Dallas Cowboys continue on track to top draft pick after loss to Ravens
If you thought that the Dallas Cowboys win over the Minnesota Vikings in week 13 was a sign of things turning around, you have sadly been mistaken. Since knocking off the Vikings on the road, the Cowboys have turned into embarrassing performances in back to back weeks. In week 12, on Thanksgiving Day nonetheless, the […]
If you thought that the Dallas Cowboys win over the Minnesota Vikings in week 13 was a sign of things turning around, you have sadly been mistaken.
Since knocking off the Vikings on the road, the Cowboys have turned into embarrassing performances in back to back weeks. In week 12, on Thanksgiving Day nonetheless, the Cowboys were blown out by the Washington Football Team by a score of 41 to 16 in front of a national audience.
Dallas followed that performance up with another lousy effort in a prime time game. The Cowboys looked like a junior varsity team playing against the varsity squad when the Baltimore Ravens knocked off Dallas 34 to 17 on Tuesday night.
There was a common theme in both games: pathetic run defense.
In each of the past two weeks, the Dallas Cowboys' run defense struggles have been exposed greatly. Already ranking dead last across the league in stopping the run, the Cowboys have reached new lows in that department.
First, rookie Antonio Gibson averaged over five yards per carry while totaling 115 yards on the ground and finding the end zone on three separate occasions for the Football Team. The first-year back out of Memphis became the first rookie to record three touchdowns in a Thanksgiving Day game since Randy Moss did so in 1998. Oddly enough, both performances came against — you guessed it — the Dallas Cowboys.
Then in week 13, the Cowboys seemingly forgot how to play run defense. The quartet of Lamar Jackson, Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, and Mark Ingram combined for a whopping 294 (!) yards on the ground. Jackson and Dobbins each hit pay dirt, and there was nothing the Cowboys were able to do to slow them down.
A top-5 draft pick seems all but locked in now.
With the loss in week 13, the Dallas Cowboys now sit with a record of 3-9 and are in dead last in the worst division in all of football. Therefore, you can almost right a top-5 draft pick in ink for America's Team.
That is really the only bright spot that you can take away from Tuesday night's debacle — and the season as a whole. The Cowboys will have the ability to either draft the top available player on their big board or potentially trade their draft pick to a quarterback-needy team for more draft compensation.
The second option is probably more attractive as it sits right now simply because of all of the needs that this team needs to address. Dallas needs to have an overhaul on the defensive side of the ball while it would not be a bad to idea to address the offensive line with Tyron Smith aging and both Zack Martin and La'el Collins also coming off injury.
As bad of a season the Dallas Cowboys have had in 2020, fans can start to look forward to the 2021 NFL Draft and which prospects could potentially wear the iconic Star next season.
Featured image via Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
