Deflated Dallas Cowboys to start Garrett Gilbert at quarterback vs. Steelers
It’s official.
The Dallas Cowboys will start four quarterbacks in a season for only the third time in team history, joining 2000 and 2015 when they finished 5-11 and 4-12, respectively
And it will be former Texas and SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who will take the reins of the offense Sunday against the 7-0 Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL’s lone unbeaten team.
Gilbert follows Dak Prescott, who is out for the season with a fractured ankle, backup Andy Dalton, who missed a game with a concussion and is now out on the COVID-19 protocol, and rookie seventh-round pick Ben DiNucci, who was simply overwhelmed in last Sunday’s 23-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys (2-6) are turning to Gilbert as they try to end a three game losing streak against the Steelers, who possess one of the league’s top defenses.
“Man, it’s so much fun,” Gilbert said. “I think this is an awesome opportunity. I’m thrilled to be playing for the Dallas Cowboys. I wish it was under different circumstances. I wish Dak hadn’t gone down. I wish Andy had gotten sick. I’m thrilled to be here and I’m excited about this opportunity.”
Gilbert, 29, has been with six different NFL teams, but he’s been in and out of the NFL since 2014 and has thrown just six passes in the NFL and last started a game in the Alliance of American Football for the Orlando Apollos in 2019.
Gilbert, who has spent two full seasons out of the NFL, considered joining the coaching staff at SMU before joining the Panthers in 2018 and reviving his hopes.
“It’s been quite a journey,” Gilbert said. “It’s a fine line between saying this is over with and I don’t know if I’m going to get another shot. I never lost that belief and I never lost the love for it and wanting to be out here, wanting to be playing.”
Here are five things to watch for Sunday’s game between the Cowboys and the Steelers:
Cowboys could be without Ezekiel Elliott
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is off to the worst start of his career with a streak of eight games without 100 yards on the ground.
And the two-time NFL rushing champion may miss Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.
Team owner Jerry Jones expects Elliott to play, but if he does he’s sure to be less than 100 percent after straining his hamstring while trying to prevent the Philadelphia Eagles from scoring on a fumble return in last week’s loss.
Elliott has been limited in practice all week and the Cowboys are preparing backup Tony Pollard to shoulder a bigger load at running back.
“Tony Pollard is ready for as much or any role we need him,” said coach Mike McCarthy. “I’ve been impressed with him the last three weeks. He’s played very well.”
Pollard had seven carries for 40 yards against the Eagles last week.
Cowboys finally admit T.J. Watt mistake
This is not a second guess. It was a first guess by many. The Cowboys should have taken Wisconsin linebacker T.J. Watt in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft rather than Michigan defensive end Taco Charlton.
It was said on draft night and it has been proven correct, with Cowboys regrets, every year since.
Watt has 41 career sacks, including 6.5 this season, and earned All-Pro honors last year. Charlton lasted only two seasons in Dallas, spent time in Miami and now plays in Kansas City. He has 11 career sacks, including two this season for the Chiefs.
With Watt and the Steelers set to play the Cowboys, team vice president Stephen Jones has finally admitted as much publicly.
“Absolutely,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “You always do that, if you’re truthful and you’re honest ... what you might could have had.”
“Obviously, if you had that to do all over again, I wish we would have done that. So, you know, he’s obviously a great player. He’s already on his way to a great career, not unlike his brother, and congratulations to the Steelers for getting him.”
The Cowboys chose Charlton because he was a better fit for then-defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s 4-3 scheme. Watt was projected as a pass rush linebacker in the 3-4, a scheme the Cowboys run now.
But he was still a better pass rusher, then and now. And would have been the best fit period.
Will the Cowboys score a touchdown?
The Cowboys have gone two full games without scoring a touchdown following back to back losses to Washington and Philadelphia by scores of 25-3 and 23-9.
They have scored just one touchdown in the last three games and it was at the end of a 38-10 blowout loss to Arizona.
Now, they face the Steelers, whose defense is ranked fifth overall and first in sacks, while the Cowboys start a new quarterback who has been with the team for all of three weeks.
McCarthy has never coached a team that has gone two straight games without scoring a touchdown, let alone three, but it is a legitimate question for the Cowboys on Sunday.
Will they score a touchdown against the Steelers?
“It’s always frustrating when you come out of a game and you haven’t scored a touchdown with so many pieces on the offensive side of the ball who think they’re more than capable of scoring a touchdown every game, or more,” receiver Amari Cooper said. “So yeah, there’s some frustration there.”
Defense getting more comfortable
The much-maligned Cowboys defense had its best performance of the season in the 23-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys defensive unit gave up just 15 points as one touchdown came on a sack and fumble return and there was a safety.
The Cowboys also had four sacks and forced four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumbles as the unit appears to finally be getting comfortable in defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s multiple scheme.
“I feel like we’re taking some big huge steps, just understanding what coach wants out of us, understanding our plays and understanding each other and being able to bond a little more with each other and get after it. I feel like it’s coming together, molding together real well and getting better each and every day.
Now the goal is to build on it with another solid effort against the Steelers.
“I mean, we 2-6, the pressure’s been on,” Lawrence said. “We can’t sit here and fault the offense for not having a quarterback or not making plays, whatever the situation is. That’s the whole defense’s job, is to get the ball back for the offense and give the offense more possible chances to score. Whatever the situation is, we ain’t gonna frown, we ain’t gonna look back. We’re just going to put our head down and keep fighting.”
Trevon Diggs under the gun
Rookie second-round pick Trevon Diggs finally flashed the potential and ball skills that the Cowboys have been raving about with two interceptions against the Philadelphia Eagles.
As a rookie, he is the Cowboys best defensive back and they need him to make plays in the secondary.
That is especially true Sunday against the Steelers, who boast an explosive collection of receivers in James Washington, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool.
“Yeah everything is starting to come together the more repetitions that I’m getting,” Diggs said. “I’m getting familiar with the rosters and things like that and the game speed. I’m getting better every game and trying to improve every game and learn from my mistakes and try not to make the same mistakes and just keep fighting.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 5:21 PM.
