our sights should be set on the next two or three seasons.
Welcome home, Big Q! Go Cowboys!
AND GIVE GEORGE PICKENS A BLANK CHECK FOR GOD’S SAKE!