Cowboys stock up, stock down Week 6: Malik Hooker quietly dominates

Sunday night was tough for the Dallas Cowboys as they suffered a defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, which always stings. However, there were some positives from the game.

Even without Dak Prescott, they overcame several turnovers and a 20-0 deficit to turn it into a contest. Dallas got it as close as 20-17 but couldn’t complete the comeback and lost 26-17. Here, we look back over the game and see which players have seen their stock change heading into Week 7.

Cowboys stock up, stock down after Week 6 loss to Eagles

Stock up: Jake Ferguson, TE

With Dalton Schultz dealing with a knee injury, rookie Jake Ferguson got the start for Dallas and he didn’t disappoint. A fourth-round pick out of Wisconsin, Ferguson had just three receptions going into the Week 6 outing. He had mostly been overshadowed by undrafted rookie Peyton Hendershot but then had his best game against Philly.

Ferguson caught four passes for 40 yards while also scoring his first touchdown of the season. It might not seem like a huge day but given how bad the Cowboys were at tight end until Schultz broke out, it’s promising to see a young player step up when needed.

Stock down: Mike McCarthy, Head Coach

Heading into Week 6, Mike McCarthy was earning some good grace. Not only was he riding a four-game winning streak with a backup quarterback, but he also started to show some fire when speaking to the media. The best example was when he reminded them that his team was “nobody’s underdog.”

On Sunday, however, he took a step in the wrong direction. One terrible decision stands out as McCarthy elected not to challenge a catch by CeeDee Lamb that looked to be a clear first down. Instead, he rushed his team out there and they ran a terrible fourth-down play that failed and gave the Eagles the ball in scoring range.

The defense held but Philly still went up 17-0 since they started the drive in field goal range. Those points would have been huge later and perhaps Dallas scores themselves if Lamb gets the first down on a challenge.