DALLAS — After the Dallas Cowboys got a much-needed win on Thursday night, they were able to sit back and let the action play out on Sunday during Week 4. The mini-bye came at a good time for the physically beaten up club, who at 2-2 are tied for second place in the division.
Since the NFL tacked on a 17th game, the season isn’t quite a quarter of the way through, but after four weeks, there are plenty of evaluations to be made for where the Cowboys stand, and what lies ahead. So far it’s a team that was supposed to look better than it has, but it’s clear now that things won’t be as easy as they’ve been over the last three seasons, when they were a 12-win team in each year.
Here’s where the Cowboys stand one month into the 2024 campaign:
Lacking physicality on defense
The main problem for the Cowboys through the first part of this season is the same thing that’s plagued them for the better part of head coach Mike McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas, they lack physicality on defense.
When the Cowboys’ offense can get a lead, the defense can anticipate teams abandoning the run game and can limit the damage on the ground. However, when the opposition runs right at the Dallas defense, they don’t have the ability to stand up and play with the toughness that it requires to stop it.
In their two wins, the Cowboys have given up an average of 59.5 yards on the ground. In their two losses, they’ve allowed a ridiculous 464 rushing yards.
Being dominated at the line of scrimmage isn’t a way to win games and the Cowboys still haven’t figured out a way to be stout enough against the run.
No identity on offense
There’s an old saying, “Work smarter, not harder,” but the Cowboys aren’t subscribing to that line of thinking on offense. Everything they’ve done through four games has looked very difficult and they haven’t made things easy on their quarterback.
The Cowboys don’t seem to have an identity on offense. They don’t run the ball well, they lack explosive playmakers, don’t have much speed to stretch defense, and are reliant on the Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb connection to a troubling degree. While the QB-WR duo is among the best in the league, defenses know that if they can slow Dallas’ winning combination, they can limit the damage that the offense can do.
It doesn’t help that the offensive line has struggled to hold up in pass protection and isn’t opening many holes for a subpar running back room that lacks a difference maker. The Cowboys have finished as a top five offense in each of the last three years, but that doesn’t look possible this season unless they drastically improve and find some things to hang their hat on as the year progresses.
After years of routinely putting up 40-burgers, this isn’t a fun offense to watch right now.
Injuries crippling the defense
It hasn’t been a banner year for new coordinator Mike Zimmer’s defense through four games, and things aren’t looking up for a rapid improvement any time soon. The win over the New York Giants helped them get back on the right track but it’s going to cost them in the short term.
Dallas’ bookend pass rushers were both hurt on the Week 4 win, and both are expected to miss time. All-Pro Micah Parson suffered a high ankle sprain late in the game that could sideline him for a few weeks, while dual-threat defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence has a foot injury that’s likely going to put him on IR where he will miss significant time.
That’s tough news for a team already missing All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland and one that was already having trouble generating a pass rush. The Cowboys have eight sacks on the season, but just two in their last three games, and Lawrence and Parsons are responsible for half of that total.
Add in the trouble with stopping the run and a sudden lack of created turnovers and the injuries might make things an even bigger challenge for Dallas going forward.
Division looks tougher
For seven of the last eight seasons, the Cowboys have been fighting with the Philadelphia Eagles for divisional supremacy, but that looks like it’s changing in 2024. The current leaders of the NFC East are the Washington Commanders at 3-1, a young team that looks to be on the rise under former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and rookie QB Jayden Daniels.
Prescott has owned the division with a career 33-8 record against the three rivals, but the Cowboys look like they have work to do to win the East. The Commanders and Eagles have better offenses, and although none of the teams have a top-notch defense, the Cowboys’ injury situation doesn’t do them any favors.
Even if the Cowboys do manage to turn things around, they’ll be battling with at least two teams for the chance to win the division. The good news is the Cowboys don’t play another NFC East team until Week 10 so there’s time to get better and make waves in the division, they just must hope that they can win enough games to make the back half of the season count.
The bad news is the next three teams on the schedule for the Cowboys all made the playoffs last year so they will have to stabilize against tough opponents. It won’t be easy staying in the race to win a division that’s now been made more difficult to conquer
Do you believe that the Cowboys will make improvements in the coming weeks? Share your thoughts with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi.
