Dallas, TX

Game Recap: Behind Lance, Cowboys win, 27-12

Published

4 months ago

August 18, 2024

Game Recap: Behind Lance, Cowboys win, 27-12

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Dallas, TX

Heika’s Take: Power play flounders as Stars lose 3-1 to Rangers | Dallas Stars

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19 minutes ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Heika’s Take: Power play flounders as Stars lose 3-1 to Rangers | Dallas Stars

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Spagnola: Must wins along treacherous stretch

Published

8 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Spagnola: Must wins along treacherous stretch

FRISCO, Texas – Needless to say, this has been a bumpy road for the Cowboys.

The blasted injuries, swiping away Pro Bowl players from them, at different times eight of them, the most recent cornerback Travon Diggs and Zack Martin for the remainder of the season.

There was that five-game losing streak, three of them to teams currently leading their divisions and another to a second-place team.

There was the unforgivable loss to the Saints in Week 2. The six-point loss to Atlanta when losing quarterback Dak Prescot for the season during the game.

There was the inability to stop QB Lamar Jackson on a third-and-6 with 2:36 left to play that would have given the Cowboys the ball back around the two-minute warning with one last gasp available in a 28-25 loss to Baltimore.

Add the gosh darn – as as strong as allowed to describe – blocked punt leading to the Cowboys then muffing the crazy oblong ball thus leading to the Bengals winning touchdown in the 27-20 loss to Cincinnati in the final two minutes.

Yet here the Cowboys are, three games left to play with a 6-8 record, and as one of those analytical sites points out with but a 1% chance to grab the seemingly final NFC wildcard playoff berth and knowing full well in order for that 1% to remain alive, they at least MUST win their final three games.

And after all they have been through this season, the injuries, the heartbreaking events, the crushing losses to the likes of New Orleans, Detroit, Philadelphia and Houston, now comes their football equivalent of the Burma Road. Look it up, a treacherous route during World War II during the China theater.

This three-game stretch is an arduous one.

First, the 8-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, first place in the NFC South, Sunday night at AT&T.

Then at the 12-2 Philadelphia Eagles, first place in the NFC East, and on their own late-season march to conquer the top seed in the NFC, currently tied for the best NFC record with Detroit and Minnesota, aside from any relevant tiebreakers.

Finally 9-5 Washington Commanders back at AT&T, second place in the NFC East, but leading the pack for the third wildcard berth at this stage of the battle. A team the Cowboys already have beaten, but all the Commanders must do is win one game, get to 10 wins and eliminate the Cowboys no matter what they do going forward since they can’t finish any better than 9-8.

But as like to say, can’t win three straight unless you win the first straight, and that mission starts 7:20 p.m. Sunday at AT&T with the Buccaneers, a big game for former Cowboys assistant Todd Bowles’ crew, since the Bucs just might need to win out in order to claim the South crown over Atlanta, which has already beaten the Bucs twice to snatch the head-to-head tiebreaker just in case.

So not just a team with a winning record and has won the past four straight, a highly motivated one at that having given up only an average of 15 points a game during this four-game winning streak.

As Cowboys head man Mike McCarthy says, “This is a big challenge.”

Sure as heck is. Meet that challenge and the challenge swells next week at Philadelphia, another highly motivated team.

And consider this the next week, if having to face a Washington team coming in on potentially a two-game losing streak, with potentially second place in the East and that third wildcard spot on the line since the Commanders first have to play Philly and Atlanta before arriving in Arlington.

Now all this could be a moot point before the Cowboys even meet the Bucs Sunday night. This perilous predicament for the Cowboys could be decided before they even dress for Game 15 since the Philadelphia-Washington game kicks off at Noon. By around 3 p.m. Sunday the Cowboys will know either Washington has extinguished their playoff hopes by beating the Eagles to get that 10^th win the Cowboys can’t obtain or then again fueling those slim playoff hopes by losing to the Eagles, who with a win clinch the NFC East title, meaning once again the defending NFC East champs (Cowboys) will not repeat for the 20^th consecutive season, though we already knew that part, just not the who.

Ah, but after all the setbacks the Cowboys have endured, what if there still is bait on the hook?

As Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says of the motivation when facing adversity, “Well, I’ve never met a competitor who doesn’t wear it inside and out, the disappointment. You have to wear it, and candidly it’s got to eat you up. It’s got to eat you up and eat you up enough so that when you’re getting ready to go again, anything you may need to call upon you got to remember how bad it hurts when you don’t win. That’s there.

“You say, ‘Well you can’t win every time.’ Well, you don’t know that when you are getting ready to play that game or make that effort. It’s important. Listen, your mind is so much of it here.”

So then, is it conceivable Washington, a team fortunate to defeat the New Orleans Saints this past game, 20-19, the Saints going for two points and the win after scoring a touchdown with no time remaining in the fourth quarter only to fail, could lose the next two? Who knows. Remember, after the Philly game comes Atlanta for the Commanders, now 7-7, with hopes of winning the South still alive and motivated.

Then come the Cowboys, providing they can somehow beat the Bucs and win on the road at Philly where they haven’t won since the 2021 season, and remember the Cowboys have yet to beat teams with winning records in back-to-back games. If they do, then would need a third against the Commanders.

And on top of all this, the Cowboys, if hope’s still alive, would need either the 8-6 Rams or Seahawks to win no more than one of their three remaining games, and the 7-7 Cardinals to win no more than two of their final three games. A 9-8 Cowboys team would win 9-8 tiebreakers with all three of those teams based on a better NFC record but lose any 9-8 tiebreaker with Atlanta since the Falcons own the head-to-head advantage.

That’s why all the Cowboys need to do is to now worry about Tampa Bay, especially if the Eagles beat the Commanders earlier in the day, giving further meaning to this upcoming game.

Crazier things in the NFL have taken place, in the Cowboys favor and against the Cowboys down these unpredictable stretches. Why numerous times in the final game of the season the Cowboys in their 65-year history have played win-or-go-home games. They’d love to face another meaningful one come Jan. 4/5.

Get this, too. As odds go, 1% is 1%. But a heckuva lot better than 0 percent. Just beware the pitfalls along this tenuous road.

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Dallas, TX

Who will lead the city of Dallas? Three city manager candidates withdraw from the running

Published

16 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Who will lead the city of Dallas? Three city manager candidates withdraw from the running

Two of the original semifinalists for the Dallas city manager’s role are no longer in the running for the position.

City leaders also reached out this week to Carl Simpson, a former Dallas official and current city manager of Jackson, Calif., to interview, but Simpson told The Dallas Morning News he was tapped too late in the process.

“I didn’t hear anything until Monday. I submitted my application back in October,” Simpson said, adding that he would have had less than a week to prepare for the Dec. 23 interview. “For me, it just wasn’t a fair competition at this point.”

Meanwhile, semifinalist Zach Williams, executive assistant and chief operating officer for DeKalb County in Georgia, confirmed to The News he was not in the running when reached by phone Friday morning. WFAA first reported Mark Washington, city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan, also withdrew his application.

The remaining candidates are interim city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth.

The changes follow a week of infighting between council members over the number of semifinalists and the time it’s taking to name a finalist. Several council members said they expected to see at least more than 10 names when the semifinalists were named in November.

Art Davis, a representative of Baker Tilly, told council members in a Dec. 12 meeting several contenders also dropped out due to the Nov. 5 election, when voters approved propositions that waive governmental immunity and direct 50% of any new revenue year-over-year to the police and fire pension system and other public safety initiatives. One of the propositions also mandates the city hire 900 more cops to maintain 4,000 public safety officials in the workforce.

Days after the election, top credit rating firm Moody’s signaled a potential impact on the city’s ability to borrow and sustain debt following the passage of the propositions. The credit rating firm downgraded the city’s debt outlook from “stable” to “negative” because of concerns over how diverting revenue can limit the city’s flexibility to pay for other expenses.

Council member Cara Mendelsohn, a member of the ad hoc committee, said she was surprised at the Dec. 12 meeting that the semifinalists did not include a Hispanic candidate, seeing as the community is one of the largest ethnic groups in the region.

The committee then announced a meeting for Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. to revise the list of semifinalists.

The next day, however, three council members — Paula Blackmon, Jaynie Schultz and Gay Donnell Willis — sent a memo to call for another meeting the same day at 9 a.m. The three council members said they wanted to speed up the search for the city manager.

There are several departments whose leaders are serving in interim roles, they said. The absence of a permanent city manager means City Hall employees are left wondering if they should carry out duties assigned by their interim boss’ instructions or wait until a permanent official is appointed.

Mayor pro tem Tennell Atkins, who chairs the ad hoc committee on administrative affairs and is leading the search for Dallas’ city manager, told The News the City Council will name a final candidate in January.

This week, Tolbert, who made dramatic changes in City Hall, from hiring a new leadership team to reorganizing departments, racked up endorsements from the Dallas Fire Fighters Association and the Dallas Hispanic Firefighters Association.

“Kim has proven her leadership through action,” DFFA President Jeff Patterson said in the letter of endorsement.

Tolbert, he said, built “collaborative relationships with Dallas Fire Rescue” and promoted former fire rescue chief Dominique Artis to an assistant city manager role and assistant fire chief Justin Ball to the interim chief role, demonstrating an “ability to put the right people in the right positions to lead us forward.”

“Dallas cannot afford to lose momentum,” Patterson said.

Stefani Salinas, president of the Dallas Hispanic Firefighters Association, stated stability and continuity are essential during these transitional times.

“Kimberly Tolbert, Chief Dominique Artis, and Chief Justin Ball have already demonstrated their ability to lead with purpose, integrity, and vision,” Salinas said. “We strongly urge the Dallas City Council to solidify their positions so that our city can continue to move forward under their proven leadership.”