Noah Igbinoghene scored the Cowboys’ first points of the season. Markquese Bell led the team in tackles on opening night in primetime. KaVontae Turpin rolled the scoreboard over to a fortyburger.
Not exactly household names to the casual Sunday Night Football viewer who tuned in hoping to see fantasy-type numbers from the likes of Prescott, Pollard, and Lamb. But the contribution of the team’s lesser-known players may turn out to be the key to getting the whole squad- superstars and all- over the hump in 2023.
They sure were in Week 1.
“We had a number of young guys who played big,” McCarthy told reporters in his postgame press conference. “I’m just really thrilled to see our young guys. They’re ready, and you can see it here, just in our first game. I thought we had a lot of production from our young players.”
None made a bigger splash than safety Juanyeh Thomas, whose blocked field goal not only ended the Giants’ opening possession but put the live ball on the turf, where the aforementioned Igbinoghene scooped it up and raced toward the end zone, 58 yards away.
COWBOYS BLOCK THE FIELD GOAL FOR A TOUCHDOWN! #DallasCowboys
đź“ş: @NBC and @Peacock pic.twitter.com/ZW5BOveUB8
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 11, 2023
Thomas also provided a key block on New York kicker Graham Gano, sending him under the wheels of holder Jamie Gillan and ultimately freeing Igbinoghene to score.
Incredibly, the undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who spent the 2022 season on the Dallas practice squad said he had a feeling he’d have the chance to do something special in front of a nationwide audience.
“[Special teams ace] CJ Goodwin told me before the game that it was going to be open,” Thomas explained to reporters when asked about his first batted kick since high school. “So as soon as I saw it, I jumped right through and just blocked it.”
It was a massive play to start the game, triggering a Dallas avalanche that quickly turned into a blowout and ended with the biggest shutout win in Cowboys franchise history.
“It was definitely huge for us,” DeMarcus Lawrence agreed following the 40-0 victory. “I feel like their offense came out strong, they were driving the ball real well. Once we got that turnover, it feels like we shut the lights out on them.”
The big moment- and a strong performance the rest of the night- may have shined a new light on Thomas, a 23-year-old Florida native who is looking to make an impact among a talented group of Cowboys defensive backs.
“Juanyeh came in this camp, really balled out during camp, all preseason. And now he’s coming in and making big plays for this team,” linebacker Micah Parsons said at his locker. “The more he keeps growing, the more he’s going to keep making a name for himself.”
Thomas got the start Sunday due to the absence of Donovan Wilson, who is nursing a calf injury. But Parsons says Thomas and the rest of the Cowboys’ newer players have readily adopted the next-man-up mentality that they know could put any of them on the field at any moment, where they’ll be expected to show out just like a starter.
[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]
“That’s the standard,” Parsons explained, “I think since I came in, there was no dropoff. We were like, ‘We need guys to come in and compete.’ And we all share our wisdom, push each other to get better. We stay on each other, whether you’re a first-year guy, a 10-year guy, a fifth-year guy; it doesn’t matter. I think everyone has the same standard and the same commitment.”
And the veterans definitely notice when the pups show they have the bite to match their bark.
“That’s a bunch of dogs,” safety Jayron Kearse said. “There’s really not much to say about it. It’s just a bunch of dogs. You see it on film. When you turn the tape on, from the top to the bottom, we’ve got guys that are going to get after it. I’m proud of my young guys.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
[mm-video type=video id=01h923tr1qgjt0rsrc4k playlist_id=01eqbwens7sctqdrqg player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01h923tr1qgjt0rsrc4k/01h923tr1qgjt0rsrc4k-406c6e9410b56678f55e3a11d6b4110c.jpg]
[lawrence-newsletter]