The Cowboys are heading into Sunday Night Football in Week 6 with plenty to clean up, and DaRon Bland is right in the middle of it. Dallas just took an embarrassing loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while the Packers come in riding a two-game win streak, and this trip to Green Bay puts the spotlight squarely on a secondary that has been leaking badly.
Bland has taken a ton of heat, locally and nationally, for his play in 2026, and the numbers back up the criticism. Through five games, he has allowed 19 catches on 27 targets for 243 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
In each of the last two weeks, he’s given up at least five receptions and more than 80 yards. According to PFF, Bland owns a 45.3 overall grade, which ranks 92nd out of 104 graded cornerbacks, along with a 45.0 coverage grade that also sits 92nd among 104.
Those grades don’t tell the whole story, but they line up with what’s showing up on tape.
That’s a far cry from the version of Bland Dallas thought it was getting when it handed him a $92 million extension. He has always been a corner who can surrender yards, but earlier in his Cowboys run he made it pay off by creating turnovers.
In 2023, he led the NFL with nine interceptions and five pick-sixes. As a rookie in 2022, he added five more picks.
Since then, though, he has one interception over the last three years. Against Tampa Bay last week, he nearly had another takeaway in the fourth quarter, but the ball slipped through his hands - a chance that could have turned into a touchdown the other way.
The challenge only gets steeper against Green Bay. Jordan Love just picked apart the Bears downfield, and the Packers are leaning into a pass-first identity in 2026 because of their shaky offensive line and run game.
According to Next Gen Stats, Love completed 6 of 8 deep passes, defined as throws of 20-plus air yards, for a career-best 258 yards and two touchdowns. He also hooked up with Christian Watson on two touchdowns of 40-plus yards, while Mathew Golden added six catches for 123 yards, good for 20.5 yards per reception.
That kind of vertical attack is exactly the sort of thing that can expose Dallas if its corners don’t hold up. Green Bay is likely to test Bland, and with Love playing like a gunslinger, there should be chances for the Cowboys to flip the script and grab the ball. But if Dallas wants a real shot at winning, it can’t afford another game where the dam breaks in the secondary.
That’s why Bland matters so much here. The Cowboys need the player who was making game-changing plays in 2022 and 2023, not the one who has been overwhelmed this season. If Dallas is going to get the win it badly needs, Bland may have to turn the clock back in a hurry.
In Other News...
Troy Aikmans ESPN Future Suddenly Feels Much Less Certain
Troy Aikman has at least clarified one part of the picture around his ESPN future: he plans to keep broadcasting through the current season before becoming a free agent. The Hall of Fame quarterback addressed the chatter during a radio interview, where he was asked about rumors of tension with Joe Buck and the uncertainty surrounding the networks top booth.
Aikman did not get into specifics about any reported friction, and he made clear he is not sure what comes next after this season. For Cowboys fans who still follow one of the most prominent voices linked to the franchises past, the bigger story now is not what he said about the rumors so much as how open-ended his broadcasting path has become. [Read more 🡒]
Jerry Jones Is Running Out Of Time To Seize The NFC East
Five weeks into the 2026 season, the NFC East looks wide open, and that creates both opportunity and pressure for the Cowboys. With no clear class of the division emerging from Dallas, Philadelphia, New York or Washington, Jerry Jones still has room to keep shaping the roster after adding cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and bringing in coach Mike Pettine, moves that suggest the front office is not treating this stretch like a finished product.
Dallas still has salary cap space and draft picks to work with, which means there is time to make another swing if Jones decides the roster needs it. The bigger question now is whether the Cowboys can turn all that flexibility into wins before the division slips away, especially with speculation already building around Brian Schottenheimers future depending on how this season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Linked To Shedeur Sanders In Trade Buzz That Raises Questions
Shedeur Sanders decision to hire Adie von Gontard of Young Money APAA Sports has only added to the chatter around the Browns quarterback as the NFL trade deadline approaches. Any move would naturally draw attention, and in this case Dallas got pulled into the conversation because it is Dallas, where every quarterback rumor seems to land with extra weight.
CBS Sports John Breech was among those to float the Cowboys as a possible fit, citing Jerry Jones long-standing connection with Deion Sanders as part of the logic. Even so, the football case for a deal is thin right now, since the Cowboys already have established backup quarterbacks and no obvious need to chase another arm, which makes the speculation interesting more for the name recognition than for the odds of an actual trade. [Read more 🡒]