3 winners (and 2 losers) in Cowboys loss to Eagles in Week 9
• Turpin should play over Gallup
• Dak Prescott gave his all in this loss
By Randy Gurzi
Cowboys Dud: Terence Steele
Terence Steele is a great story in the NFL. An undrafted free agent out of Texas Tech, he developed into one of the better offensive linemen in the NFL last season. He was so good that Dallas extended him in the offseason, signing him to a five-year, $86.8 million contract.
The problem is that Dallas signed him to that massive deal before seeing how he would recover from a major knee injury. Steele was lost in Week 14 last year when he tore his ACL and MCL and hasn't looked the same in 2023. What's most frustrating about this decision is how the Cowboys did the same thing last year with Michael Gallup (also coming off an ACL tear) yet didn't learn from their mistake.
This loss stung and while it's hard to put it on any one player, Steele does deserve a lot of the blame. He had no chance against Josh Sweat or Brandon Graham as he gave up the majority of the five sacks Dak Prescott suffered. And as Bob Sturm pointed out, he gave up eight pressures for the second time this year.
Terence Steele allowed an incredible 8 pressures in San Francisco and followed it up with an incredible 8 pressures in Philadelphia. Great story, very good player, but he nowhere close.
— Bob Sturm (@SportsSturm) November 6, 2023
Steele was the one who gave up a sack late in the team's final drive which forced them to try a final pass from the Philadelphia 27. That was just a couple of plays after they had moved to the six-yard line and appeared ready for an upset.