ARLINGTON — The Cowboys’ most mysterious offseason received no unveiling Saturday afternoon when the Los Angeles Chargers‘ backups and future cuts beat the local version, 26-19, at AT&T Stadium. In fact, it all just grew more mysterious.
First of all, what’s with the afternoon kickoff? The last home afternoon preseason game in my memory is ... never. Of much greater importance was the news reported about 90 minutes before kickoff that Pro Bowl cornerback Daron Bland, who set an NFL record with five touchdowns on interception returns in 2023, is out six to eight weeks with a foot injury.
As dismal as most of the news has been around the Cowboys the last six months — free-agency defections, no CeeDee Lamb in camp, no realistic hope of a valid running attack, seemingly everyone from the head coach to the quarterback under the gun on the final season of contracts — the loss of a quality cornerback (last year’s other starter Stephon Gilmore is now a Viking) could be enormous. I’ll stop short of going where my colleague Ed Werder did when we were covering the legendary 1989 Cowboys. After rookie Troy Aikman was injured in Week 4 as Jimmy Johnson’s first squad fell to 0-4, Ed wrote that “at this pace, Aikman is expected to miss four to six defeats.’’
Ed wasn’t wrong about the pace although the Cowboys did sneak in their only win during a 1-15 season in Washington while Aikman was out. This team is nothing like the ‘89 squad, but it’s not much like the 2023 squad, either. If Bland makes it back against Detroit for Week 6, I‘ll say he’s joining a team trying not to slide to 2-4 after losses to the Browns, Ravens and Steelers. Regardless of how it plays out, you can’t ignore that the Cowboys have no margin for error at numerous positions and their best player hasn’t practiced a single down with the club since January. It’s hard to recall a Cowboys team coming off a playoff season (brief as it was) that generates so little positive buzz.
There’s little to make of the Cowboys’ only home preseason game other than to say the deep backups on defense gave up a 70-yard end-around to TCU-ex Derius Davis on the Chargers’ first play from scrimmage and a 78-yard touchdown to former Cowboys receiver Simi Fehoko. Otherwise, the defense against Easton Stick was all right.
The silver lining of Saturday’s game was about to be Trey Lance, who finally provided those “Oh, THAT’S why Shanahan drafted him third’’ moments even while throwing two interceptions. He had rallied Dallas from a 17-3 deficit to 20-19. Then Lance threw his third interception with 4:24 to play and it was returned for a touchdown. Then he threw his fourth interception with 2:24 to play.
Then he threw his fifth into the Chargers’ end zone with no time left on the clock. So after losing to the Rams when they were plus-4 in turnovers, the Cowboys nearly beat (or at least tied) the Chargers when they were a minus-5.
“Trey, gosh, he’s just an ascending talent, loves to be coached,’’ head coach Mike McCarthey said. “He just needs to play. I wish we had three more preseason games.’’
Heaven forbid, Lance might set a league record. He already threw for more picks Saturday than Dak Prescott did his rookie season. With 323 yards passing and 90 rushing, it’s still hard to imagine Lance elevated his draft status enough to get the Cowboys a second-day pick (like the one they dealt the 49ers) before this season’s deadline.
Deuce Vaughn looked good in moments (as he did last August) but we’re talking about the Cowboys’ third or fourth option at running back. That’s not to say any of those ahead of him seem capable of being described as running threats. During a pre-game sampling of the Cowboys’ press box food with other experts, we were debating whether the team’s lead back will rush for 600 yards this season. Considering that Ezekiel Elliott averaged 3.8 yards per carry in his last year with Dallas and 3.5 in New England in 2023, if he remains their best option, 600 yards will take a lot of carries. Same goes for Royce Freeman if he makes it (50-50 at best) and Rico Dowdle still has very few touches for a guy entering his fifth pro season.
The guessing game goes on. No one with any pedigree played a down for Dallas this preseason as was the case for many other teams although about half at least allow their quarterback to run a series or two. So what happens in Cleveland in two weeks?
A sure bet is it won’t be 40-0 like last year’s opener against the hapless Giants in New York.
“The biggest thing is [trying to find] the continuity between who’s actually playing in Week 1. I’ve done it both ways, and the ability to have your starters healthy clearly overrides the old way, especially in a 17-game season,’’ McCarthy said. “With that, you‘ve got to get it done in practice.’’
And, at some point, Lamb has to be part of those practices. He has zero leverage to do more than wait until the last few days to come to camp, but for a team that can’t get past the .500 mark this season without Lamb being great, it’s all up in the air. Much like those Trey Lance passes which were caught by (possible record?) 20 different players Saturday afternoon — 16 of them even played for the Cowboys.
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