Cowboys Week 11 stock report: Dak Prescott unable to play hero ball

The Dallas Cowboys could have buried one of the teams that have been a thorn in their side for years in Week 10 with a win. So naturally, they blew it.

Despite a 14-point lead late in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys fell to the Green Bay Packers in overtime allowing them to end a five-game losing streak while staying alive in the NFC Wild Card race.

After the loss, it’s time to again take stock of this team, beginning with a couple of young defenders who are headed in opposite directions.

Cowboys Week 11 stock report

Stock Up: Sam Williams, EDGE

Rookie Sam Williams started out slow but has taken off over the past two games. Against the Chicago Bears, he recorded two sacks and had another one against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Week 10.

Dallas took a lot of deserved heat for the way they botched the Randy Gregory contract this offseason but they rebounded nicely with the addition of Williams. With Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence also playing well, Williams could be exactly what they need to round out their front seven.

Stock Down: Kelvin Joseph, Cornerback

When Anthony Brown was lost to a concussion, Kelvin Joseph stepped in and things got worse — which is saying something considering Brown was being embarrassed by Christian Watson. Joseph, a second-round pick in 2021, was supposed to develop into a starter opposite Trevon Diggs but has mainly been a special teams player through the first two seasons.

His inability to stick with a rookie who was struggling for the first nine weeks of the season about sums things up for the Kentucky product — and if he doesn’t turn things around quickly, this could be the position Dallas targets in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Stock Up: CeeDee Lamb, Wide Receiver

No matter how you slice it, the Cowboys made a huge mistake when they jettisoned Amari Cooper. This wasn’t a mistake because of anything CeeDee Lamb lacked as a No. 1 wide receiver, but rather due to an absence of depth behind him.

Dallas had faith that players such as Michael Gallup (coming off a torn ACL), James Washington, and tight end Dalton Schultz could pick up the slack. Early in the year, that wasn’t happening since Washington has yet to play and Schultz also found himself dealing with an injury.

The good news is that as Schultz has gotten healthy and Gallup has rounded back into form, the door has been opened for Lamb to start exceeding. On Sunday, while the Cowboys lost, Lamb had his best outing of the year. He finished with 11 receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

It should have been enough to help Dallas win as his second score gave them a 28-14 lead as they were thoroughly in control at that point.

Stock Down: Jalen Tolbert, Wide Receiver

While Lamb continues to trend up, rookie wideout Jalen Tolbert has become a major liability. On the year, he has just one reception and hardly sees the field. In fact, he had just 10 snaps on Sunday but still found a way to negatively affect the game for his team.

In overtime, Tony Pollard ran the ball nine yards to set his team up with a first and 10 on Green Bay’s 37-yard line — or so it seemed. The play ended up not counting as Tolbert was lined up offside, negating the play. It’s rare to ever see an offensive player called for such a penalty but Tolbert found a way to do so at the worst time possible.

Stock Up: Tony Pollard, Running Back

For the second game in a row, Ezekiel Elliott was sidelined with an injury and for the second game in a row, Tony Pollard was a star.

He followed up his 131-yard outing against Chicago by running for 115 yards against the Packers. He should have had more and possibly could have been the reason they pulled off the win had it not been for the aforementioned penalties.

Pollard has always been a fan-favorite but now that he’s getting ample opportunities, he’s making the most of them as he has 621 yards in nine games — just 98 short of his career-high 719 from a year ago.

Stock Down: Dak Prescott, Quarterback

Dak Prescott and criticism go hand-in-hand it seems. While some of the heat he takes isn’t fair, Prescott does bring a lot of it on himself. Throughout his career, he’s been guilty of some roller-coaster play — and this season has been a prime example of that.

He was brutal in Week 1 then missed the next six weeks. He reappeared in Week 7 and was average. That was followed by his best outing of the year in Week 8 and then he fell apart against the Packers with two picks in the first half.

Yes, he turned it around in the second half but when the team needed him to deliver in the clutch, it was more incompletions and blaming of the refs — which is commonplace when Dallas loses.

If Prescott ever wants to prove his name belongs among the best in the game, he has to beat the best in the game. Right now, he continually finds ways to notch wins against the Carson Wentz’s and Jared Goff’s of the world, but when Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers is on the other side of the field, a loss is usually coming.

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