THE COWBOYS REPORT
Are the Dallas Cowboys in trouble after 1-2 start?
Sep 27, 2018, 6:50 am
Jason Garrett and the Cowboys are looking to bounce back. Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Seattle Seahawks by the score of 24-13 and in reality it should have been a much closer game. The main factor in this matchup was turnovers and Seattle created them all.
Quarterback Dak Prescott was 19 of 34 for 168 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Once again, the offensive line played well below average when pass blocking and allowed the Seahawk defense to sack him five times for a loss of 31 yards total. He never had any time to set his feet and SHOCKINGLY, anytime he was able to set up there was nobody open downfield. At least this week, there was a tight end sighting. Geoff Swaim (TE) led the team with five catches for 47 yards. No other receiver had more than three, and yes that includes $12 million dollar man Allen Hurns, who had two for 22 yards.
One bright spot for Dallas was the O-line was able to open up holes for Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott, who had 16 carries for 127 yards and a 7.9 yard per carry average. Most notably, however, early in the fourth quarter with the score 24-6, Elliott broke through for a 26 yard run deep into Seattle territory but fumbled the ball and Seattle took over at their own 13 yard line. The Dallas coaching staff needs to take a step back to figure what they need to do to get the offense on track. They tried to get speedster Tavon Austin the ball but essentially ran three bubble screens to him which resulted in three catches for 2 yards. Jason Garrett and staff need to get a bit more creative.
When it was all over, Dallas had given the ball away three times and weren’t able to force any takeaways themselves. Turnovers are key in this league and whoever wins that battle usually wins the game. Seattle was the hungrier team on Sunday as they went in at 0-2 and when you combine that with a clutch performance from Russell Wilson, they were due for a much-needed win. If you read last week’s article hopefully you took Seattle (-1) and cashed in, I know I did!
3 Players to Watch
Ezekiel Elliott (running back): The Cowboys only offensive star is going to have to put last week’s game behind him and help push his team to another victory and right now he is the only playmaker on offense. Also, Detroit is the worst defense in the league against the run.
Jaylon Smith (linebacker): This 6’2, second-year player out of Norte Dame is going to be a key part of the Dallas defense with the health of Sean Lee in question. He is second on the team in sacks with two and has 22 total tackles so far. He is going to have his work cut out for him going against Detroit’s good pass catching running backs.
Jason Garrett (head coach): The coaching staff needs to be smarter. They need to call more appropriate plays for the type of team they have. With the O-line not being able to block very well some regular screen passes and roll out plays togGet Prescott some easy completions would help create positive yards.
Coming Up
Sunday afternoon the Cowboys (1-2) will be hosting the Detroit Lions (1-2) at AT & T Stadium (AKA: Jerry’s World) at noon. It will be their second home game of the season and they are looking for any advantage they can get.
Once again, the Cowboys are going to need their offensive line to play well in order for them to be victorious. The Dallas coaching staff needs to be able to make in-game adjustments to keep the offense moving, especially making good play calls on third downs. The Cowboys are 8 of 34 on third down conversions for the season. They are only ahead of the winless Arizona Cardinals. Luckily, the Lions are coming off a big win over the New England Patriots and could be primed for a letdown this week. Hopefully, Elliot can make amends for last week’s fumble and help carry the team to another win.
If you have any fantasy players, the only must start players are Elliott, Lions QB Matthew Stafford and his trio of wide receivers Marvin Jones Jr., Golden Tate, and Kenny Golladay.
For you gamblers out there, the current line is Dallas -3. The only play here would be if you can get the Cowboys at less than 3, if not I would stay away from it. The over under is 43.5, and the over could be interesting if starting middle linebacker Sean Lee is out for Dallas. He left last week’s game with a hamstring injury. I can see both teams scoring over 20 points if Lee does not play along with Detroit’s possible letdown.
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How Astros advanced metrics tell puzzling story about Houston's start
Apr 17, 2025, 5:21 pm
Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.
The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. He has often looked befuddled in the batter's box. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.
All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.
As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.
Familiar faces return
This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.
Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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