The Dallas Cowboys head into a Week 7 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football with no shortage of storylines. Some of them deserve your attention. Others don’t hold up once you turn on the film.

After a rough showing against the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys’ rookie safety, new cornerback, pass rush, and offense are all under the microscope. So I’m going through the biggest Cowboys narratives of the week and telling you whether I’m buying or selling them.

Selling: The Caleb Downs concerns

First-round rookie Caleb Downs has drawn the ire of Cowboys fans and media members after Green Bay targeted him often, and successfully, in the nickel. I’m selling on the worries.

Let’s be fair to the rookie here. Downs is playing 98% of the defensive snaps on the worst defense in the NFL, and that defense offers him close to no support. It struggles against pretty much everything you throw its way.

We always knew Downs would face a learning curve in coverage playing out of the nickel and would need help from the pieces around him. Is he getting that help? I don’t think so. Coverage has been one of the weakest areas of the Cowboys’ linebacker play, and as a nickel defender, Downs is supposed to have help inside or over the top. On a lot of these plays, it’s basically up to him to make a play.

He’s also been asked to play safety, nickel, and a little bit of everything in between. That is a tough spot to win from. 

Downs was never supposed to be the superhero who saves the worst-ranked defense in the NFL by himself. He was supposed to be a game-changing piece on an improved unit. He’ll be fine and far from my top concern on defense.

 Additionally, he’s a very good run defender, and it shows up consistently on film. He’s one of the reasons Dallas is improving against the run, posting a negative EPA per play on the ground in four of the first six weeks. Believe it or not, that’s a better start than you might expect.

The bigger issues are coming against the pass.

Buying: The Joey Porter Jr. hype

The Cowboys nailed that trade. I’m buying.

Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is looking like a game changer, and we’ve only seen him play about a game and a half. Even the full game against Green Bay wasn’t really a full game. He kept rotating on and off the field after rolling an ankle that had already bothered him leading up to kickoff.

He wasn’t at 100%, and he still allowed no receptions on several targets thrown his way. He’s up to 44 coverage snaps, four targets, and no catches allowed this season, per Sumer Sports. 

You see exactly what was advertised on film. Porter is sticky in coverage. He ran stride for stride with Christian Watson and Matthew Golden on Sunday Night Football, and at times he even shadowed receivers. He’s becoming the boundary eraser Dallas wanted.

What’s next? Finding him a running mate. Whether that’s DaRon Bland settling down, Shavon Revel Jr. earning more playing time, or Cobie Durant returning from injury, the Cowboys need to get the opposite cornerback spot right. Right now, there are so many vulnerabilities in the secondary that it barely matters whether you have a good cornerback or not.

Selling: The Cowboys’ pressure numbers

Rashan Gary recorded nine pressures against the Packers, per Next Gen Stats. Early in the season, Donovan Ezeiruaku’s pressure rate and pass rush win rate looked above average, too.

I’m not buying it. I’m not seeing quarterbacks under duress on film. You can record pressures, but are you getting your hands on the quarterback? Are you hitting him? Are you getting sacks?

So far, the answer is a blatant no. The Cowboys are giving up the seventh-highest time to throw in the league. They’re 29th in sack rate. Dallas had three sacks against Green Bay, and none of it felt like it impacted the game. The pressure remains mediocre, and the Cowboys should be doing so much more with the numbers they’re posting.

Buying: The coaching staff is doing a disservice to the offense

To be fair, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Quarterback Dak Prescott crumbled against the blitz for the second consecutive week, and as an 11-year veteran, some of that is on him. The offensive line failed to pick up stunts and blitzes. Tight end Jake Ferguson has had his own wrongdoings, and some have pointed out effort concerns with wide receiver George Pickens.

Even so, I’m placing most of the blame on the coaching staff.

Prescott has a reputation for punishing the blitz. Right now, his offense looks overwhelmed and predictable against it. The Packers consistently showed seven players at the line of scrimmage, forcing the Cowboys to guess who was coming. That left the middle of the field wide open, and Dallas kept running outside routes.

I’m looking at Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer and wondering how there was no answer to that. On top of that, the Cowboys abandoned the run and never got under center to deter the blitz. They simply had nothing to go to.

Selling: George Pickens falling off

Lastly, I’m selling the idea that Pickens can’t reach his 2025 level. That’s a coaching issue more than a player issue. Dallas is misusing him and should put him in motion and move him around more.

So far, the Cowboys are lining him up out wide at a higher rate than last year. They also target him as the isolated WR 67% of the time (up from 57% last year!). They promised they would move him around more and that simply hasn’t been true. 

Schottenheimer even admitted as much in a press conference. Now the coaches have to act on it against Philadelphia and beyond. Pickens’ energy is contagious on gameday and they should find more ways to scheme him into the game plan instead of just expecting him to win his one-on-one matchups.