3 Cowboys whose stock is soaring before monster Eagles rematch
By Jerry Trotta
The Dallas Cowboys have won four straight games heading into their all-important rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.
Before the winning streak, the Cowboys had just lost a nail-biter to the Eagles and were mired in a 3-3 stretch that included a blowout loss in primetime against the 49ers and a 28-16 loss vs the Cardinals that could prove costly in the NFC playoff picture and NFC East when the season ends.
Three of Dallas' wins came against lesser competition, but they silenced their haters by beating the Seahawks last week in a Thursday Night Football thriller. The schedule only gets harder from this point, but several players have been catalysts during the Cowboys' four-game winning streak.
Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons have been heroic, but where's the fun in pointing out the obvious? Plenty of other players are deserving of praise.
3. WR Brandin Cooks
Thank goodness we're no longer talking about why Cooks isn't involved in the offense. In the first four games, Cooks caught nine passes for 73 yards. He was largely restricted to go routes to create space for CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup and folks questioned whether he was a fit in the Texas Coast offense.
Whatever flipped a switch in Mike McCarthy, Cooks is finally making the impact fans expected he would when Dallas traded for him in the offseason.
While his yardage has still fluctuated from week to week, Cooks suddenly has five touchdowns in the last seven games. During the four-game win streak, the 10th-year pro has 20 catches for 332 yards and three TDs, culminating in a 9-catch, 173-yard performance with a score against the Giants in Week 10.
It's apparent that Prescott trusts Cooks in big moments. In fact, 27 of Cooks' 37 receptions have produced first downs. His 63.5% receiving success rate is the highest of his career and his 71.% catch rate when targeted is his highest since his rookie year, when he played 10 games.
Cooks is peaking at the perfect time.