After 60 years, Dallas Cowboys at Baltimore Ravens will produce a franchise first
The Dallas Cowboys are ready to play football again and attempt to regain some level of normalcy in a season and a year and a that has produced anything but. Given what 2020 has produced — the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the rash of injuries, the uneven play and the emotional toll of losing a valued coach — just playing the sport will be a respite.
When the Cowboys (3-8) finally step on the field in Baltimore to take on the Ravens (6-5) Tuesday night, 12 days will have passed since their last outing, a 41-16 home loss to the Washington Football Team on Thanksgiving.
The Ravens game was initially set for last Thursday, but it was postponed to Monday and then Tuesday because of a coronavirus outbreak within Baltimore’s organization.
During the extended hiatus, the Cowboys participated in a virtual memorial for beloved strength coach Markus Paul, who died Thanksgiving Eve after spending the much of the previous 24 hours in a Plano hospital on life support following a shocking collapse at the team facility is Frisco early on Nov. 24.
“I think it will be great for us to get out there and play and compete,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think anytime you go through personal tragedy like this, it’s important to keep stepping forward as a team and as individuals. We’re fortunate, especially during these trying times, and on top of it a pandemic, that we get to go out and compete in a National Football League game. I think it’s something we’re all looking forward to.”
And for the first time since they entered the league in 1960, the Cowboys will play on a Tuesday, which means that they will have played a game every day of the week at least once in their history.
The quirkiness of the schedule has some, like Cowboys quarterback Andy Dalton, just trying to keep track of what day it is.
“I feel like it’s been a long time since we played,” Dalton said. “I think that’s the thing with the schedule is you think you’re going to have a Thursday, then it gets moved to Monday, and then Tuesday, just kept changing. It will feel good to get to Tuesday, get to game time, and get ready to play again.”
The Tuesday game also means it will be a short week to prepare for next Sunday’s game at the Cincinnati Bengals after the Ravens game. Based on the original schedule, the Cowboys would have had nine days between the Ravens and Bengals games. Now they only have four.
With COVID-19 still raging, the Cowboys are prepared for anything.
“There are so many moving targets here because of the state the league is in,” McCarthy said. “Our outlook is we have to be prepared to play on any day of the week, moving forward. That is our mindset. As a staff, it’s our job to get the team trained and prepared to win a football game regardless of what day its played. That is the mindset we are in right now.”
Here are five Cowboys things to watch for Tuesday’s game against the Ravens:
Playoffs hopes still alive but slim
At 3-8, the Cowboys are in last place in the NFC East and they need a win against the Ravens to prevent from falling two games behind the division-leading New York Giants (5-7) and Washington (5-7) with four games to play.
Of course, they also know they can remain in the thick of the playoff chase in the woeful NFC East if they can upset the Ravens and get on a roll in the last month of the season.
“I think it’s definitely a big game for us,” said running back Ezekiel Elliott. “If we go in there and get a win, we could build some momentum going into the final stretch of the season. Like we’ve been saying, everything’s in front of us and we’ve got to find a way to get this thing going and get back some momentum and win football games.”
Ceedee Lamb vs. Dez Bryant in No. 88
Former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, who is now with the Ravens, will play against his former team for the first time on Tuesday.
But it also means that the man who was once wore the famed No. 88 jersey for the Cowboys and rookie receiver who’s wearing it now will be going head-to-head on the stats sheets.
The latter, CeeDee Lamb, already has exceeded expectations. He has 53 catches, which is already a new club record for receptions as a rookie, 650 yards and four touchdowns.
“For me to go against a guy I actually watched growing up excel in this jersey number, to have the opportunity to play against him is a huge honor on my end and speaks volumes on his part,” Lamb said. “He definitely did a great job here and I’m looking to continue the legacy with the jersey number. Dez, ultimately, he was that receiver.”
Amari Cooper leads the Cowboys with 71 catches for 848 yards and three touchdowns and needs just 152 yards over the last five games to become the first Cowboys player with back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons since Bryant has a streak of three straight from 2012-2014.
Containing Lamar Jackson
It appears the Ravens will be close to full strength against the Cowboys as they are continuing to recover from a corona outbreak that saw a stretch of 10 consecutive days of positive tests and 23 players be placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.
The Ravens were missing more than dozen players, including reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and six other Pro Bowl players in last Wednesday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The delay in that game is what forced the Cowboys-Ravens game to be postponed until Tuesday.
Stopping Jackson, who has been cleared to play, will be the Cowboys’ primary focus because of his ability to make plays with his arm and his legs, McCarthy said.
“He is a unique player. There is no question about,” said the coach. “He is the biggest threat with the football because of his versatility, his ability to run and extend plays. He is complimented by a multiple scheme, how they run the ball. This is a huge challenge from a team perspective. And just the way Lamar plays the game, his ability to keep things going. He is so dynamic with the football in his ability to extend plays and make any throw in the book.”
Can Ezekiel Elliott bounce back?
Running back Ezekiel Elliott was announced as the Cowboys nominee for the 2020 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to an NFL player for their on-field sportsmanship and integrity.
The award was created in 2014 in honor of longtime Pittsburgh Steelers founding owner and Hall of Famer Art Rooney Sr.
Each team receives one nominee for the award, and a panel of former players from the NFL Legends Community selects eight finalists. From those finalists, each team’s players will vote for a winner.
“It means a lot. There are a lot of great options. There are a lot of guys they could have picked. It means a lot to me that the team picked me as the nominee.
It’s honor for Elliott to be nominated and considered. And it speaks to his leadership he has shown this season.
But it’s not quite what the Cowboys needed from Elliott in 2020, especially after losing quarterback Dak Prescott to a season-ending injury.
The former two-time NFL rushing champion is having the worst season of his career. He has just one 100-yard game and has six games with less than 60 yards on the ground. He is averaging a career-low 3.9 yards per carry and has a career-high five lost fumbles.
Elliott doesn’t care about yards as much as does the turnovers that have hurt the team.
“I just want to win. That’s my main focus is just going out there and winning,” Elliott said. “I do have to focus on protecting the football, but I still have to be able to play loose and be myself so just kind of finding a happy medium.”
LG Connor Williams the only constant up front
Left guard Connor Williams has gone from being considering the weakest link on a Cowboys offensive line filled with Pro Bowl players and first-round talents to the last man standing.
Due to injuries, the Cowboys have used 16 different offensive line combinations through their first 11 games.
Williams has been the the only constant, starting every game.
With Pro Bowl guard-turned-right tackle Zack Martin and left tackle Cam Erving out several weeks due to injuries sustained on Thanksgiving, look for Williams to be joined by Brandon Knight at left tackle, Joe Looney at center, Connor McGovern at right guard and Terence Steele at right tackle against the Ravens .
It’s been a season-long trend that began with the loss to left tackle Tyron Smith and right tackle La’el Collins earlier in the season and injuries to Looney and then rookie center Tyler Biadiasz, which has Looney back in the starting role. Knight, who initially replaced Smith, missed a couple games due to knee surgery and replaced by Erving. And Steele, who initially was a replacement at right tackle, but has since been benched because of poor play.
“It’s high value,” McCarthy said of Williams’ presence this season. “I think anytime you have consistency at a position and then within a collective unit it’s of great benefit.
“It’s not only been beneficial for Connor, but it definitely give us the opportunity to game plan and know what you have,” McCarthy said. “I think, as a coach, the ability for a player to be at work every day to be the same person as far as his approach and work his ethic and his performance is of tremendous value to the growth and development of your team. It usually plays a tremendous part in having a successful season.”
Usually.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 3:40 PM.
