FRISCO, Texas — As media availability was wrapping up Monday at The Star, a voice shouted from about 50 yards behind where reporters were gathered interviewing players. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was sharing some encouragement with a member of the team’s nutrition staff who was running on one of the practice fields.
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It quickly became clear that Prescott, who strained his right calf on the final play of Dallas’ overtime win at New England on Oct. 17, was no longer wearing a protective walking boot on his right leg.
When asked how he was doing, Prescott responded that he’s “fine.” Prescott, who usually speaks with media members on Thursdays, joked that if he talked Monday, reporters wouldn’t have anything to discuss for the rest of the week.
Prescott is expected to start Sunday night at Minnesota. The bye week came at a good time for his injured calf. It would have been difficult for him to play this past weekend.
The Cowboys now face 11 games over the next 11 weeks. At 5-1, they are firmly in the race for the NFC’s best record and the clear favorites in the NFC East, with the other three teams all sitting at 2-5.
How did they get off to such a hot start? And how do they keep it going?
Let’s take a look at the three most important factors.
Overcoming adversity
After going toe-to-toe with the defending Super Bowl champions in the season opener, the Cowboys soon found out they would be without starting wide receiver Michael Gallup (calf) for an extended period of time. Then came a five-game suspension for starting right tackle La’el Collins and a broken foot for starting left defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. Throw in the elbow injury that starting defensive tackle Neville Gallimore suffered in the preseason and it was looking like Dallas would have a lot to overcome early in the season.
Surprisingly, the Cowboys did just that, in all four areas. Having Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb makes it easier to overcome a loss of a starting wide receiver. But tight end Dalton Schultz has become an even bigger part of the passing game with Gallup sidelined, and Cedrick Wilson has filled in nicely as the team’s No. 3 wide receiver.
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Randy Gregory has been very impressive in Lawrence’s absence. The right defensive end has four sacks, three tackles for loss and eight QB hits over the past three games. Rookie defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa has exceeded expectations, becoming the team’s most productive player at the position with Gallimore sidelined. Odighizuwa is top three on the roster in sacks (2), tackles for loss (3) and QB hits (8).
But the most surprising of all is that second-year offensive tackle Terence Steele has been outstanding at right tackle in place of Collins. Collins returns this week and he’s expected to step back into the starting lineup, but Steele has shown that he’s a more-than-capable starter if an injury occurs at the position.
These have all been great signs because there will be more setbacks going forward. It’s unrealistic to think an NFL team is going to stay completely healthy for the next three-plus months. Obviously, Prescott’s calf is an important injury to monitor. Could backup quarterback Cooper Rush come in and win a game or two? Sure. But losing Prescott, an NFL MVP candidate, for an extended period of time would be a bigger setback than all of the others they’ve suffered this season.
Gallup and defensive tackle Trysten Hill are returning to practice this week. Gallimore and Lawrence are expected to do the same in the next month or so. As long as they’re able to keep Prescott on the field, the Cowboys should be favored in almost all of their remaining games. But they also need their next-man-up success to continue.
“Over the last couple years, we’ve had a lot of different guys play,” right guard Zack Martin said. “It’s only going to help us moving (forward) this season. We’ve still got a lot of games left to play. The more guys you have that have had those experiences in the game … it just gives the whole room and everyone confidence that’s been in there and had those live reps.”
Big play defense
The Dallas defense is giving up over 380 yards and 24 points per game. It should not be confused with the NFL’s best defensive units. The return of Lawrence and Gallimore later this season has them potentially getting in that conversation, if they’re able to avoid any other major setbacks. But right now, the takeaways have been the difference. Led by Trevon Diggs’ league-high seven interceptions, Dallas has an NFC-best 14 takeaways. The Cowboys only had 11 takeaways during the entire 2015 season.
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While some would argue that there’s luck involved in taking the ball away, it’s been a clear emphasis in Dallas’ play style dating back to last season. Since Week 7 last year, the Cowboys have played 16 games and taken the ball away 34 times. That total would have led the league in three of the past five seasons.
There’s no reason to think they can’t keep up a similar pace. The run defense has been among the NFL’s best at 86.2 yards per game. The pass defense is one of the league’s worst at 295 yards per game. The biggest reason for that is the big plays. Twelve passing touchdowns, 27 pass plays of 20-or-more yards and five pass plays of 40-or-more yards is just too much. Get those numbers down while continuing to take the ball away at a similar pace and that’s a recipe for winning against good teams in January.
“It kind of started out as a competition,” Cowboys safety Jayron Kearse said of who on the team would finish with the most interceptions. “But at this point, it’s like, ‘Man, just try to get what you can get. Just try to get on the board in the interception column.’ Because right now, I don’t think nobody’s catching (Diggs).”
An elite offense
This is the unquestioned team strength. They have an offense without a weakness. All of the pieces are in place to be elite, from the play caller to the franchise quarterback to the veteran offensive line to the standout playmakers at every skill position. If this group stays healthy, there’s no reason for them to struggle scoring against any team, home or on the road, regardless of what that defense wants to take away.
If there’s an area that needs to be cleaned up, it’s the red-zone scoring. The Cowboys are scoring touchdowns on only 56 percent of their trips inside their opponents’ 20-yard line. That’s tied with the Browns for 24th in the NFL. The elite in this category are over 70 percent. Dallas should be at least more than 60 percent.
“Yeah, it’s not good,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said last week before noting that they’d be focusing on improving in that area during the bye week. “I think we’re really, really close. Ultimately, we’re not where we want to be. But we’ll continue to assess it and continue to improve it.”
Everything that has happened up to this point has some similarities to the 2016 season when the Cowboys started with a Week 1 loss before winning their next 11. That 13-3 season during Prescott’s rookie year ultimately fell short of maximizing its potential, losing to the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs. A memorable season ending like that combined with a 25-year drought of legitimate playoff success makes it easy to understand why many are skeptical that this season will be different in Dallas.
But the first six games have at least proven that all the pieces are there.
“Obviously, love where we’re at,” Martin said. “But this team has some big goals, and everyone is locked into those goals.”
(Top photo of Dalton Schultz and CeeDee Lamb: Tom Pennington / Getty Images)
