The Dallas Cowboys traded for Trey Lance last season in hopes they could tap into the talent that made him the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. In this preseason matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, he finally gave a glimpse of that potential.
Entering the game in the second quarter, Lance would lead the Cowboys to a 27-12 victory over the Raiders behind a pair of scoring drives. He completed 15 of 23 passes on the night for 151 yards and a touchdown to finish with a 98.3 passer rating. Just for good measure, he also added a rushing touchdown and tied for the team lead with 34 yards on the ground.
Overall, the Cowboys recorded 294 yards of offense, which included 137 rushing yards as a group. Deuce Vaughn sat out the preseason opener at the Rams due to injury, but he made up for it with an impressive showing in Las Vegas. The second-year man shook and shifted for 34 yards on five carries, an impressive 6.8 yards per carry average.
Mike Zimmer’s defense again was effective. While the unit allowed the Raiders to total 315 yards of offense, Dallas only allowed one touchdown for the second straight week. Cornerback Andrew Booth led the Cowboys with eight tackles with safety Juanyeh Thomas shining in limited action with a pair of pass breakups.
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First Quarter Although the Raiders began the game with their first-stringers while Dallas went largely with backups, the reserves held their own against the starters. In fact, after stopping Vegas on a fourth-and-3 at the Cowboys’ 47-yard line, starting quarterback Cooper Rush then moved his side close enough to allow Brandon Aubrey to kick a 54-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead.
The game was soon tied, though. The Raiders started their possession at the 40-yard line after Aubrey’s kickoff went out of bounds. On their first snap, quarterback Gardner Minshew then connected with Tre Tucker on a deep post pattern for a 48-yard gain. The Cowboys defense held its ground, though, as Vegas settled for a 29-yard field goal.
Second Quarter Despite the Raiders starters still being in the game, the Dallas defense forced a three-and-out on Vegas’ first series of the second quarter. But on the ensuing punt, a booming 69-yarder, returner Jalen Cropper fumbled the ball with the home side recovering at the Cowboys’ 23-yard line.
The defense again did its job, though. The Raiders decided to go for it on fourth-and-5 at the Dallas 18, but Minshew’s pass sailed high, the Cowboys taking over on downs.
Lance came in at the start of the second quarter, but his first two series resulted in three-and-outs. And special teams again had its difficulties. This time the Raiders’ Tucker found a lane down the left sideline and was able to return the punt 43 yards. With a 5-yard penalty on Dallas tacked on, Vegas was back in business at the Cowboys’ 28-yard line.
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The Dallas defense again did its job, but this time the Raiders decided to take the easy points, kicking a 27-yard field goal for a 6-3 lead.
However, Lance came back and displayed some of that talent that warranted the Cowboys taking a chance on him. He completed all five of his pass attempts for 34 yards, and ran for a first down on third-and-1 at the Raiders’ 8-yard line. The last of his throws was a perfect 1-yard fade to Ryan Flournoy in the back right corner of the end zone for the Cowboys’ first touchdown of the preseason
But Lance and company weren’t done yet. Getting the ball back at his own 14-yard line with 28 seconds left, the young quarterback threw a pair of 8-yard passes to tight end John Stephens, scrambled for a 2-yard gain, and then took off on a 20-yard scamper before calling a timeout with 1 second left.
That gave Aubrey a chance to try a 66-yard field goal, and his kick went right down the middle to give Dallas a 13-6 advantage at the half.
Third Quarter Unfortunately, the lead was soon cut to one. After the Cowboys were forced to punt on their first possession of the third frame, the Raiders marched 57 yards in 13 plays for the score. The touchdown came on a 5-yard pass from Aidan O’Connell to tight end Harrison Bryant, but when the pair tried to connect again on the two-point conversion, the toss fell incomplete.
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Fourth Quarter The Raiders were on the move when the clock ticked into the final quarter, the home side lined up at the Dallas 35-yard line for the first play of the fourth. But Cowboys cornerback Kemon Hall stepped in front of another O’Connell pass attempt to Bryant and took the interception back 69 yards for a pick-6.
With the Dallas defense continuing to take care of business, Lance’s night just kept getting better. He later took the offense on a 13-play, 88-yard drive that saw him complete passes of 17, 15, 12 and 30 yards, but took the scoring honors himself, dashing up the middle on a quarterback draw from 2 yards out for the touchdown to wrap up the scoring, 27-12.
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas star guard Luka Doncic returned to the lineup on Tuesday night in an NBA Cup game against the New Orleans Pelicans after missing the Mavericks’ previous game because of a right knee contusion.
The Mavericks go in on a two-game winning streak following a four-game losing streak. Their most recent win came at Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City on Sunday night, 121-119, the first game that Doncic has missed this season.
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In his previous outing last Saturday, Doncic played a season-low 28 minutes in a 110-93 home win over San Antonio and scored 16 points — one more than his season low. He sat out the final eight minutes with the Mavericks comfortably ahead.
Doncic won last season’s NBA scoring title, averaging 33.9 points per game, to go with 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists. He’s averaging 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists this season.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, when asked before Tuesday’s game about Doncic’s lower averages, said, “He has shown that he’s human. (Averages of) 28, eight and eight – you sign up for that all day long.”
Every other year, the Aurora Biennial transforms Dallas into a dazzling display of lights, video and music. This year was special because it was the first time the event took play in-person since 2018. The free public event turned the Dallas Public Library, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Dallas City Hall and other buildings into art installations with the theme “FuturePresentPast.”
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
Joe Mixon ran for three touchdowns to extend his TD streak to six games since coming back from injury, Derek Barnett returned a fumble 28 yards for a score, and the Texans beat the Cowboys 34-10 on Monday night.
The Texans (7-4) stopped just the second two-game losing streak of CJ Stroud’s young career while maintaining a two-game lead in the AFC South.
Houston pulled away in the second-half a week after a 26-23 last-play loss to Detroit at home, when the Texans let a 23-7 half-time lead get away from them.
“It’s not as bad as it ever seems, and it’s never as good as it ever seems,” Stroud said. “Those type of games, you have to come out with a win, especially going up like that at the half [against the Lions]. But what are we going to do about it?”
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Amid a woeful season for the Cowboys (3-7) on the field, debris fell from their stadium’s retractable roof as it was opening a few hours before the game. There was no delay and no injuries were reported, just another mishap to foreshadow a fifth consecutive defeat for a team that lost five games total in each of the past three seasons.
Cooper Rush threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin but lost his second start since Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury.
The Dallas losing streak is their longest since a seven-game skid in 2015, and the Cowboys dropped to 0-5 at home. Dallas are the first team in NFL history to trail by at least 20 points in six consecutive home games, including last season’s wildcard playoff loss to Green Bay, according to Sportradar. The Cowboys had reached the playoffs in each of their previous three seasons, but that run is all but over.
“Well, they better be frustrated,” Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy said. “I mean, we’re all frustrated. I think there’d be something wrong if they weren’t frustrated. So just very honest with everything and stay in tune with what’s right in front of us. And that’s the only way I’ve ever done it.”
The Cowboys were down 20-10 early in the fourth quarter when Barnett knocked the ball out of Rush’s hand. Dallas rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton caught it and was trying to run when Jalen Pitre knocked the ball loose again. Barnett scooped up the ball and scored, although he almost stepped out of bounds.
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“The play he made really changed for game for us,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It flipped the momentum. It got everybody juiced up on the sideline. It was just a huge play.”
Earlier, the Cowboys appeared to have pulled within a touchdown on a 64-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey, but Barnett was penalized for slapping Terence Steele on the rush. Dallas erased the points by taking the penalty, but Rush’s fourth-down pass from the Houston eight-yard line was incomplete on the only good scoring chance of the second half for the the Cowboys.
“The defense played with elite energy,” Ryans said. “One big play that we gave up. Like to have that one back, but overall I think our guys played really well.”
Texans receiver Nico Collins returned after missing five games with a hamstring injury and took a screen pass 77 yards to the end zone on the first play of the game, only to have it called back because of an ineligible receiver downfield.
That possession ended with a touchdown anyway on Mixon’s 45-yard sprint up the middle, and he ran wide for a one-yard score and a 14-0 lead. Mixon had 109 yards rushing on the day and set up a field goal with a 37-yard catch-and-run on a screen.
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“I really love that first play because it showed what we could do in this game,” Ryans said. “Even though it got called back, I just told all our guys, ‘We can go score on these guys again. Just get it in your mind we’re going to score again.’”
Already without Prescott, the Cowboys lost tight end Jake Ferguson to a concussion and perennial All-Pro right guard Zack Martin and left guard Tyler Smith to ankle injuries. Rush was sacked five times, three on the same possession when Martin and Smith were injured.
Stroud, who has been in a mini-slump, threw for 257 yards while avoiding any mistakes after an early interception on fourth down. It was the third time in five games he has gone without a touchdown pass, and he has two TDs and three picks in that stretch.
Rush was 32 of 55 for 354 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Turpin had three catches for 86 yards.
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