Tag: 2022 Week 13

Cowboys starting CB taken to locker room on cart vs Colts

The Dallas cornerback room suffered another hit after Anthony Brown carted off the sideline with an ankle injury. | From @CDBurnett7

The Cowboys cornerback room beyond Trevon Diggs has been a worry throughout the season. This became even more of a focus once slot corner Jourdan Lewis went down with a season-ending injury early in the season. Since then, DaRon Bland stepped into the nickel role and is finding form as the year goes along.

Meanwhile the starting boundary corner opposite Diggs, Anthony Brown, hasn’t been perfect by any means, but his role is paramount. Late in the third quarter in their Week 13 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Brown left the game and went into the medical tent. When he emerged it was to be carted off the sideline and into the locker room. It appears he suffered a serious ankle injury.

Kelvin Joseph entered the contest in relief of Brown and was subsequently beaten for a touchdown by rookie Alec Pierce. Pierce beat Brown earlier in the game for a big play to set up Indy’s first score. With such a thin cornerback room, opposing offenses will continue to target the odd man out and the severity of Brown’s injury looms large in this game and beyond.

Hooker INT leads to Gallup redemption TD, Cowboys lead Colts 21-13 at half

A subpar first half outing ended perfectly with a timely interception creating a short field for a touchdown, extending the Dallas lead. | From @CDBurnett7

The Cowboys had a subpar first half until a gift came from Colts quarterback Matt Ryan. Cornerback Anthony Brown made up for his struggles early in the game, pressuring Alec Pierce, which led to a tip-drill interception by safety Malik Hooker. The 26-yard return gave the Dallas offense an extremely short field at the Indianapolis 26-yard line.

With 55 seconds and three timeouts, things looked promising until a 3rd-and-9 at the Colts 13-yard line. Even with the tough yardage, quarterback Dak Prescott continued his stellar play on third down this season, finding wide receiver Michael Gallup streaking across the middle for the touchdown.

While the first half hasn’t been pretty, the timely takeaway and score gives the Cowboys a 21-13 lead heading into the break. Indianapolis has mustered 141 yards in the first half compared to 208 from Dallas. The Colts will receive to start the second half with an eight-point deficit.

WATCH: Pollard caps off quick TD drive to give Cowboys lead

The Cowboys capitalized on a short field with two chunk plays, followed by a touchdown run from Pollard to take the lead. | From @CDBurnett7

The Dallas offense has gone back-and-forth on offense. The game started with a punt before the touchdown on the next drive and that mantra stuck on the following Cowboys possessions.

Following the sack by safety Donovan Wilson, Dallas set up shop at their own 44-yard line and running back Tony Pollard kicked the drive off with a 17-yard run. Three plays later, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb continued his impressive night and recent hot-streak with a 22-yard gain to move the Cowboys into the red zone. Pollard made it look easy with a two-yard score, retaking the lead in a drive the lasted under three minutes.

Pollard’s score is his ninth of the year, a number far exceeding his career-high. Dallas has been inconsistent on offense in this game, but continued success will force Matt Ryan into a panic with Dan Quinn’s pass rush.

WATCH: Cowboys’ Lamb pirouettes off tackle, strolls in for TD

What appeared as a third down stop turned into a Dallas score when the star receiver spun off a tackle for a 20-yard score. | From @CDBurnett7

The Cowboys offense started the game with a three-and-out then spotted the Colts a field goal due to a fair catch interference penalty by cornerback Kelvin Joseph. Slow starts have plagued Dallas, but quarterback Dak Prescott got rolling after the first drive.

Quick throws to running back Tony Pollard and tight end Dalton Schultz for first downs sparked the Cowboys into Indianapolis territory, then the run game got to work. Ezekiel Elliott ran the ball four straight times, including a fourth-down conversion as the fullback on the play.

On third down in the red zone, Prescott delivered a pass short to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and he was dragged down short of the line to gain, but he showed impressive balance to keep his body off of the turf and spun off the defender, high-stepping into the endzone with confused Colts defenders watching.

The third-down success continues since Prescott’s return and Lamb has tied season touchdown total from 2021 with six. With the score, Dallas takes a 7-3 lead in AT&T Stadium.

 

Diggs, Gallup good to go as Cowboys-Colts announce Week 13 inactives

Dallas comes off an extended break against the Colts, welcoming back Anthony Barr after a four-week absence. | From @CDBurnett7

After playing three games in 12 days while dealing with illness around the locker room, the Cowboys got an a extra few days of rest heading into their matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. This set Dallas up to be as close to 100% as they’ve been all season.

During the week, wide receiver Michael Gallup and cornerback Trevon Diggs did not practice until Friday. due to illness. Both players are good to go on Sunday night, however. In addition, linebacker Anthony Barr had missed the last three games with a hamstring injury but he is making his return against a strong Indianapolis running game. Here’s a look at the teams’ inactive lists for Week 13.

Defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna is inactive with a knee injury, keeping Johnathan Hankins as the main run-stopper for another week. Coming off an extended break, take a look at the inactives for Cowboys-Colts on Sunday Night Football.

Week 13 might be most important slate for Cowboys’ chances at NFC No. 1 seed

If the Cowboys can tie Philly in the standings, more than likely they will win the division and the conference. Here’s why, and a Week 13 rooting guide. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys are hot, forging their way to the top of the NFC point differential totem. Net point differential is one of the leading indicators of actual team strength. Winning is winning, but being able to dominate opponents is the mark of a great team. Being able to dominate really good teams is the mark of a potential champion.

Of all the teams in the NFC, Dallas has faced more teams currently in playoff positioning than any other (7), won more than any other (5) and by a two-game margin in each. Yet still, they find themselves two games out of a bye-week slot in the playoffs; the No. 1 seed.

Since the NFL has added the seventh playoff seed in each conference in 2020, the NFC has been represented by a team that played opening playoff weekend. Still, earning a bye is still the goal even if it’s not the impediment it once was. Dallas wants to catch Philadelphia, and Minnesota for that matter, and to do so must make up ground.

Week 13’s slate of action appears to be the best opportunity to do so, as there are tough matchups abound for their chief competition.

Stat Preview: Cowboys’ dominance over Colts will need to translate off paper

Trying to find a metric where the Colts have an advantage is an exercise in futility but there are a few categories they hold the edge. | From @ProfessorO_NFL

The Dallas Cowboys (8-3) are coming off a long rest after playing three games in 12 days, culminating with a tough divisional win on Thanksgiving. They are one-third of the way through their three-game homestand and have the 4-7-1 Indianapolis Colts coming into town for a Sunday Night Football showdown.

The Cowboys have won four of their last five games and are currently on a two-game winning streak with wins against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants. They have the seventh-best scoring offense, averaging 25.4 points per game, and have allowed the second-fewest points with just 17 ppg allowed. The Cowboys defense leads the league in sacks with 45.

The Colts have lost four of their last five games and are on a two-game losing streak. They are led by veteran QB Matt Ryan and recently brought in Jeff Saturday as interim head coach. The offense is 30th in scoring 15.8 PPG and the defense ranks 11th, allowing 20.3 PPG. The Colts lead the league in sacks allowed with 43.

Each week we open up the Advanced Stat Notebook to analyze how each team ranks in EPA, DVOA, ANY/A and Toxic Differential. These four key metrics have a high correlation to win probability

Cowboys’ 53-man roster light on edge rushers for Week 13 game vs Colts

Dallas could have had two more players at their disposal to face the Colts on SNF, but must feel confident in this group to get the job done. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys didn’t have a need to create space on their roster this week, but they did. On Tuesday the club said goodbye to Tarell Basham, a defensive end they signed ahead of the 2021 season and then brought back for 2022. Basham didn’t play much this year so he wasn’t a big loss to the league’s best pass rush, by miles, but it did open up the possibility for the Cowboys to add talent to their 53-man roster. Despite the speculation, Dallas didn’t add anyone this week from either the practice squad or the outside.

Surely then, the Cowboys would use the practice-squad elevation allowances to replenish their strength at edge rush, right? Wrong. On Saturday, the Cowboys announced just one practice squad elevation and it was for the offensive line, not the defensive line. Aviante Collins was called up for the second time, using just one of the two allotments. Instead, Dallas chose not to bring up Takk McKinley, signed to the practice squad a few weeks ago, nor anyone else. Instead of the maximum of 55, Dallas is going into the Week 13 battle with the Indianapolis Colts with just 53 players.

Collins will revert to the practice squad on Monday, and Dallas will still have a space open on the active 53-man roster if they choose to meet with any potential free agent wide receivers. *Stares directly at Odell Beckham, Jr.*

For now, here’s a look at the troops eligible to play against the Colts. With only 53 players, Dallas will need to make just five players inactive on Sunday night.

Final Week 13 injury report: Cowboys bug clearing, Colts rule out 2

Dallas seems to be past much of what’s been running through the locker room as the Week 13 tilt approaches. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have been under the weather for the last couple of weeks. What started against the Vikings in Week 11 because a full-blown issue in Week 12 just four days later. Six different Cowboys had injury designations of illness entering the Thursday contest, three of them missing the game. In the eight days since though, things have been getting better to the point where the only two sick players on the injury report in Week 13 were able to practice on a limited basis on Friday.

Meanwhile the Indianapolis Colts, Dallas’ opponent on Sunday night football, have bigger issues than illness. Two key players, one offensive lineman and one defensive back, have been ruled out for the contest. Outside of those two players though, the Colts only gave questionable injury designations to two of the remaining seven players they’ve been tracking this week. Both of those players practiced in full on Friday and everyone else is completely cleared.

For Dallas five of the seven players they’ve been tracking received a questionable status. Here’s a look at the full list of those on the final Week 13 injury report.

3 Keys to Cowboys, Dak Prescott extending 3 different win streaks

The Colts have beaten the AFC’s best and took the top NFC team to the wire. Here’s what Dallas needs to key on to avoid the upset. | From @cdpiglet

The Dallas Cowboys hadn’t played great in their traditional Thanksgiving Day game in a long time. Since the opening of AT&T Stadium they are 5-8 on Thanksgiving, including 3-7 in their last ten games before this season.

They didn’t start the game against the New York Giants strong either, being down at halftime while only scoring seven points. Dallas was able to do what it has often this year though, making the necessary halftime adjustments in order to play better offensively in the second half and pull out another big win. The Cowboys have doubled their points scored in the second half compared to the first half in the 2022 season.

This week Dallas plays their first game against the AFC South, welcoming the Indianapolis Colts to AT&T Stadium for a Sunday night primetime contest. The Cowboys will be look to bring their winning streak on the season to three, their winning streak, their winning streak at home against the Colts to three and their winning streak against Matt Ryan to four.

The Colts have already won a game against the Kansas City Chiefs and played down to the wire against the team with the best record in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles. This will be a battle, here are the keys to making sure the Cowboys are victorious at the final whistle.