After losing to the Baltimore Ravens, the Dallas Cowboys are now 0-2 in the preseason, which isn’t a huge problem. Wins and losses in exhibition games are like points on Whose Line is it Anyway.
What does matter is whether or not the team plays like a solid unit, or struggles. Sadly, through two games, the Cowboys have been on the struggle bus.
They’ve been bullied in the trenches and have been awful in the passing game, which is due largely to Joe Milton III. The projected QB2 hasn’t lived up to expectations, which is one of our five takeaways from Week 2 of the preseason.
Joe Milton won’t be taking Dak Prescott’s job
LeSean McCoy led the charge when Joe Milton was traded to Dallas, saying Dak Prescott needs to “find a realtor because Joe Milton got talent and can play.” That take was bad then and only looks worse after Milton struggled for the second week in a row.
Milton has talent, that’s for sure, but he needs to learn to take some velocity off his throws. Until he learns to put a little touch on the ball, he’s too much of a wild card to start for any team.
The Dallas Cowboys need a nose tackle
Dallas is still trying to give Mazi Smith a chance to live up to his draft status, but they need to face the music. Smith doesn’t seem to fit in Matt Eberflus’ system and wasn’t able to generate much of a push against the run.
Even when Dallas used Smith and rookie Jay Toia on the line together, Baltimore still had success. That should be enough for them to look for some outside help.
James Houston needs to be on the 53-man roster
One of the bright spots on defense this weekend was defensive end James Houston IV. Dallas is deep at the position, but Houston was consistently in the backfield on Saturday.
He’s been a stud since being signed and has earned a spot on this team.
Jonathan Mingo might be better than we thought
Last year, Jerry Jones took a lot of heat for trading for Jonathan Mingo at the deadline. The former second-round pick didn’t do much in 2024 to silence the critics, but he’s been much better during training camp.
He ran one route to get open on a third-down play in the second half, but Milton threw the ball behind him. On the following drive, he hauled in a 49-yard pass after burning his defender and finally getting an accurate pass.
He still has to prove he can get it done in the regular season, but this game was a confidence booster for him.
The offense is a work in progress
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer said the Cowboys would be vanilla in the preseason, but that hasn’t been the case. This offense has lacked any flavor whatsoever.
Starting the game with a safety was fitting as no one picked up the free rusher. The offensive line continued to struggle from there, failing to open up holes in the run game all night.
It wasn’t just the O-line that struggled either. Milton was erratic and Jalen Cropper had a terrible drop in the first half that could have put them in scoring range. Hopefully, putting Prescott under center will make a huge difference, because this offense is rough right now.
