WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY: Cowboys Nuggets

Welcome to WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY. After falling inches short of a win in Philadelphia, the Dallas Cowboys (5-3) come home to AT&T Stadium, where they have won 11 straight, to take on the New York Giants (2-7) on Sunday afternoon. Here are some thoughts (1,500+ words worth) on the offensive line, opening drives, Aubrey’s streak, this week’s opponent and more. Let’s get to it.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE OFFENSIVE LINE?

The Cowboys got a boost from the return of left tackle Tyron Smith on Sunday.

He and left guard Tyler Smith held their own against the right side of the Philadelphia defensive line.

Tyron Smith, who didn’t allow a sack or commit a penalty, and Tyler Smith, who didn’t allow a sack and committed just one penalty, kept a group that included Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, Fletcher Cox, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter and Hassan Reddick.

“That’s the Tyron Smith I remember,” McCarthy said. “That’s the best game I’ve seen Tyron play since I’ve been here.

“I thought our left side, as a whole, was the best game they played. So, both Tyron and Tyler rated out very well.”

The same could not be said for the other side of the line, where right tackle Terence Steele, who is just eight games into a comeback from a major knee injury that cost him the final xx games last season, had a rough afternoon.

“Anytime a player has a major joint injury, the first year back is always a challenge,” McCarthy said. “I don’t really want to get into specifics, but there are things that he has to continue to work on because of the injury, the surgery and things like that. He’s working through it. He won’t make any excuses, but that’s part of coming back that first year because it’s a first for everything.”

Steele allowed 12 pressures and multiple sacks despite help from right guard Zack Martin, running back Tony Pollard and tight ends Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker in different situations.

“Was it his best game,” McCarthy asked about Steele’s performance Sunday against the Eagles? “We’ve looked at it. He’s looked at it, and he’ll definitely learn from it. He’s still fighting back from the injury.”

WHAT’S UP WITH THE OPENING DRIVES?

In the first three seasons under head coach Mike McCarthy the Cowboys were a faster starter than their opponents. That has flipped around in 2023.

Over the first eight games, the Cowboys have scored points on their opening drives in just four of them – two field goals and two touchdowns. They have allowed first-drive points in six of the games – three field goals and three touchdowns. That includes a touchdown in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, where the Eagles kept the drive alive behind successful third- and fourth-down plays.

“We’ve got work to do,” Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said. “I certainly was aware of that going in, that they were strong right off the bat. But to give up a third down, a couple of them, in that opening drive that’s what I was referring too about that being a disappointment, because that’s really one of our strong points. That stunk.”

The six opening drive touchdowns the Cowboys defense has given up is just one less than they gave up in Quinn’s first season in charge and they have matched what they gave up all last season.

The offense is on pace to equal the eight opening drive scores they had last season.

“We take time on Friday to focus on the beginning of the game,” McCarthy said. “Really Friday, the primary situational things that we do on Fridays is the start of the game and the end of the game. So, that’s built into our mock game. It’s built into the presentations in both offense and defense. We just have to continue to work on it.”

In the 58 games since McCarthy took over in 2020, the Cowboys have scored on 24 opening drives and given up scores on 24 opening drives.

WHAT’S UP WITH LAMB’S HOT STREAK?

Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is on the best streak of games in his career.

If not for the seasons Tyrek Hill and A.J. Brown are having, Lamb would be the talk of the NFL.

Over his last three games, Lamb has caught 30 of 37 targets for 466 yards and two touchdowns.

“Obviously, he is an extremely gifted athlete, but I just love his tenacity for the football,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said. “He goes, he excels to go get the football. His yards after the catch, I think, is primo. You tend to forget he was a punt returner for us in his rookie year. He’s complete. He’s got excellent catching radius. He’s got excellent hands, the ability to get in and out of breaks. He can get on top of vertical routes. So, he’s playing extremely well right now.”

Lamb has 57 catches on 72 targets for 824 yards and three touchdowns this season. His 103 yards per game average this season is behind only Hill (119.6), Brown (111.7) and an injured Justin Jefferson (114.2).

Lamb has gotten better every season. After putting up 935 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie in 2020, he followed that up with 1,102 yards and six touchdowns in 2021 and 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

“It’s something that has been building,” McCarthy said. “If you look at his path from his rookie year, and then really starting last year with being the No. 1. Just like anything, you have to look at the connection between the receivers, and all the perimeter players, and the quarterback. That’s growing more and more.”

Now, in their fourth seasons together, quarterback Dak Prescott and Lamb have developed a go-to relationship. Lamb is not only the No. 1 receiver, but he is also Prescott’s security blanket, who can make all the catches.

The two have never been more connected on the field, where Lamb is currently on pace to finish with six touchdowns and 1,751 yards, which would be the best season by a pass catcher in Cowboys history.

WHAT’S UP WITH ANOTHER RECORD SETTING DAY?

Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey set an NFL record when he knocked a 51-yard field goal through the uprights at Lincoln Financial Field.

The record-setting field goal capped off a nine-play, 42-yard drive and allowed the Cowboys to hold to halftime lead.

It was his 19th straight make to start his NFL career, which breaks the record set by Travis Coons in 2015. The kick was right down the middle.

But Aubrey was shaky early in the game on his first extra-point try, knocking it off the left upright and past the cross bar for a successful try.

Then after taking a 14-7 lead in the second quarter, Aubrey knocked his kickoff out of bounds at the Philadelphia 2. That errant kick allowed the Eagles to start the drive on their own 40, and 11 plays later the game was tied at 14.

WHAT’S UP WITH MICAH?

Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons is dominating blockers at a league leading level.

The Cowboys defender leads the NFL in pass rush win rate at 33-percent, including 29-percent against a double team.

That means that every third snap he is beating his blocker, or blockers, in under 2.5 seconds, which has led to 23 quarterback pressures and 7.5 sacks this season.

For his career, Parsons has 206 QB pressures and 34 sacks.

WHAT’S UP ON HOME TURF?

It only took 15 years, but the Cowboys have finally turned AT&T Stadium into a homefield advantage.

Since the arrival of Mike McCarthy in 2020, the Cowboys are 20-8 at home, including a current run of 11 consecutive wins dating back to a Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay last season.

The Cowboys have a chance to make it 12-straight wins at home, and put the loss in Philadelphia behind them, with games against the Giants (2-7), this Sunday, and Commanders (4-5) at home over the next three weeks.

“We love playing at home,” McCarthy said. “We’ve played very well at home. ... It’s important for us to get back into the win column and keep that homefield advantage going.”

NEXT OPPONENT: WHAT’S UP WITH THE N.Y. GIANTS?

The New York Giants seasons is teetering on the brink of disaster.

Starting quarterback Daniel Jones is out the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor is out with an injured rib cage. So, the Cowboys will see Tommy DeVito at the quarterback position for the Giants on Sunday.

The rookie quarterback has thrown 27 passes, completed 17 of them for 174 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

He will rely heavily on running back Saquon Barkley to help make the offense go. If Barkley is shut down again by the Cowboys defense, then it will be a long day for the Giants offense.

Linebacker Bobby Okereke (80 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, one interception and two forced fumbles) is the leader of the Giants defense, but it is Micah McFadden (54 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 7 tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries) that led the team in tackles with 10 when the teams met in Week 1.

But the Giants defense is giving up 24.1 points per game this season, the offense is dead last in yards gained (268.9) and points scored (11.8) per game and they are down to a third-string quarterback with 92 snaps of experience in his career.

The Cowboys hung 40 points on the Giants in the season opener, and the teams have only trended in opposite directions since.

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PRESCOTT HAS OFFENSE ON A ROLL

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Lamb Doing It All In Big D