I hadn't seen a thread on this team yet so I'm starting one here.
First off, I think we're all surprised at how well Dallas played without Dak Prescott. Cooper Rush isn't flashy, but he's a totally competent backup....especially in the context of this Cowboys team which has supporting cast on both sides of the ball.
Defense feels like a legit Super Bowl contending unit. They trail only Buffalo in DVOA and EPA/play, and points allowed per game. Micah Parsons has picked up where he left off last year leaving a path of destruction behind him wherever he goes on the field.
Offense ironically (which was a juggernaut last year) is seriously flawed, at least so far. They haven't handled the loss of Amari Cooper well at all and Michael Gallup isn't back to full speed yet, even though he's been playing for a few games. The hope for Cowboys fans is that the offense starts becoming more efficient as Dak shakes off the rust having just come back from the thumb injury. He looked rusty for the first 2.5-3 quarters against DET but then seemed to get into a groove late that game. So we'll see.
Special teams has been great. KaVontae Turpin is in the top 5 in both PR and KR yards per return and Maher has been nails returning as PK after 2 years of Greg Zuerlein. DAL special teams trails only Baltimore in DVOA.
Biggest problem for Dallas at the moment is Philly is playing at contender level so they don't have a cakewalk to the NFC East title like they did last year. They also still have Mike McCarthy as head coach which of course means they in the top 5 in the NFL in penalties and penalty yards.
The cliff's notes version of this post is that Dallas looks like a pretty good team that could contend in the NFC if the offense can get back on track a bit with Dak back at the helm. I'm not totally convinced yet though of that happening. Dak hasn't totally looked the same since the calf injury in overtime against the Patriots last year. It's not the same injuries bothering him. I worry about the shoulder injury he had coming into the season. Now the thumb on the top of that. If he's the type of QB who sees a pretty notable dropoff from nagging injuries, then that doesn't bode well.
First off, I think we're all surprised at how well Dallas played without Dak Prescott. Cooper Rush isn't flashy, but he's a totally competent backup....especially in the context of this Cowboys team which has supporting cast on both sides of the ball.
Defense feels like a legit Super Bowl contending unit. They trail only Buffalo in DVOA and EPA/play, and points allowed per game. Micah Parsons has picked up where he left off last year leaving a path of destruction behind him wherever he goes on the field.
Offense ironically (which was a juggernaut last year) is seriously flawed, at least so far. They haven't handled the loss of Amari Cooper well at all and Michael Gallup isn't back to full speed yet, even though he's been playing for a few games. The hope for Cowboys fans is that the offense starts becoming more efficient as Dak shakes off the rust having just come back from the thumb injury. He looked rusty for the first 2.5-3 quarters against DET but then seemed to get into a groove late that game. So we'll see.
Special teams has been great. KaVontae Turpin is in the top 5 in both PR and KR yards per return and Maher has been nails returning as PK after 2 years of Greg Zuerlein. DAL special teams trails only Baltimore in DVOA.
Biggest problem for Dallas at the moment is Philly is playing at contender level so they don't have a cakewalk to the NFC East title like they did last year. They also still have Mike McCarthy as head coach which of course means they in the top 5 in the NFL in penalties and penalty yards.
The cliff's notes version of this post is that Dallas looks like a pretty good team that could contend in the NFC if the offense can get back on track a bit with Dak back at the helm. I'm not totally convinced yet though of that happening. Dak hasn't totally looked the same since the calf injury in overtime against the Patriots last year. It's not the same injuries bothering him. I worry about the shoulder injury he had coming into the season. Now the thumb on the top of that. If he's the type of QB who sees a pretty notable dropoff from nagging injuries, then that doesn't bode well.