Before the season started, If I was told that the Cowboys would be 2-1 after facing the Giants at home AND having to play on the road in Denver and Arizona, I would be very pleased. At this very moment, following victories against the Giants and then Arizona last week, I am not entirely optimistic going forward. Neither the Giants nor the Cardinals have looked impressive so far this year and the Cowboys were beaten soundly by the one team playing good football.
That aside, It is always difficult to win on the road in the NFL so the victory over Arizona was not without merit. There are plenty of positive things to be excited about for the Cowboys following the 2-1 start. The most significant is the defensive line play. The Cowboys may have found their “War Daddy” in Demarcus Lawrence. D-Law has had a tremendous start to the season and is leading the league in sacks with 6.5. Maliek Collins is another player that has stood out, he is living up to the high expectations thrust upon him following a strong offseason. The entire defensive line has shown that they are capable of generating consistent pressure on the quarterback. Though it was mostly against the subpar offensive lines of the Giants and Cardinals, it is important to note that they are making an impact. This has been a major missing component holding this team back in recent years.
I also thought that Dak Prescott has been very good so far this season. He is far from perfect, but he continues to be a leader and a prudent decision maker in this only his second year as a pro. Albeit would be nice to see him improve on his accuracy at times and I would also like to see him take some more chances. One example that comes to mind is this past week against the Cardinals. On one occasion he had a free play on an offside call and instead of taking a shot down the field he threw an incomplete pass to Cole Beasley toward the sideline that would resulted in a short gain if complete. That being said, the leadership and intelligence he possesses is a rare quality and I don’t want to knit pick him given the QB landscape around the league.
I do have some concerns as the season wears on and one of those is the performance of Ezekiel Elliott. Thus far in 3 games he looks sluggish and uninspired at times. Even last season when he had slow start you could still see that he was eager and explosive, that does not seem to be the case this season. It may be a result of the emotional toll with his ongoing legal battle or it may be as a result of partying too hard in the offseason but whatever the reason he is not the same guy from last season. There is still the possibility that he misses 6 games ever present, but even if he does play the entire season the Cowboys seriously need him to step up.
Another concern I had in the offseason was the secondary and after a solid debut against the Giants they have not looked good the last two games. They make me extremely nervous whenever a team takes a shot down the field against them. I do like what I have seen from the rookie Jordan Lewis, he is a really good player. Fellow rookie Xavier Woods had some flashes last week as well but the starting safety play concerns me. Both Jeff Heath and Byron Jones have looked lost at times. Larry Fitzgerald is one of the greatest wide receivers of all time but he was never a speedster. On his touchdown catch on Monday he should never have gotten over the top of the defense like he did and the result was an easy TD catch. I do have high hopes for Byron Jones. He makes a couple of bigtime plays a game but he also gets caught out of position at times. The Cowboys need to see an improvement there.
Hopefully as the secondary gets healthy and gains experience they can ease some of these concerns. Ultimately if the defensive line can continue to play well, especially against teams with stronger offensive lines, than that will help conceal the weak secondary play.