Dallas Cowboys: 4 players whose stock rose Week 3, and 2 who fell

Dallas Cowboys Stock Down: Mike McCarthy’s Clock Management (again)

Mike McCarthy’s clock management continues to be utterly infuriating and sooner or later, it’s going to cost the Cowboys a game. It’s early on, but every game it’s something new with him. This week, it was the head coach’s refusal to call a timeout with a decent amount of time remaining in the first half.

Eagles’ running back Miles Sanders was tackled in bounds with about a minute remaining in the first half. The Cowboys were up 20-7 and still had two timeouts left on the board, while Philadelphia was slated to receive the second-half kickoff.

Conventional wisdom says that Dallas should have called the time out and given the offense (which had been explosive all night), the chance to go up 27-7. McCarthy of course didn’t call the time out and then had Dak take a kneel down to run the clock to the half. After the game, McCarthy said it was an intentional decision and that he was comfortable just heading into the locker room for halftime.

In a 41-21 win, this might seem nitpicky, but I don’t believe it is. These are the kinds of mistakes that eventually catch up to you and they happen way too often with Dallas’ head coach.

Mike McCarthy has been coaching in the NFL since 1993 when he was an offensive quality control coach for a Kansas City Chiefs team that was led by Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Marcus Allen. I think it’s safe to say that if you were a professional football coach the last time Nirvana dropped an album, you should know how to manage a game clock. If the Cowboys are serious about contending this season, these kinds of basic mistakes can’t keep happening.

Dallas Cowboys Stock Up: TE, Dalton Schultz

Last season when fellow tight end Blake Jarwin went down with a torn ACL, Dalton Schultz found ways to step up and produce all season long. This year, he’s showing it wasn’t a fluke and that he can consistently be a legitimate option in Dallas’ passing game.

On Monday night Schultz led the Cowboys in receiving as he managed to haul in six of his seven targets for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He was Dak Prescott’s security blanket all night and capitalized on the attention Philadelphia was forced to pay to wide receivers Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb.

Following Monday night’s game, he’s now tied with Amari Cooper for the team lead in touchdowns and sits third on the Cowboys’ in both receptions and receiving yards. Schultz will be a free agent this offseason and it’s safe to say he’s doing everything he can to maximize his value on the open market.