Cowboys stock report Week 12: Vintage Ezekiel Elliott showed up on Thanksgiving

Coming off their best win of the season, the Dallas Cowboys had a slow start against the New York Giants on Thanksgiving Day. Missed opportunities led to a 13-7 halftime deficit, but before long, they were up 28-13.

New York scored a late touchdown to make it appear closer than it was, but the Cowboys have now swept their rival this season. There was plenty to love from this game, and enough players stepped up that we have a stock report primarily full of players on the rise.

Cowboys stock report: Vintage Ezekiel Elliott showed up on Thanksgiving

Stock Up: Dorance Armstrong, EDGE

Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.

Dallas has been getting some praise for sticking with Dorance Armstrong while allowing Randy Gregory to get a big contract in Denver. So far this season, Gregory has played in just four games and provided nine tackles and two sacks for the Broncos.

As for Armstrong, he just recorded his eighth of the season against the Giants. Of course, this wasn’t a masterstroke by the Cowboys, since they offered Gregory the same deal he got in Denver, but messed up the negotiations. Even so, it opened the door for the former Kansas Jayhawk, and he’s been up to the task.

Stock Up: Micah Parsons, EDGE

Micah Parsons is not human.

The second-year linebacker had 13 sacks as a rookie, and now has 12 in his first 11 games this year. On Thursday, he recorded two of those, and he’s now had double-digits in nine of his 27 career games.

Parsons continues to be a leader on this defense and is only getting better. He’s second in the NFL in sacks behind Matthew Judon (13.0), and will be in the running for NFL Defensive Player of the Year by season’s end.

Stock Up: Dalton Schultz, Tight End

Against the Green Bay Packers, Dalton Schultz was involved in a couple of bad plays, including one that led to an interception for Dak Prescott. On Thanksgiving, he more than made up for that.

Schultz had just 31 yards receiving, but he made the most of those, as he scored two touchdowns (he also caught all four targets). His first touchdown capped off a frustratingly long drive for Dallas to start the third quarter.

The Cowboys ate up 7:39 of that quarter before Schultz caught a 15-yard touchdown on third-and-goal. They were in a tough spot due to so many penalties, which was why the drive was so aggravating. Still, Schultz played the hero with that catch, the Giants fell behind 14-13, and New York never regained the lead.

Something about those Dallas tight ends against the Giants, huh? Jason Witten must be smiling.

Stock Up: Jake Ferguson, Tight End

Really, we could have put three tight ends on this list. Peyton Hendershot had no catches on the afternoon, but did take a handoff two yards in for the touchdown.

As impressive as that was, Jake Ferguson has been showing lately why he was a third-round pick. He’s caught each of his past seven targets, with five of those coming in Week 12. That was also one of his best overall performances, grabbing three passes for 57 yards and even showing off some excellent athleticism while hurdling safety Jason Pinnock.

Dallas is suddenly very deep at this position, and that’s why they were hesitant to give Schultz the long-term deal he was after.

While Schultz has been good in 2022, the way Ferguson and Hendershot have performed might lead to another standoff this coming offseason.

Stock Up: Ezekiel Elliott, Running Back

It was vintage Zeke on Thursday, as Ezekiel Elliott ran all over the G-Men. He finished with 95 total yards and a touchdown. He’s now had three touchdowns over the past two games and looks much healthier than he did before sitting in Week 8 and Week 10 due to a knee injury.

Also helping is the way the coaching staff is starting to split the carries. In the past, they would run Elliott into the ground and hardly use Tony Pollard. Now, with an even split, both are excelling — and that makes this offense incredibly tough to defend.

Stock Down: Anthony Brown, Cornerback

Not everyone had their stock increase, as we come across the one drop for this week: Anthony Brown. For much of the 2021 season, Brown was the best coverage corner Dallas had. Trevon Diggs got the love since he recorded the interceptions, but Brown was the player that could stick to his guy like glue.

That hasn’t been the case this season.

Brown has seen a massive drop off in his coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, and has allowed wideouts to get behind him with ease. When he is there to make a play on the ball, he has struggled to do so — which we saw against Darius Slayton this week.

Brown is the veteran leader of this cornerback corps and is playing on the final year of his deal. That doesn’t bode well for his chances of returning to Big D in 2023.

Remembering the top 5 Cowboys Thanksgiving performances

Thanksgiving may be over, but it's time to get a blast from the past. Let's look at the top 5 Cowboys Thanksgiving performances in franchise history.