THE COWBOYS REPORT

Cowboys’ Cooper debut spoiled in loss to Titans; Eagles up next

Roger Rivero
Nov 8, 2018, 8:00 am
Dak Prescott had a rough night. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Dallas Cowboys lost another heartbreaker on Monday night to the Tennessee Titans by the score of 28-14.  The addition of Amari Cooper paid dividends right away but bad play calling and costly turnovers were the Cowboys downfall.  

Dallas came out fired up right out of the gate and seemed to be the better team on the field for the first quarter and a half.  They had a good balance between run and pass plays and the defense was swarming all over the Titan offense. The game turned when the Titans intercepted Dak Prescott in the end zone that would have given Dallas a 14-0 lead.  Instead, Tennessee marched down the field, tied the game at 7, and never trailed again.

The loss drops the Cowboys to 3-5 and makes next week’s game against the Eagles a must win game if they have any hopes of winning the division.  Dallas was never able to get super star running back Ezekiel Elliott going. He ended up with 17 carries for 61 yards and 4 catches for 51 yards.  Zeke never had a great chance to make any plays because the play calling was very predictable. The coaching staff basically called a running play on every 1st and 10 and the Titan defense as ready for it every time.

Quarterback Dak Prescott quickly put to use the speed and skill of newly acquired wide receiver Amari Cooper by connecting with him for a 5 yard touchdown on their second offensive possession.  Cooper’s talent was seen instantly, his has the ability to create separation from almost any defender and was clearly the best pass catcher on the field for Dallas.  Prescott finished the game 21 of 31 for 243 yards with two touchdowns and the lone costly interception. One issue for him was his offensive line did not play very well. They were flagged for numerous penalties and allowed Prescott to be sacked five times which also included a fumble that was recovered by the Titan defense.   

If there is a silver lining, it is that the presence of Cooper to the Cowboys offense is a real threat to opposing defenses and they will have to worry about him in their game plans.  This could lead to a boost in the Dallas offense as it opens possibilities for Prescott, Elliott, and Cooper to make big plays down the field as long as they coaches are smart enough to call the right plays.  

Players to Watch

  1. Amari Cooper (wide receiver): Caught 5 balls for 58 yards and a touchdown in his first game as a Cowboy.  The Eagles have an average pass defense and the Cowboys should be looking to get their best receiver the ball more than 5 times.

  2. Ezekiel Elliott (running back): as good as Zeke is, he will be going up against the #2 rushing defense in the league.  Hopefully, the Cowboy coaching staff can get him the ball in space with misdirection plays and line him up as a receiver to give him the ability to make plays.

  3. Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith (linebackers): Once again defensive star Sean Lee is injured and it will be up to these two players to help stabilize the defense.  They are the top two tacklers on the team and are only getting better.

The Cowboys (3-5) will be on the road playing their division rival Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night at 7:20 pm Central time.  Dallas must win the keep from falling further back in the NFC East race. A victory will put them in 2nd place and keep them in the hunt to win the division.  

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

Cowboys:  Ezekiel Elliott (RB), Amari Cooper (WR).

Eagles:  Carson Wentz (QB), Alshon Jeffery (WR), Zach Ertz (TE), Golden Tate (WR).

  • Tate will be playing his first game as an Eagle he was traded from Detroit last week

For you gamblers out there, the Cowboys are +6.5 and the over/under is 43.  The only play that you should make is taking the Eagles at anything less than 7.


 

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Houston is now 6-6

Bielak with an impressive start, Astros rally late but come up short as Diamondbacks take series

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After a rough, disheartening loss the night before to even the series at one game apiece, the Astros tried to shake it off and regroup for a win on Thursday to get the series win against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Here is a quick recap of the finale:

Final Score: Diamondbacks 5, Astros 4.

Record: 6-6, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Junior Guerra (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Ryan Pressly (0-1, 40.50 ERA).

Bielak tosses an impressive start as Houston puts him in winning position

After both teams finished the first three innings scoreless, the Astros were able to get a little bit of good luck on their side, unlike the night prior. Jose Altuve started the inning with a much-needed single, stole second, then moved to third on a groundout for the second out. That set up Yuli Gurriel, who hit a ball down the third-base line that would strike the bag and bounce away from Arizona, allowing Altuve to score and put Houston up 1-0.

Though he likely would have preferred more run support, Brandon Bielak made do with that one run in his first career MLB start. He was able to complete five innings of work, holding Arizona scoreless over that span despite allowing a runner in each inning. He left in line for the win, with a final line of 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 0 HR.

Altuve extends the lead, then Diamondbacks go ahead

Jose Altuve helped double the lead in the top of the sixth, connecting for a one-out solo home run to make it 2-0. With Bielak's night over at five innings, Cy Sneed took over in the bottom of the sixth and allowed back-to-back one-out doubles to cut Houston's lead in half. He allowed a single to put runners on the corners before Dusty Baker would move on to another reliever to try and preserve the lead. Blake Taylor would enter but allowed the tying RBI-single to take Bielak out of winning position. Taylor would go on to allow a go-ahead run before getting out of the jam.

In the bottom of the seventh, Taylor was still on the mound but would only get two outs before another call to the pen. Andre Scrubb would enter and get the final out of the inning. In the top of the eighth, Jose Altuve would improve to 3-for-4 on the night with a two-out double, setting up Alex Bregman for a go-ahead two-run home run to make it 4-3, Houston.

Ryan Pressly allows the walk-off

Scrubb went back to the mound in the bottom of the eighth and was able to record a 1-2-3 inning to move the game to the ninth. After a scoreless top of the ninth, Ryan Pressly would attempt to get the save in the bottom of the inning. Instead, he would allow the walk-off, loading the bases with no outs on a walk and two singles before a two-RBI single to give Arizona the win and the series victory.

Up Next: The Astros will travel to Oakland to kick off a three-game weekend series with the A's on Friday at 8:10 PM Central. The A's will send Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.93 ERA) to the mound while Houston will turn to Zack Greinke (0-0, 5.00 ERA) to help cut down Oakland's division lead.

mlb astros recap astros vs diamondbacks brandon bielak michael brantley jose altuve alex bregman andre scrubb ryan pressly astros

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