We have now reached the first quarter pole of the 2021 NFL season and honestly, I don’t think Dallas Cowboys‘ fans could be much happier. After going toe-to-toe with the champs on opening night, Dallas has won three straight games in impressive fashion.
From a road victory over the best team currently in the AFC to dominating home wins over divisional foe Philadelphia and the previously undefeated Carolina Panthers, the Cowboys are rolling hot. For what seems like forever, even though it’s still early, this team is finally playing complementary football.
Offensively, the Dallas Cowboys are sitting in the top five in total yards, rushing yards, and points per game scored. Defensively, they have a top ten rush defense and are second in takeaways.
With the “easiest” part of their schedule coming up, things are setting up for the Dallas Cowboys to go on a run and separate themselves in the NFC East. Before we get there, however, let’s take one last look back at Week Four and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly from a 36-28 victory over Carolina.
Dallas Cowboys: The Good
Almost as soon as the final second ticked off the clock at Raymond James Stadium four weeks ago, there were those who could not wait to bury running back Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys rushing attack. Unsurprisingly, the rumors of his demise were premature and quite ridiculous.
Each week, Zeke’s production has trended upwards, kicking it up a few notches with 143 yards and a touchdown against the previous best team in the league when it comes to rush defense. His running mate, Tony Pollard, has been cooking as well. Elliott currently is posting over five yards a carry, while Pollard is knocking on the door of seven yards per tote.
Sunday’s performance from the dynamic duo was the most impressive, especially after last week’s outing against Philadelphia. Many were worried after seeing center Tyler Biadasz and guard Connor Williams get bullied by the Eagles’ interior linemen.
That was not the case against Carolina. The Cowboys ran the ball 34 times for 245 yards, controlling the game on the ground. If things continue in this direction, it is not out of the realm of possibility that both Elliott and Pollard reach 1,000 yards in 2021.
Dallas Cowboys: The Bad
If we are being honest, the Dallas Cowboys put this game away with one amazing quarter, led by two players specifically. Defensive end Randy Gregory wrecked the game, constantly hounding the opposing quarterback. On the outside, cornerback Trevon Diggs continued his great play, picking off two passes on back-to-back drives.
The third quarter saw a game in which Dallas trailed by one at half to lead by 19 going into the final stanza. After that, things were not so great. Diggs left the game with some back soreness. This was thankfully precautionary, but it seemed like his exit, plus the score, allowed this team to go into cruise control. That’s not how things work in the NFL.
Carolina had no problem reminding the Cowboys of this fact. The Panthers put up touchdowns on back-to-back drives, closing the gap to one score. If not for the above “good” of the Cowboys rushing attack, things had the opportunity to go very bad.
Moving forward, this team will need to keep their foot on the gas for all sixty minutes. There are several good teams left on this schedule and things might not go the same way if the situation arises again.
Dallas Cowboys: The Ugly
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has no problems making bold moves. During the 2016 NFL Draft, Jones made one of his biggest in recent memory, drafting linebacker Jaylon Smith when he could not even run due to a gruesome leg injury sustained in his last college game.
2016 became a “redshirt” year for Smith as he needed that time to recover and rehab. The following year, Smith was sprinkled into the mix before finally becoming a starter near the end of the 2017 season.
The next three years saw Smith start every game at linebacker, culminating with a 2019 Pro Bowl selection and a six-year, $68M extension. Unfortunately for all involved, that peak was the beginning of the end.
Last season, Smith’s play was abysmal. Smith never really helped himself whenever he had an opportunity to own his terrible on-field presence. “Swiping” at completely inexcusable times and telling all of us to “watch the film,” when questioned about his play set a lot of people off.
This year, nothing improved. Even with his snaps severely limited (from 97.8% last year to 56.1% in 2021), Smith continued to show an inability to shed blocks, made numerous bad reads and was a complete liability in pass coverage.
Tuesday night, the Dallas Cowboys decided that eating $7M was worth ending the experiment. I could go on and on about how bad the entire Jaylon Smith era really was, but there is no point to that now. Jaylon is a phenomenal person off the field. He’s sincerely changing a lot of people’s lives, in real life, which absolutely matters.
I do not honestly know if another team will bring Jaylon in for a look-see. This could very well be the end of his football life but I definitely wish him continued success for the rest of his days on Earth.