Dallas Cowboys face must-win at Washington after week of turmoil and finger pointing
The Dallas Cowboys are in first place in the NFC East, but you wouldn’t know it by their 2-4 record and the inner turmoil that has embroiled the team in the last week due to anonymous quotes from players expressing a lack of faith in the coaching staff.
The Cowboys dismissed the NFL report, which had players calling the coaching staff “totally unprepared,” and said “they don’t teach” and don’t “have any sense of adjusting on the fly.”
Coach Mike McCarthy tried to put the issue to bed early in the week in a team meeting, telling the players he would prefer they come to him and address issues man-to-man.
While the situation didn’t impact the team’s ability to practice and prepare for Sunday’s game against Washington, it was a story the Cowboys had to continue to address throughout the week.
Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch had strong words for his anonymous teammates.
“I think if you’re going to put it out there and not put your name on it, I think you’re an absolute coward. Simple as that. Own up to it,” Vander Esch said.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones went even further in defending McCarthy and the coaching staff and debunking the credibility of the anonymous report.
“The criticism is our guys might not know what they’re doing out there and you put one of those innuendos,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan Friday. “It no more reflects the thinking of our players than it reflects the thinking of something going on in the Kremlin. It is just absolutely irrelevant and very, very, very irresponsible relative to these times now.
Now don’t think that Mike McCarthy isn’t a big boy, got big shoulders and can’t handle anything they want to throw at him. He’s been to school on that and had it. That’s one of the reasons I wanted him here is because it hadn’t just been success for him. He’s dealt with both of those imposters: the success imposter and the failure imposter. And he’s done well with it.”
Jones wasn’t done. He called criticism of the staff bull (expletive) and said the report lacked credibility.
“You’re so full of it. I mean it,” Jones said. “Seriously, guys, because it is so irresponsible. It doesn’t add to anything. It doesn’t make me do anything other than almost smirk. Do you think it has any credibility? Think about it. Do you really think it has any credibility? Think about it. It had none.”
Here are five things to watch in Sunday’s game against Washington:
Cowboys facing must win game
The Cowboys lead the NFC East with a 2-4 mark, but they admittedly are far from a well-oiled machine.
Their standing has more to do with the sorry play in the division than anything of their own doing, especially considering they have lost two of their last three games, despite the benefit of home-field advantage.
The NFC East is 5-20-1 collectively.
It has the Cowboys facing a turning point the with two road division games up next, Sunday at Washington and against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 1
They can right themselves and create some separation or allow the bottom to continue to fall out.
“It’s a must win. It’s a must win, both of these games,” linebacker Jaylon Smith said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. “That’s how we’re viewing them. But we can only focus on one at a time. So, we’re doing everything we need to do to prepare for Washington.”
Injuries mount, bulk of salary cap not on field
The Cowboys will play against Washington without Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin and left tackle Brandon Knight.
Martin is out with a concussion. Knight is out a couple of weeks with a knee injury.
The loss of Martin means they will face Washington without eight players expected to be starters before the season, including quarterback Dak Prescott, Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith, right tackle La’el Collins, tight end Blake Jarwin, center Joe Looney, cornerback Chido Awuzie and defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Trysten Hill.
Only Martin, Looney and Awuzie will be back this season.
Leave it to owner Jerry Jones to break it down in terms of dollars and sense as it relates to the team’s financial commitment to winning.
Prescott, Smith, Martin and Collins are among the team’s highest-paid players and represent some of the highest-paid players in the league at their respective positions.
“We’re going to be playing with about 60% of our salary-cap dollars Sunday, about 60%,” Jones said. “That’s what’s out on the field. In the case of the tackles and the case of your quarterback, the case of Martin, those are challenges for us.”
Defense coordinator feels stabbed in the back
Outside of injuries and turnovers, the Cowboys biggest problems have been on defense where they are 31st against the run and last in the league in points allowed.
Much of the talk from the frustrated anonymous players has been about their struggles with adjusting to the new scheme of coordinator Mike Nolan.
But the Cowboys have simplified things since the season opener, and Nolan bit back this week when he lamented the breakdowns on an 80-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter against the Cardinals and a 69-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter when the Cowboys were in a simple basic defense that most high schools run.
Nolan is still befuddled by the 69-yarder in the final two minutes of the game.
“I think about it a lot because it’s like putting a knife in your back,” Nolan said. “If you just do the math, there are two gaps in there with four people to account for them. And somehow, that guy came through there untouched.That one’s a tough one to explain, to be honest with you.
“I know this: Four people had every right to be a factor on the play. That’s an embarrassing moment to anyone.”
The players and coaches must be better against Washington.
Randy Gregory is here to help
The Cowboys are getting some welcomed help on Sunday in the form of defensive end Randy Gregory, who will be playing his first game since 2018 due to an indefinite suspension for repeated violations of the substance-abuse policy.
He was reinstated by the NFL in September, but this is the first game he is eligible to play.
His teammates have raved about his work in practice. And he is needed to bolster a pass rush that has failed to consistently get to the quarterback.
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, Aldon Smith and Everson Griffen have 6.5 sacks combined. Smith has four by himself but none in the last three weeks.
“My eyes on Randy Gregory is an individual accomplishment here,” Jones said. It’s been quite a road for him. It’s a long way from over, but it’s quite a road for him. He’s got this great opportunity in his life to rehab everything about it. But it’s hard and would be. But he is an outstanding football player. He should contribute. I don’t want to have to oversell him here. But I’m glad to see him on the field.”
Ezekiel Elliott and Andy Dalton need to be better
Running back Ezekiel Elliott apologized to his teammates and vowed to no longer be a liability that has contributed to the Cowboys failures.
The $90 million running back has four fumbles in six games and has not yet topped 100 yards on the ground in any game this season.
The time for talking is over. Elliott needs to prove it with his actions against Washington.
And no one expected quarterback Andy Dalton to put up Dak Prescott numbers, as Prescott still leads the NFL in passing yards, but they did believe Dalton, a 10-year veteran, would play winning football for the Cowboys.
Dalton averaged just 4.9 yards per attempt, threw two interceptions (another was dropped) and was sacked three times in his first start last Monday against the Cardinals.
Against Washington, the Cowboys need Dalton to get the ball out faster to offset the pass rush and get the ball into the hands of receivers Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb.
