On Sunday night, the Dallas Cowboys squared off against the Minnesota Vikings losing 28-24. The two teams are built identically in theory with good but not great, conservative  coaching, stout defensive play, elite running backs, and limited quarterbacks who thrive utilizing the play-action to spread to the football to their speedy wideouts.

The major difference is Dak Prescott possesses innate leadership skills, which typically galvanizes the Cowboys, while Kurt Cousins seems two errant throws from losing all confidence. During Sunday’s game, this difference made no difference at all.

Predictably, the bout was a competitive despite Dallas’ early 14-point deficit. Prescott did what Prescott does. He remained calm, championed his club after Dallas’ slow start, and engineered two drives to tie the game, 14-14, late in the first half. Prescott threw for 397 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Unpredictably, Cousins, who typically struggles against playoff caliber teams on primetime, gave the football world 84 million reasons why the Vikings should be feared moving forward. His stats weren’t huge; Cousins threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns. He played within himself and the Vikings’ identity and most importantly, did not turnover the ball.

For the Vikings, Cousins doesn’t appear to be the team’s weak link. This could change as the season proceeds, but for now, Cousins deserves a lot credit for working through his early season woes. Minnesota is good-to-great at every unit. There aren’t many NFL rosters more talented than this Viking’s roster.

The Cowboys, who are tied for first place in the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles, are now 5-4. There are numerous questions surrounding the Cowboys and none more important than this one: Can the Cowboys defeat formidable football teams?

The second half schedule is grueling and its increasingly difficult to determine how good or bad the Cowboys actually are.

This season they’ve defeated the tanking Miami Dolphins, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the used-to-be-football Giants twice, and the Jekyll and Hyde Philadelphia Eagles.

Besides the New York Jets debacle, Dallas’ losses are all against playoff bound teams. What a tough loss for Dallas.

Here is the stock report for Week 9.

Stock Up: Amari Cooper

Cooper doesn’t get enough credit for how great he is. Every week, he produces for the Cowboys by creating the needed separation from cornerbacks for catches. Maybe it’s his quiet personality and the fact his playing style is antic-free and rarely flashy.

It’s almost Kawhi Leonard-esque in how he operates on the football field.

The Pro Bowl receiver lines up, beats the cornerback with precise route running, catches the football, then repeats the process the next down. It feels machine-like.

During Sunday’s night game, Cooper snagged three spectacular, nearly impossible catches as if it was routine. He finished with 11 catches for 147 yards and one touchdown. His biggest contribution remains masking one of Prescott’s weakness: Prescott’s inability to throw wide receivers open.

Cooper doesn’t need to be thrown open because he’s the NFL’s 7-Eleven. As the schedule becomes tougher, Dallas should rely heavy on Cooper. Teams like the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and New England Patriots all play a lot of man coverage. The Cowboys must exploit any mismatches.

Stock Up: Randall Cobb

The wide receiver corp was once-upon-a-time a weakness for Dallas. This group is revamped and now a strength for the team. The wide receivers for Dallas could do no wrong, partially because Prescott bought extra time with his movement in the pocket, and mostly because the corp did an excellent job getting open. Cooper’s huge game overshadowed Cobb’s play.

Cobb is the perfect fit. He’s tough, gritty, plays in the slot or on the outside, and catches the ball are all levels. Underneath, screen plays, deep-balls, and intermediate levels; you name it and Cobb can do it, plus his yards after catch is always impressive. Cobb, a former Green Bay Packer, finished with six catches for 106 yards and one touchdown.

Stock Down: Dallas’ Coaching Staff

Dallas’ slow start are a bad habit. Last week after a bye the Cowboys started flat. Against the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers, similarly, it was a slow start. Typically, the first 15 to 20 plays are scripted based on the film’s advantages and disadvantages a coaching staff feels they can capitalize. Its head scratching to see the Cowboys struggle so early in games. Is it the player’s failure to execute? Or the coaches’ failure in preparing the players to execute?

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s play-calling was excellent, for most of the game. It’s hard to determine if it’s his play-calling contributing to Dallas’ slow start. He’s normally committed to establishing Ezekiel Elliott, and play acting so Prescott can spread the ball around.

The Vikings’ game plan centered around limiting Elliott and begging Prescott to beat them with his arm. Though Prescott can carry the load, the team is much better when Elliott has it going as well.

Throughout the game, Moore  and the coaching staff should have found more creative ways to establish the presence of Elliott. Before the game, if someone told the Cowboys Elliott would rush for 20 carries for 47 yards, they all would probably agree it wouldn’t fare well for the Cowboys and that’s exactly what occurred.

Lastly, the last three meaningful plays for the Cowboys were mind-boggling. Elliott struggled throughout the game, and now the play calls are all for Elliott. The timing felt wrong and counterintuitive to the game’s flow. Why not see if Prescott can win the game with his arm or legs? Why not get the ball to Cooper or Cobb in space?

2nd-and-2, a Prescott-Elliott option. Elliott gains zero yards. 3rd-and-2 an Elliott hand-off. Lost of three yards. 4th-and-5, a pass target to Elliot for the first down. The pass is deflected by Eric Kendricks. Game over.

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