The Cowboys are running out of time to settle some obvious issues, and Sunday night in Green Bay feels like a good place to start. Dallas is 2-3, coming off an ugly loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and now faces back-to-back road tests against the Packers and Eagles. That stretch is going to say plenty about what this team really is.
If the Cowboys want a shot at leaving Lambeau with a win in Week 6, they need to lean harder on a couple of players who have earned more work.
Ameer Speed should be one of them.
Dallas’ secondary has become the biggest problem spot on a defense that has already cratered. Through five games, the Cowboys are last in Dropback EPA at 0.382 and second-worst in the league in NY/A allowed at 7.8.
The cornerback group has been a mess. Daron Bland has been borderline unplayable, while Cobie Durant and Shavon Revel Jr. have been slowed by injuries and uneven play.
Among the corners not named Joey Porter Jr., Speed may be the most reliable option Dallas has right now.
That’s a pretty remarkable place for a player who signed with the Cowboys this summer after spending time with the Houston Gamblers in the UFL. The former sixth-round pick showed enough in camp to crack the 53-man roster, and he has made the most of the chances he’s gotten.
In 34 coverage snaps, Speed has given up only two catches for 28 yards. Over Dallas’ last two games against the Texans and Buccaneers, he has allowed just one reception for eight yards and posted a 65 coverage grade, the best among Cowboys cornerbacks in that span.
That production matters even more this week, because Green Bay has receivers who can change the game in a hurry. Christian Watson and Matthew Golden are both big-play threats, and the Cowboys can’t afford busted coverages against that kind of speed. If Dallas wants to keep the Packers from popping chunk plays, Speed needs to be on the field more often.
The same logic applies up front with Broderick Jones.
Dallas brought in the former first-round pick right before the regular season as insurance, and five games in, the move is starting to look like a necessity rather than a backup plan. Starting right tackle Terence Steele has struggled across the board. His pass-blocking grade is 54.4, his run-blocking grade is 51.8, and he has already given up seven pressures and five hurries.
The run game has suffered most on the right side. Javonte Williams is averaging just 2.58 yards per carry running right, compared with 5.32 yards per carry to the left. Steele’s decline as a run blocker has been a major reason Dallas has had such a hard time creating anything on that side, especially since he had been more effective in that area over the last two seasons.
Jones hasn’t done much in his short NFL career, but Steele has played so poorly that the Cowboys can’t keep waiting for things to turn. At this point, Steele is the weak spot on the offensive line, and giving Jones the job is at least a chance to stabilize the right side.
In Other News...
Jerry Jones Just Added More Fuel To Cowboys Packers Tension
Jerry Jones opened an old wound in the Cowboys-Packers rivalry by revisiting one of his stranger memories from roughly 25 years ago, when a Packers fan reacted to a Dallas win by pressing her bare backside against his car window while his grandchildren were inside. Jones said the moment stuck with him, and he even described the cold as part of the reason the fans skin left a print on the glass. It was the kind of story only Jones could tell with a straight face, and it landed with the same mix of humor and needle that has long surrounded these two franchises.
The timing made it even more pointed, with the Cowboys and Packers already linked by recent roster business, including the trade of Micah Parsons to Green Bay. For Dallas fans, the rivalry has never needed much help finding extra edge, but Jones managed to add another layer just by digging up a bizarre episode from the past. Between the old memory and the present-day connection, the Cowboys- Packers thread feels as active as ever. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys First-Round Miss Looks Even Worse After Mazi Smith Setback
Mazi Smiths rocky NFL path has taken another turn, and it only adds to the regret around Dallas 2023 first-round gamble. Drafted to help shore up a run defense that needed immediate reinforcement, Smith never found a steady footing with the Cowboys, and his departure has only underlined how little impact the pick ultimately produced.
His latest stop ended quickly, too. Smith was released by the Miami Dolphins after time on their practice squad and a single game appearance, leaving him with four NFL games across three teams since leaving Dallas and still no tackle to show for it. For the Cowboys, it is another reminder of how a top investment in the trenches has yet to pay off. [Read more 🡒]
Jerry Jones Is Feeling Heat Over One Cowboys Trade Decision
The Cowboys uneven start on defense has only sharpened the attention on one of Jerry Jones biggest personnel calls of the year. Through the first five weeks, Dallas has had trouble settling in on that side of the ball, and the trade that sent linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers is looking more consequential by the week.
Parsons is injured right now, which has taken some of the immediate heat out of the discussion, but the topic has hardly gone away. A recent report suggested Jones has regrets about making the deal, and that conversation figures to get louder once Parsons is back on the field and the Cowboys are still being judged against what they gave up. [Read more 🡒]