Tag: 2023 season Week 10

Cowboys DT Neville Gallimore fined almost $10K for late-game kick vs Giants

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 4th-year defensive tackle actually got off light; the fact that he has so few penalties over his career may have played into his favor.

In the waning moments of last week’s 49-17 win, Neville Gallimore took an uncharacteristic cheap shot at a Giants opponent. It won’t be cheap for the Cowboys defensive tackle, however, to make amends in the eyes of the league.

Gallimore was fined $9,754 for kicking Giants guard Justin Pugh in the groin after a third-down play late in the Week 10 victory. Gallimore was ejected from the game with less than a minute to play; the 15-yard penalty extended a garbage-time touchdown drive and allowed New York to make the final score a little less embarrassing.

On the play, Gallimore had fallen into the back of Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito’s legs. Pugh took offense and gave the fourth-year Oklahoma product a retaliatory shove while we was still on the turf. Gallimore responded by striking back with his foot at Pugh, who was still standing over him.

As is so often the case, officials only saw the second shot.

After the game, Pugh said he wasn’t hurt and even felt bad that the moment would end up incurring a monetary fine for Gallimore.

“Look, he hit the quarterback late. I took exception to it, I hit him. I shouldn’t have done that when he was on the ground- pushed him- and he kicked me,” Pugh said per the New York Post. “I’ve gotten in so many fights in my career, I’m not gonna cost myself money. He’s gonna get a FedEx, so I feel bad for him on that. I don’t want a guy to lose money. But you don’t kick somebody on a football field.”

Now that kick will cost Gallimore nearly five figures.

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The fine is actually on the light side compared to those incurred by several other players in recent weeks. That may be because Gallimore is not a repeat offender; in fact, the former third-round draft pick has drawn just four flags of any type through 44 game appearances.

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Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb named NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week

From @ToddBrock24f7: Lamb caught 11 passes for 151 yards and added another score as a rusher. He’s the third Cowboy to win a weekly award this season.

When you do something that no player in the history of the National Football League has ever done, some extra recognition is appropriate.

After catching nearly everything that came his way in the Cowboys’ 49-17 rout of the Giants, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has also caught a spiffy new award for his trophy case. Lamb was named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week.

Lamb’s 11-catch, 151-yard outing on Sunday made him the first player to ever string together three consecutive games of over 10 receptions and 150-plus receiving yards. His receiving stats for that span are indeed eye-popping: 34 catches for 500 yards and three touchdowns, and that’s just since Oct. 29.

On the season, Lamb has put himself in the conversation for elite status. Here are his current statistical rankings in several key categories among all pass-catchers leaguewide:

Tgt Rec Yds 1stDwn Rec/Gm Yds/Gm
CeeDee Lamb 13th 6th 3rd 5th 5th 4th

Lamb added to his impressive showing versus New York last week by also rushing for a touchdown, his first since his rookie season of 2020.

The former first-round draft pick out of Oklahoma is on pace for 129 receptions, which would be a career-best. He’s also tracking toward 1,841 yards, a number that would rank as the NFL’s fifth-highest single-season total ever.

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This is the first time Lamb has received the weekly award, and the first time a Cowboy has been so honored since Amari Cooper won it twice in a three-week span in 2018.

Linebacker Micah Parsons won Defensive Player of the Week for Week 2; kicker Brandon Aubrey took home the Special Teams Player of the Week prize for Week 9.

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Cowboys’ Dan Quinn: Mazi Smith’s arrow ‘going up’ after best game yet vs Giants

From @ToddBrock24f7: He had just 3 tackles on the day, but Smith’s solo TFL on Saquon Barkley in Week 10 could be the kind of moment that propels the rookie.

The final stat line won’t raise many eyebrows: three solo tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit. But Sunday’s 49-17 win over the Giants may turn out to be Cowboys defensive tackle Mazi Smith’s big breakout.

Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is at least allowing for that possibility.

“I think you saw Mazi with the TFL, kind of looping around,” Quinn said to reporters this week, referring to a first-quarter play where he dropped Giants running back Saquon Barkley for a three-yard loss.

In the grand scheme of the game, it was a minor moment. But one that could have major repercussions for the 22-year-old rookie.

“It’d be nice if you just add water and you [get] instant kick-ass,” Quinn quipped. “But it takes time and coaching to get there, and he is certainly doing that. I thought [Sunday] was more of what we’ve seen in practice, so to see him come through like that and play well, being aggressive and taking his shots- he had some good pass rushes as well- sometimes you need that one moment to help kick you going.”

The nature of Week 10’s blowout win ended up giving Smith many moments, or at least extra playing time. He was on the field for 25 defensive snaps- nearly 44% of the unit’s reps- his most in a game since being drafted 26th overall by the Cowboys in April.

Quinn allowed that it’s been a ramping-up process for the 337-pounder. But unlike the fans who only chart gameday production and have been ready to label Smith a bust halfway through his first pro season, Quinn says the Michigan product has made steady and significant improvement within the D-line rotation.

“The inside player, we oftentimes measure somebody just on their sacks if you’re a defensive lineman,” Quinn explained, “but what impact do they have on the game?”

Smith had significant impact, earning a tip of the hat from PFF as their highest-graded rookie defensive tackle for Week 10.

Quinn pointed out that, even from his vantage point all the way up in the coaches’ booth, he could feel Smith’s quickness and movement versus New York. He also gave a shout-out to second-year defensive end Sam Williams and said that he sees both players’ arrows as still being very much on the rise.

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He admitted, though, that Smith needs the occasional reminder to fully unleash the freak strength and athleticism that earned him rave reviews at the college level.

“He wants to do it right so badly,” Quinn remarked. “I remind him every once in a while, ‘Hey, man, don’t forget to fire out and let somebody know. You don’t always have to be perfect; you’ve got make sure you’re knocking guys back.’ He really got that message.”

Saquon Barkley can attest to that. Now it’s up to Smith to pass the message along himself to rest of the league, one opposing running back at a time.

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3 Major takeaways as Cowboys exploit the Giants and move forward

The Cowboys wiped out the Giants once again. What are the major takeaways from the Dallas get-right game? | From @cdpiglet

The New York Giants have got to be tired of playing the Dallas Cowboys. After a 40-0 blowout to open the year, Dallas almost dropped 50 on their heads this time, beating them down to the tune of 49-17. This was a “get right game,” with the team cleaning up plenty of issues coming off a loss in Philadelphia.

The Dallas defense held the Giants to 172 total yards, taking down their QB five times for sacks, grabbing an interception, and holding them to 0-for-12 on third-down attempts. The offense was also in full force, with two receivers going over 150 yards and each scoring touchdowns. In fact six players scored in all, and the Cowboys outgained New York by 468 yards—the largest differential in the NFL in 44 years.

The media and some of the fanbase likely downplay this victory because the team lost to the San Francisco 49ers (badly) and the Philadelphia Eagles, so beating the Giants isn’t seen as an important event. That is a narrative the team must ignore altogether. Dallas is trying to improve their play as the season rolls on. They did that in this matchup, and the team can take plenty of positives from this win. Here are some of the essential items coming out of Week 10.

4 Downs: Lamb, Gallup plays among most important of Week 10 rout

From @ToddBrock24f7: CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup made big-time catches, Dak Prescott listened to his feet, and the Dallas D got stout at the goal line.

32 first downs. 640 yards of offense. 61 passing yards allowed. Not a single third-down conversion by the opponent. Touchdowns by six different Cowboys players. Oh yes, there were plenty of plays to remember in the 49-17 pummeling of the New York Giants.

But the highlight-reel scores aren’t always the most important moments of the game. In this edition of 4 Downs, we’ll look at an early defensive stand that may have altered the course of the entire contest, as well as the one-handed feat of amazement that forecasted the rest of CeeDee Lamb’s record-breaking day.

For those Cowboys fans wondering if Dak Prescott’s legs are really going to continue to be an integral part of the offensive attack, we have an answer. And one play should give provide an encouraging update for the rest of the schedule regarding one Cowboys playmaker who hasn’t been his usual self.

Here are four plays that not only shaped the Week 10 win over New York but should also help set the table for what to expect over the team’s remaining seven games.

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‘This one’s sweet’: Brandin Cooks flirts with career-best day in Cowboys breakout

From @ToddBrock24f7: Cooks had his biggest day yet as a Cowboy and almost the biggest day of his career, racking up 173 yards in a 49-17 win over the Giants.

The last time Brandin Cooks had 170 yards receiving in a game, the 23-year-old was wearing a fleur-de-lis on his gold Saints helmet, and across the NFC, the Cowboys were wrapping up a surprising 2016 season under a rookie quarterback named Dak Prescott.

This past Sunday found the two on the same team- and definitely the same page- as Cooks tied the second-best day of his pro career and enjoyed his long-awaited breakout performance as a Cowboy.

“For him to have that production is awesome,” Prescott said Sunday after Dallas’s 49-17 thumping of the Giants. “That guy deserves it more than anybody. Amazing teammate, amazing friend, amazing guy. Does everything the right way, and he deserves that.”

Cooks ended the day with nine catches on 10 targets for 173 yards. This was after compiling just 165 yards over his first seven outings with the team.

It was the first time the six-time 1,000-yard receiver has produced like it since signing with Dallas. But Cooks maintains he didn’t do anything differently.

“Nothing. Just continuing to try to trust the process, like I’ve always said,” Cooks told reporters after the win. “The ball came my way, and I just wanted to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that I had tonight.”

The deep-threat playmaker certainly capitalized and was responsible for four of the Cowboys’ nine longest plays from scrimmage, posting receptions that gained 37, 34, 32, and 25 yards. But his best moment may have come on a 10-yard end-zone catch that he later called “a trust throw” from his quarterback.

It wasn’t Cooks’s first touchdown as a Cowboy. But he had far more targets and receptions on Sunday than in any game since arriving.

“It’s a blessing,” Cooks explained before quoting Scripture: “‘Don’t grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time, you’ll reap a harvest if you don’t give up.’ It’s been a hard, tough couple years, but my faith and my work ethic, my family- my wife and my kids- just continue to push me to keep going. This one’s sweet, for sure.”

“Practice, man,” is how Prescott credited the day he and Cooks had. “You know me, I always talk about practice, what we put into it. Going back to this game plan, going back to early in the week, I told him, ‘Let’s put the work in and it’s going to come out.’ He’s been there for us all year when we’ve needed him to, there’s been games where we’ve come back and said, ‘Could you have gotten him more involved?” Yeah, sure, maybe so, right? He’s that type of player that deserves those questions when he’s not getting those targets or getting those catches.”

The questions had definitely been coming, with Cooks on pace to set career-lows in both catches and yards for 2023… before Sunday’s stellar performance.

“I just think his opportunities came together,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy explained in his postgame press conference. “The protection part of it [is] we’re getting to where we need to be. We still have work to do there going off of last week, and we definitely took a step this week. And I think just with that, we were able to get into the the play types that we want to live in, and I think you’re seeing more of that here the last couple weeks.”

True. Don’t look now, but Cooks now has three touchdown grabs in his last four games.

Of course, part of Cooks’s quiet season had been because of the monster numbers being posted by fellow Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb. But despite setting his own NFL mark in Week 10 with double-digit receptions and 150-plus yards in a third straight contest, Lamb wanted to talk about his teammate’s near-record day.

“That was long overdue for Brandin. I couldn’t wait to celebrate with him enough,” Lamb said. “He deserved 200 [yards].”

Lamb knows that Cooks’s return to big-play form will only spread opposing secondaries thinner as they try to cover a growing array of weapons in Dallas, with Jake Ferguson and Michael Gallup also in the mix and even youngsters Jalen Tolbert and rookie Jalen Brooks coming on strong.

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“Each and every one of us can go up and go get it,” said Lamb. “Deep ball, deep threats. It’s all picking your poison.”

And if defenders elect to give The Archer just a little bit of space, Prescott will be right there to deliver more strikes to Cooks, now that he’s reminded everyone of the kinds of lights-out performances he can have.

“And he’ll have more of them, I promise you,” Prescott vowed. “It might not be an every-week thing, but he will have more of these games.”

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‘They showed that?’: Cowboys’ Prescott talks about viral reaction to Lamb saving throwaway

From @ToddBrock24f7: Cameras caught the QB’s reaction to a failed throwaway going for 17 yards in a game where even the mistakes turned into Cowboys highlights.

Some days, it just goes your way.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was humming on Sunday, throwing for for 404 yards and four touchdowns while compiling a 138.3 passer rating. All are top-10 numbers for his career.

But the moment most indicative of his play during the 49-17 Week 10 rout came on a pass he wasn’t even trying to complete.

“I’ll be honest; I was throwing it away,” Prescott said Sunday in his postgame press conference.

He may have been surprised that CeeDee Lamb turned the busted play into a 17-yard gain, but he was caught even more off-guard when he learned that TV cameras had captured his since-gone-viral reaction to the moment.

“They showed that?”

It happened late in the second quarter. Already up 21-0, the Cowboys were marching once again and had just moved the chains to set up at the Giants’ 28. As the pocket broke down and he scrambled to elude New York linebacker Azeez Ojulari, Prescott heaved the ball skyward. With Prescott falling backward and on one foot when he released it, the throw looked like either a lower-seating-bowl souvenir or maybe even a terrible decision that he would regret a split-second later.

But then Lamb raced underneath it from outside the camera frame and made the unlikely grab. The catch gave the Cowboys yet another first down- one of 32 on the afternoon- and moved the offense that much closer to its fourth touchdown of the half.

Maybe most important, it was proof that the day would indeed belong to Dallas, one of those rare games in which even the mistakes end up being highlights.

“That’s CeeDee Lamb being CeeDee Lamb,” Prescott explained. “I didn’t quite get it out of bounds, and CeeDee came back, and that’s kind of why I stuck my tongue out. Man, just put it in his vicinity and it’s going to be his or nobody’s. That was a wild play.”

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Thankfully for Cowboys fans, it was a wild one that went the team’s way.

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Good, Bad, Ugly: Cowboys WRs come alive in win, penalty problems continue

From @ToddBrock24f7: There was a lot to love about the Cowboys’ record-setting day, but Jourdan Lewis and Neville Gallimore offer room to improve.

Things got off to a shaky start for the Cowboys in Week 10, but the offense quickly found their footing and turned in a monster day, rolling up 640 yards of offense and scoring seven touchdowns on 12 drives in their 49-17 thrashing of the rival Giants.

Much of the coming days will be spent dissecting all the ways in which Dallas dominated, from Dak Prescott’s surgical precision to CeeDee Lamb’s record-setting haul to the defense preventing Big Blue from converting a single third down.

Of course, not everything went perfectly, and the Cowboys coaches will have things to harp on over the next week of practice as the team prepares to face another struggling opponent in Carolina. (Get ready to hear a lot about cleaning up stupid penalties.)

Here’s just some of the good, as well as the bad and the ugly from Sunday’s- ahem- giant victory.

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‘Foot on the gas’: Cowboys’ Prescott not treating Giants rematch as automatic

The Cowboys are heavy favorites to notch their sixth win on Sunday when the 2-7 Giants limp into town. With memories of the 40-0 season-opening thrashing they exacted on Big Blue still fresh, the Cowboys might even be forgiven if they’re looking at …

The Cowboys are heavy favorites to notch their sixth win on Sunday when the 2-7 Giants limp into town. With memories of the 40-0 season-opening thrashing they exacted on Big Blue still fresh, the Cowboys might even be forgiven if they’re looking at this weekend’s meeting as a “get-right” opportunity.

The ultimate goal, though, isn’t to get Tony Pollard and the run game back on track. It’s not to establish Brandin Cooks as a legitimate part of an improving passing attack. It isn’t to see how early they can pull the starters (with back-to-back Thursday games looming) and give the second-stringers some valuable game reps.

Those things would be welcomed by Cowboys fans, of course. But the leader of the offense says none of that is on the minds of him or his teammates.

“I think we all understand the NFL,” Prescott told reporters this week, “understand that those guys prepare, those guys game plan. And to be honest, it’s tough to beat a team twice.”

Yes, the Giants are a different team now- literally- than they were in early September. Injuries have ravaged the roster on both sides of the ball; they’ll be giving undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito his first pro start.

But Prescott knows they’ve had the same two months Dallas has had to make adjustments to what they did in Week 1.

“They’ve got the same tape for them to try to make corrections,” Prescott explained. “You have to understand that was game one. They probably- not ‘they probably’- they have changed some things since then. They’ve found pieces that they want to play in different ways, different ways that they want to play their defense for us, and I’m sure on their offensive side, no difference, even having to play different quarterbacks.”

The Cowboys remember all too well what happened in Week 3, when they were expected to crush the Cardinals in Arizona. (They’ve been reminded at nearly every media opportunity this week.) To a man, the players have said this week that they’re not treating this rivalry game as a gimme.

Vegas, however, is already chalking up a Cowboys win, as evidenced by the nearly-unheard-of 17-point spread set by oddsmakers. And outside observers are doing the math on what Dallas needs to do over their next three contests (Giants-Panthers-Commanders, with a combined 7-20 record) in order to set themselves up for the toughest five-game stretch of the schedule that follows (those opponents are currently 30-13).

Despite his recent wizardry with the ball, though, Prescott isn’t ready to talk- or hear- about magic numbers.

“Right now, it’s about this week,” he said. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for 20 minutes ago, I didn’t know who we played next week. I’m serious as ever when I tell you I’m right where I am, focused in on the moment. Right now, it’s about getting this win at home against the Giants.”

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Now, a win is a win, whether it comes on a last-second field goal or in a five-touchdown blowout. They both count the same in the win column. But Prescott isn’t interested in letting things stay close or treating this divisional showdown like some kind of walkthrough meant to work out a few schematic kinks or force touches to certain players.

“I’m a foot-on-the-pedal type of guy. Especially in this league. I mean, I think you have to be,” Prescott shared. “You look back at some of the comebacks and some of the things that have happened in this league. The last thing you want to do is get up, put on cruise control, and the next thing you know, you’re playing for your life in the fourth quarter. So, yeah, it’s a foot on the gas until you you know that you can get out of there with a win.”

But if the Cowboys can come out of Sunday’s game with an emphatic win and also answer some lingering questions about how complete and multi-faceted their offense actually is, so much the better.

“For us, it’s about continuing to grow and for us to get better,” Prescott said. “And the only way that [happens] is if we go out there and take care of business in the manner that we expect to.”

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Cowboys rookie Deuce Vaughn returning punts at practice with Turpin nursing shoulder

From @ToddBrock24f7: KaVontae Turpin’s shoulder forced Vaughn into punt-return duties at practice Thursday; the rookie may be in line to do it vs the Giants.

KaVontae Turpin did not practice for a second straight day as he rehabs a shoulder injury suffered last week in Philadelphia. And while Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy didn’t seem overly concerned with his availability moving forward, Turpin’s status heading into Week 10 is suddenly something to watch.

Thursday’s practice workload revealed that a Turpin absence on Sunday might just crack the door open for a highly-anticipated rookie to get some much-needed game reps, albeit in a role he’s largely unfamiliar with.

Turpin sat out Wednesday and was considered questionable again on Thursday, McCarthy told reporters. The coach said he would be either working with the rehab group or, at best, limited, but media members present for practice later reported him as a non-participant for the open portion of the session.

If Turpin cannot go this Sunday, the Cowboys will obviously have to decide who fills in for him as he continues to grow into an increasing role in the Dallas offense.

The bigger worry, though, if Turpin’s shoulder doesn’t cooperate, is re-assigning his return duties. He’s averaging 31.7 yards per kick return, placing him within the league’s top ten. As a punt returner, he’s had just 10 runbacks; his 11 fair catches are top-ten in the league and an indicator of how often opponents are only giving him balls that cannot be returned.

But Turpin is the only player on the Cowboys roster who has done both return jobs this season. Rico Dowdle and Hunter Luepke have handled five kicks between them in 2023, while Jalen Tolbert and Deuce Vaughn have fielded one punt each.

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Reporters at Thursday’s practice session observed Dowdle, Vaughn, and safety Juanyeh Thomas practicing kick returns while Vaughn was taking reps as a punt returner, with Turpin giving him close coaching.

The sixth-round draft pick has been inactive the past three games and was largely ineffective on the handful of snaps he played over the first five weeks.

Vaughn’s 10-yard punt return against San Francisco in Week 5 was his first at either the pro or college level.

But the 5-foot-5 rookie running back showed blistering speed and shiftiness throughout training camp, just as he had done collegiately at Kansas State. Depending on Turpin’s shoulder, Vaughn may finally get the chance to put those skills on display at the pro level in a brand new way.

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