Five silver linings in Cowboys season-opening loss to Rams

5. Terence Steele wasn’t horrible

I know what you’re thinking. He wasn’t great either. That’s true. Steele, who started at right offensive tackle for the Cowboys on Sunday, isn’t going to make anyone forget about starter La’el Collins, who’s on out injured reserve for at least two more weeks.

Steele was beat on several plays including one which resulted in a sack. Still, he was an undrafted free agent the team picked up this offseason, and most Cowboys observers didn’t even know who he was until the final 53-man roster was announced a little over a week ago, and this unknown lineman was on it.

The main point though, is that Steele was not a human turnstile. I think most fans remember the “burning of Atlanta” of a few years back when Dak Prescott was chased around all afternoon by Atlanta Falcon defenders and sacked eight times. It took Prescott a full year to recover from that game.

That didn’t happen on Sunday, and this was prevented by this unknown UDFA. God bless you, Terrance Steele.

It would have been nice if the Cowboys had won their first game of the season. A number of issues were exposed that Dallas coaches and management will need to deal with. No question about. But there were encouraging signs on Sunday.

Remember, almost the entire coaching staff is new, and by my count, there were nine new starters. Nine of twenty-two. That’s within spitting distance of half the team. It’s a lot. And with all these new faces, there was a shortened training camp, no preseason games, and all sorts of new coronavirus protocols to deal with.

Given all that, it’s hardly surprising that America’s Team wasn’t perfect in the first game of the corona-season. But, as I’ve shown, there were bright spots. Let’s hope things only improve from here.