Tag: 2024 Week 11

Cowboys vs Texans Initial Injury Report: One-third of Dallas roster injured in Week 11

A look at who was able to participate in practice on Thursday, ahead of Cowboys-Texans, and to what degree. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have licked their wounds, again, and are ready to get back on the bull. After four straight defeats, the team is reeling but they will no forfeit the rest of there 2024 season. Instead they will take on the Houston Texans in Week 11 and hope to begin an epic comeback from a 3-6 record.

Likely? Of course not, but that’s from an outsider’s perspective. The team isn’t going to turn over their entire roster in 2025, so having players who refuse to give up on the season is a good thing, draft order notwithstanding. As the club returns to practice on Thursday, they do so with only 2/3rds of their entire roster actually healthy.

Dallas listed 18 players, 34% of their 53-man roster, as dealing with some degree of a medical issue.

 Cowboys

CB DaRon Bland, Foot | Wednesday: Did Not Participate

CB Caelen Carson, Shoulder | Wednesday: Full Participant

CB Trevon Diggs, Calf | Wednesday: Limited

OT Chuma Edoga, Toe | Wednesday: Limited

TE Jake Ferguson, Illness | Wednesday: DNP

OT Tyler Guyton, Neck/Shoulder | Wednesday: Limited

LB Eric Kendricks, Shoulder | Wednesday: DNP

CB Jourdan Lewis, Neck | Wednesday: DNP

FB Hunter Luepke, Calf | | Wednesday: DNP

OG Zack Martin, Shoulder | Wednesday: DNP

LB DeMarvion Overshown, Knee | Wednesday: Full

LB Micah Parsons, Ankle | Wednesday: Full

QB Dak Prescott, Hamstring | Wednesday: DNP

QB Cooper Rush, Neck | Wednesday: Full

OG Tyler Smith, Knee | Wednesday: Limited

Safey Juanyeh Thomas, Concussion | Wednesday: DNP

LB Nick Vigil, Foot | Wednesday: DNP

Safety Donovan Wilson, Hip | Wednesday: Full

Houston Texans

Will update when available.

Cowboys fans get glimpse of another potential Mike McCarthy replacement in Week 11

The Cowboys face potential head coaching candidate Bobby Slowik in Week 11 when they take on the Houston Texans. | From @ReidDHanson

All indications are the Cowboys will be looking for new head coach this winter when Mike McCarthy’s contract runs out. Armed with draft picks, available spending cash, and a desire for change, Dallas will be an attractive place for a head coach looking to make an instant impact.

Bobby Slowik, the Texans’ prized offensive coordinator, is likely on his way out of Houston this winter. The Shanahan-like play caller has seen his stock rise to meteoric levels over the past season and a half and is now one of the hottest names on head coaching market in 2025.

Slowik is a play designer who creates deception by using a series of similar looking personnel groups and alignments. He’s a run truther but he backs it up by designing run-friendly plays and using run-friendly wrinkles. He’s taken a fledging Houston offense and built it up to sky-high levels with an inexperienced QB.

Play action, motion at the snap and various post-snap options all put his offenses in position to succeed. It’s allowed his offenses to produce higher outputs as complete unit than the individual pieces would otherwise provide.

It’s these traits that make Slowik such an attractive option for Cowboys fans. Eager to turn the page on yet another disappointing chapter in Cowboys history, many fans look at Slowik as a true step in the right direction. He’s not only an offensive savant up to date on all the tips and tricks that drive defenses wild but he’s also someone with a fair degree of defensive coaching experience.

Unlike most head coaches, Slowik is a coach who adds considerable value with scheme on one side of the ball and also has work experience on the other side of the ball. As if that wasn’t enough, Slowik worked for three years at Pro Football Focus, understanding analytics in a way very few NFL coaches can. Slowik is the complete package, and the Cowboys may be able to hire him this winter.

For anyone interested in getting a glimpse at the trending head coach candidate they needn’t look much further than Monday. In Week 11 the Cowboys take on the Texans and get a great firsthand look at someone who could be the next head coach of the Cowboys. Not since Week 6 against the Lions and Ben Johnson did Dallas get such a privilege. If Slowik can show half as much as Johnson did, fans are in for a real treat, so to speak.

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All 32 NFL teams (including the Cowboys) ranked by FPI ratings

Going into Week 11, the Cowboys have a -8.0 Football Power Index (FPI) rating from ESPN, which ranks at the bottom of the NFL.

The 2024 NFL season has now surpassed it’s halfway point, as Week 10 nears it’s conclusion. Nine games into the year, the Dallas Cowboys (3-6) have a -8.0 Football Power Index (FPI) rating from ESPN, which ranks dead last, 32nd, in the league. Just a few weeks ago they were rated -1.0 and ranked 23rd, but four losses in a row and several in embarrassing fashion will plummet a franchise.

The Houston Texans (6-4), who will travel to Dallas on Sunday, are ranked 13th with a 1.2 FPI rating.

FPI is “a prediction system for the NFL. Each team’s FPI rating is composed of a predicted offensive, defensive and special teams efficiency, as measured by expected points added per play, and that rating is the basis for FPI’s game-level and season-level projections,” according to ESPN.com. FPI “represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 10,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”

Here’s a look at the ratings heading into the weekend action.

  1. Detroit Lions (8-1): 7.5
  2. Baltimore Ravens (7-3): 7.0
  3. Buffalo Bills (8-2): 6.0
  4. Kansas City Chiefs (9-0): 5.4
  5. San Francisco 49ers (5-4): 4.4
  6. Green Bay Packers (6-3): 4.4
  7. Philadelphia Eagles (7-2): 4.2
  8. Minnesota Vikings (7-2): 2.3
  9. Washington Commanders (7-3): 2.0
  10. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2): 1.9
  11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6): 1.7
  12. Arizona Cardinals (6-4): 1.5
  13. Houston Texans (6-4): 1.2
  14. Atlanta Falcons (6-4): 0.8
  15. Cincinnati Bengals (4-6): 0.7
  16. Los Angeles Chargers (6-3): 0.7
  17. New York Jets (3-7): 0.2
  18. Cleveland Browns (2-7): -0.3
  19. Los Angeles Rams (4-5): -0.4
  20. Miami Dolphins (3-6): -0.7
  21. New Orleans Saints (3-7): -1.3
  22. Seattle Seahawks (4-5): -1.4
  23. Chicago Bears (4-5): -1.4
  24. Indianapolis Colts (4-6): -1.6
  25. Denver Broncos (5-5): -2.8
  26. New York Giants (2-8): -4.6
  27. Las Vegas Raiders (2-7): -4.8
  28. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-8): -5.1
  29. Tennesee Titans (2-7): -5.2
  30. New England Patriots (3-7): -6.5
  31. Carolina Panthers (3-7): -7.4
  32. Dallas Cowboys (3-6): -8.0

The records say there’s a reasonable gap between the Cowboys and Falcons. FPI says otherwise.