COWBOYS REPORT

Cowboys come up short; Lions up next

Amari Cooper Cowboys
Dallascowboys.com

The Dallas Cowboys lost another close game on Sunday.They were defeated at home by the score of 28-24 to the Minnesota Vikings.

Recap

The Cowboys were forced to being a one dimensional team as the Vikings shut down Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott but they were able to move the ball easily with their passing game. What got them in the end was the defense's inability to stop the 2019 NFL leading rusher Dalvin Cook and bad play calling late in the game. They stopped themselves from scoring the winning touchdown with two horrible running plays on 2nd and 3rd down at the Vikings 11 yard line instead of keeping the ball in the air where they had been successful all game long.

Quarterback Dak Prescott was 28/46 for 397 yards, 3 touchdowns, and one interception. He connected with six different receivers, which included big days for both Amari Cooper and Randall Cobb. Cooper had 11 catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. Cobb had his best day as a Cowboy with 6 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. 2nd year receiver Michael Gallup only also had a solid receiving day with 4 catches for 76 yards and a touchdown as well.

Superstar Ezekiel Elliott had one of his worst games of the year. The Vikings defense locked in on him and did not allow him to get free. He carried the ball 20 times for 47 yards and only caught 2 balls for 16 yards. The Cowboys only had 50 rushing yards total for the game that does not correlate to wins.

Dallas falls to (5-4) and is now tied with the Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) atop the NFC East but edge them in a tiebreaker due to their (4-0) divisional record.

3 Things to Watch For

1.Ezekiel Elliott (Running Back): Needs to have a better game.He averaged 2.4 yards a carry last week. Luckily, he will be going against the Detroit Lions and the 6th worst defense in the league this week. Zeke should have himself a big day this Sunday.

2.Amari Cooper (Wide Receiver): Was questionable with a knee injury most of the week but came up big last week.He made two amazing catches on the sideline and was able to keep his toes inbounds on both of them.Let's see if he can follow up on one of his best games of the year.

3.Dallas Defense (All): The Cowboy defense should be primed for a big game.The Lions will most likely be starting a 2nd string quarterback and a 3rd string running back.I can see big plays being made by the front 7.

Coming Up

The Cowboys (5-4) will be on the road taking on the Detroit Lions (3-5) in the Motor City at Ford Field. Kickoff is set for 12:00 pm Central Time. The Cowboys are in dire need of a win to try and stay ahead of their division rivals. They should be able to control the game with Zeke and come away with an easy victory.

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)

Lions: Kenny Golladay (WR), Marvin Jones, Jr. (WR)

For you gamblers out there, the Cowboys are currently -3 and the over/under is 51. I think the Cowboys are the right side in the game at 3 or less. If you want to bet the total, I would lean under because I don't think Detroit can score enough to help hit the over even though the over hit again last week.

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Hunter Brown takes the ball for Houston Monday night. Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images.

Houston Astros (57-54, second in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (53-59, third in the AL West)

Arlington, Texas; Monday, 8:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Hunter Brown (9-7, 4.11 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 126 strikeouts); Rangers: Andrew Heaney (4-11, 4.12 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Astros -125, Rangers +106; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros to start a three-game series.

Texas has gone 30-25 at home and 53-59 overall. The Rangers are 38-19 in games when they record eight or more hits.

Houston is 57-54 overall and 25-28 in road games. The Astros are 43-5 in games when they scored at least five runs.

The teams meet Monday for the 11th time this season. The season series is tied 5-5.

TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Smith has a .279 batting average to lead the Rangers, and has 20 doubles, a triple and 11 home runs. Corey Seager is 14-for-41 with three home runs and five RBI over the last 10 games.

Yordan Alvarez has 26 doubles, two triples and 20 home runs while hitting .301 for the Astros. Yainer Diaz is 17-for-39 with four doubles, a triple and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 3-7, .236 batting average, 6.76 ERA, outscored by 28 runs

Astros: 5-5, .243 batting average, 3.50 ERA, outscored by one run

INJURIES: Rangers: Jake Latz: 15-Day IL (forearm), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Evan Carter: 60-Day IL (lumbar), Jon Gray: 15-Day IL (groin), Cole Winn: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Mahle: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jacob deGrom: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carson Coleman: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Astros: Kyle Tucker: 60-Day IL (shin), Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (neck), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (forearm), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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