COWBOYS REPORT

Cowboys come up short; Bills up next

Jason Garrett
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The Dallas Cowboys (6-5) were unable to score a touchdown for the first time all year in their 13-9 loss to the New England Patriots (10-1).

Recap

The Cowboys' No. 1 offense was shut down this past Sunday by New England's top ranked defense. Dallas was unable to cross the goal line and their best offensive players were kept in check. The Cowboys gave the ball to the Patriots twice (Interception and a blocked punt) deep in their own territory that led to 10 point deficit early in the 2nd quarter.

Quarterback Dak Prescott was 19/33 for 212 yards, 1 interception, and NO touchdowns. He was forced into having his worst performance of the year so far. Prescott was unable to connect with super star Amari Cooper who had zero catches.Receivers Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb both led the team with 4 catches each.

Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott had 21 carries for 86 yards and 4 catches for 40 yards. He was unable to make any big plays as the Cowboy offense went 2-13 on third down. With the offense unable to move Zeke was unable to carry his team to a much needed win.

Dallas falls to (6-5) but luckily they stay in first place atop the NFC East because their division rival Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) also lost.

3 Things to Watch For

1.Ezekiel Elliott (Running Back): Zeke was contained this past week, but I would look for him to have a break out game this week.He will be going against another top 3 defense but the Buffalo Bills are average against the run and strong against the pass.

2.Randall Cobb (Wide Receiver): Led the team this past week in receiving and should have another opportunity to do it again with Bills lock down cornerback Tre'Davious White shadowing Amari Cooper or Michael Gallup.

3.Jason Garrett (Head Coach): Finally looks to be on the "Hot Seat" according to owner Jerry Jones.Garrett had some very questionable play calls last week and was once again out coached. Let's see if he can figure something things out and put his best athletes in position to make big plays.

Coming Up

The Dallas Cowboys (6-5) will be at home going up against the Buffalo Bills (8-3) on Thanksgiving Day in Arlington, Texas at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for Thursday at 3:30 pm Central time. The Cowboys are up against a team with a winning record and so far this year, that looks like a loss for them. Hopefully, Zeke will be able to carry the team to a win with a 20+ touch game.I can see it going either way and at least it will be a very good game.

If you have any fantasy players, the only must start players are:

Cowboys: Ezekiel Elliott (RB), Amari Cooper (WR), Dak Prescott (QB), Michael Gallup (WR), Randall Cobb (WR)

Bills: Josh Allen (QB), John Brown (WR), Devin Singletary (RB)

For you gamblers out there, the Cowboys are currently - 6.5 and the over/under is 45. After last week, there is no way I can lay 6.5 points. I would lean on Buffalo but I think the under is the play here.

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The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

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