ARLINGTON — On the only stop of his revenge tour, Cooper Rush didn’t exactly light up his old team Saturday at JerryWorld, but he generated one more touchdown for the Cowboys than did Joe Milton, who somehow got blindsided for a safety when it wasn’t his blind side; threw an interception in the end zone; and generated a first-half QB Rating of 0.0 out of a possible 100.
Brutal doesn’t begin to describe the 31-13 loss to Baltimore. Most days this summer, you’d have to go next door to see an offense this stultifying.
Otherwise, the Cowboys’ latest meaningful preseason game was the same ol’, same ol’.
They keep paying for what they refuse to invest in.
Cowboys
Can’t run the ball.
Conventional wisdom says these preseason games don’t really mean much even if there are fewer than there used to be. Dak Prescott suited up Saturday just for esprit de corps. Micah Parsons wore a No. 11 jersey same as a quarter of the crowd. Either because of injury or by sanction, there was no CeeDee Lamb, no George Pickens, no Trevon Diggs or DeMarvion Overshown. Not even Jake Ferguson. Like paying Broadway prices to see understudies.
On one hand, the Cowboys still have one more preseason game to iron out a few of the kinks from their first two preseason games, even if the last one is usually nothing more than a glorified walk-through.
On the other, do you feel any better about their chances against the defending world champs come Sept. 4 at Lincoln Financial Field?
Me, neither.
For the sake of the Cowboys’ argument, let’s say Parsons signs in the next couple of weeks — Jerry Jones didn’t talk about that or anything else Saturday, which is saying something, at that — and Dak comes back somewhere close to peak form. No one should put much stock in these preseason games, right? Mostly just auditions for wannabes. Jalen Hurts hasn’t played yet, either, and the Eagles lost to Dillon Gabriel and the Browns on Saturday.
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But here’s something you can bank on and the difference between the defending champs and the Cowboys, besides the hardware:
Over the last five drafts, the Eagles have taken four players who rank among Pro Football Focus’ top 32 defensive tackles.
The Cowboys?
Only Osa Odighizuwa.
Part of the reason for the Eagles’ success rate with defensive tackles is they’ve spent heavily on the position. Jalen Carter (5th, according to PFF) and Jordan Davis (28th) were first-round picks. Milton Williams (14th), who now plays for the Patriots, was a third-rounder.
The Cowboys’ best defensive lineman is Odighizuwa, a third-rounder in ‘21 whom PFF ranked 25th despite a poor grade (50.8) as a run-stopper. They ultimately concluded it may have been guilt by association with the second-worst run defense in the league last year.
“So perhaps it came down to coaching,” they wrote.
Ouch.
The only defensive tackle the Cowboys have taken higher than Odighizuwa in the last five drafts was, of course, Mazi Smith, a first-rounder two years ago. Considering how he’s panned out, you could see why the Cowboys have mostly spent a fifth, sixth and three sevenths on defensive tackles the last five years, even though difference-makers at the position are almost impossible to find in the bargain barrel.
Here’s the thing, though: The Eagles aren’t just good at finding prime beef in the first three rounds. They got Texas’ Moro Ojomo in the seventh. PFF ranked him 32nd at the position going into this season, when he’s expected to replace Williams in the rotation.
If you’re scoring at home, that’s three premium defensive tackles for just two positions.
Let me repeat: Good DTs not only are rare, they’re the primary building blocks of a well-rounded defense. Matt Eberflus, Mazi’s third coordinator in three seasons, says he wants his linemen to penetrate the line of scrimmage, first and foremost, then make plays from behind enemy lines.
He also says all of his DTs remain under the “evaluation process.” No one more so than Mazi, who was supposed to help fix their long-time problems against the run. To his credit, he makes no excuses for his failure to do so. Even conceded before the game he’s “got to do something.”
Then he went out and made one tackle against the Ravens. Any time I zoomed in on him from the press box, he didn’t look much closer to the ball than I was.
Meanwhile, a year after opening with a backfield topped by Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott, the running back room doesn’t look much more dynamic. Miles Sanders, who’s shown flashes, led the Cowboys in rushing Saturday with 15 yards on seven tries. Sanders, Phil Mafah, Deuce Vaughn and Malik Davis combined for 38 yards and a 2.38 per carry average.
Tell me again how Brian Schottenheimer’s run-heavy offense will succeed with this group, especially with Nate Thomas at left tackle for the opener?
Especially going up against the Eagles’ defensive front?
Maybe the Cowboys will prove me wrong once their stars come back. Then again, the Rams and Ravens didn’t play theirs, either. A week after giving up 181 yards rushing, the Cowboys allowed 148. Sooner or later, they have to learn that fixing the running game and stopping someone else’s can’t always come down to coaching. They keep trying and getting the same result.
If “Law & Order” has taught me anything, that’s an insanity defense.
More Cowboys-Ravens coverage
— Five takeaways from Cowboys-Ravens: Milton’s struggles continue, battle for nickel corner
— Joe Milton didn’t help his case to be Cowboys backup QB in preseason loss vs. Baltimore
— Dallas Cowboys have more questions than answers with one preseason game left
— Cowboys WR Jonathan Mingo to undergo MRI exam for possible PCL injury
Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.