The Cowboys report
Dallas Dominates in Big “D” as preseason winds down
Aug 28, 2019, 6:21 am
Jason Garret and the Cowboys are close to clinching. Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
The Dallas Cowboys won their second preseason game Saturday night by defeating the Houston Texans in a 34-0 rout.
For the first time this preseason the Cowboys didn't score on their opening possession, but that didn't matter because the defense controlled the game the whole way through. After the Cowboy offense went three and out to start the game, the starting defense sacked Deshaun Watson, which caused a fumble that was recovered by the Cowboys. On the Texans' next possession, the Cowboys blocked a punt that got returned for a touchdown.The Dallas defense ended up with eight sacks, four turnovers and only allowed 135 yards.They were led by defensive end Taco Charlton who finished the day with three tackles and two sacks.
On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Dak Prescott didn't start off great. He missed three of his first four pass attempts but quickly overcame it when he found 2nd year receiver Michael Gallup for a 12 yard touchdown to put the Cowboys up 7-0. There is clearly a good bond between Prescott and Gallup, and when you add Amari Cooper into the mix the Dallas passing offense could be one of the best in the league.
With superstar Ezekiel Elliott still holding out for a new contract, rookie Tony Pollard took the starting running back spot and looked great doing it. He had six carries for 26 yards and two catches for 10 yards.H is best play was a 24 yard screen pass that he took down to the Houston 2 yard line but it was called back for holding. The Cowboys look to be in good shape with Pollard in the lineup if Zeke continues to hold out.
With the dress rehearsal in the books, it seems the Cowboys are ready for the regular season to commence.
3 things to watch for
1.Running backs (J. Chunn or A. Morris): With Tony Pollard being the clear #1 RB until Zeke returns, Jordan Chunn and Alfred Morris will be playing the majority of the game this upcoming week and it will good to see who might grab the #2 RB spot.
2.Quarterbacks (C. Rush or M. White): Mike White finally had a good showing this past week and is still batting with Cooper Rush for the back QB role. As of now, I think Rush is leading the way.
3.Kicker Brett Maher: Was perfect for the game, he was 2/2 on his field goal attempts and made all four of his extra points. He seems to finally be settling in. Let's see if he can keep it up.
Coming Up
The Dallas Cowboys (2-1) will be playing their preseason finale at home in AT&T stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) on Thursday Aug. 29 at 7:00pm Central time. None of the starters are expected to play for either team as both teams will be preparing for the regular season to begin.
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Astros lose tight one despite brilliant outing from Hunter Brown
May 15, 2025, 10:29 pm
It’s a fun series between the Astros and Rangers through the weekend in Arlington, but by no means is it a critical series. It would be nice for the Astros to not lose three out of the four games (or obviously all four) to their upstate rivals. The Astros have lost their last five road series, dropping two out of three games in each of them. As with the Astros, pitching has been the strength of the team for the Rangers thus far. After the humdinger Hunter Brown-Jacob deGrom mound matchup Thursday night, the Rangers give the ball Friday to Nathan Eovaldi with his earned run average at 1.78, then Saturday it’s Tyler Mahle with his even more sparkling 1.47 ERA. Heading into Thursday play, the Mariners having lost five of their last six games meant just a game and a half separate first from fourth place in the American League West. The Astros, Rangers, and Athletics are all right there. Only the Angels are inconsequential.
Star power!
There is an asterisk to attach but Jeremy Pena is making a real charge at becoming a first-time All-Star game selection. Among American League shortstops, the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. is clearly the best. The clear number two in the pecking order coming into this season was the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson, who is on fire after a slow start that began with him missing seven games on the injured list. Athletics’ rookie Jacob Wilson goes into the weekend batting .350 and amazingly has struck out just nine times in 164 at bats. Rangers’ stud Corey Seager being on the injured list with a balky hamstring for the second time this season helps the Astros this weekend and likely frees up an All-Star spot.
Now to that aforementioned asterisk. Pena has been sensational so far, indisputably the Astros’ best everyday player. We just need to see more staying power of performance before fully slotting Pena in the top tier of shortstops. Pena’s four-hit game Wednesday night hiked his batting average to .315, his OPS to .840. Well, last year Pena put head to pillow the night of May 15 with his batting average at .333, his OPS at .830. The rest of the season Pena hit .240 with a meager .653 OPS. That Pena drew a paltry 18 walks over his last 114 games. 2025 Pena has showed markedly better plate discipline. He’ll never be a high walks-drawn guy but incremental improvement matters, and can bear fruit in other ways.
Fruitless continues to describe an awfully high percentage of Christian Walker’s plate appearances. 2023 Jose Abreu was better (2024 Abreu was not). Plenty of season still remains for a turnaround, but more than a quarter of the season is gone and it’s not as if Walker is trending in the right direction. In three games against the Royals he went zero for 12 with seven strikeouts. With his final whiff, Walker reached the 50 strikeout “milestone” for the season in his 154th at bat. Feeble and lousy are fair characterizations of a .208 batting average and .625 OPS, magnified for someone batting clean-up most nights. Starting play Thursday 13 big leaguers actually had struck out more than Walker so far this season, among them only the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds carries a lower OPS. Walker has been even worse with runners in scoring position, batting just .171, with a sub-abysmal 20 strikeouts in 41 at bats.
Using Baseball-Reference's Wins Above Replacement statistic, the Astros’ three worst non-pitchers this season are Walker, Yordan Alvarez, and Jose Altuve. Those are the three highest paid players on the team. Altuve’s extended funk has him hitting .202 over his last 27 games with a .538 OPS. Altuve was dropped to second in the batting order basically at his request. It has not sparked him. If Altuve doesn’t pick it up, manager Joe Espada will have to consider dropping Altuve several more spots down the lineup. Alvarez is at 11 games and counting missed with a muscle strain in his right hand. He will not be approaching the career-high 147 games played last season.
Relief pitcher Tayler Scott was a revelation last season. Before joining the Astros at age 31 Scott had a big-league ERA of 9.00 in 46 innings scattered over three seasons. So it was pretty much out of nowhere that the only South African pitcher in MLB history posted a scintillating 1.36 ERA into early August before fading and winding up with a still stellar 2.23 mark. The clock struck midnight on his Cinderella story this year though, and with the Astros needing to open a roster spot this week, Scott was designated for assignment.
Book it!
Longtime Astros’ broadcasting stalwart Bill Brown has authored several books. His latest is Wartime Athletes, which tells the stories of athletes across a number of sports who served in the U.S. military during various wars. If you know anything about Bill Brown, you know each story was meticulously researched and makes for an interesting read. I’m no Oprah when it comes to the power of suggestion for reading material, but Wartime Athletes is worth your time and/or is a worthy gift for someone else.
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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