Cowboys studs and duds Week 4: Trevon Diggs deflects narrative
By Randy Gurzi
The legend of Cooper Rush grows. The backup quarterback led the Dallas Cowboys to their third win in a row, and he’s now 4-0 as the starter, making Cowboys history. This time, America’s Team knocked off the Washington Commanders in a commanding 25-10 win.
Both the offense and defense came to play in this one as they not only limited Washington to just 10 points, but Trevon Diggs swatted away the perception that he can’t handle the top receivers in the NFL. Diggs made life hard on Terry McLaurin while the Cowboys receivers went off in the win.
Here we look at who stood out as studs and duds in the Week 4 victory.
Cowboys studs and duds from Week 4 victory over Commanders
Stud: Neville Gallimore, DT
Washington was moving the ball and had gotten to mid-field on their first drive, but that was it as Neville Gallimore made sure to get the defense off the field. On a second-and-12, he ran through the line and blew the play up when he sacked Carson Wentz for a nine-yard loss.
Wentz then had to throw the ball in the dirt on third-and-21 when DeMarcus Lawrence got pressure on him and the Cowboys offense was able to get the ball back.
Cowboys D-Line just dominating Commanders O-Line to squash that 1st drive. Can see here how pressure allows Neville Gallimore to come in barely touched for the sack on Carson Wentz @FOX4 pic.twitter.com/Tjs8cIgosd
— Jeff Kolb (@JeffKolbFOX4) October 2, 2022
Gallimore helped end the first drive of the second half, too. After Mike McCarthy stressed run defense at the half, Gallimore responded with a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, taking J.D. McKissic down for a two-yard loss. Washington then gained just two yards on third-and-12 and ended up punting it back to Dallas.
The big man set the tone early and continued to be a force throughout, doing much more than his stats show.
Dud: Terence Steele, OT
Dallas was up 12-7 and looking to put the game out of reach. Backed up in their own territory, they ended up losing seven yards on a pitch to Tony Pollard.
While the loss of yards goes against Pollard, it was Terence Steele that whiffed on the tackle, letting William Jackson run past him to blow up the play. Overall, Steele wasn’t terrible but he had a couple of whiffs in this one that hurt the ground game.