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DSF Q&A: Five questions for Dallas after 40-39 win over Atlanta

Photo by Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire

DSF Q&A: Five questions for Dallas after 40-39 win over Atlanta

Where is DeMarcus Lawrence?

DeMarcus Lawrence ended the game with five tackles, zero quarterback hits, zero sacks, and zero tackles for a loss. The former Pro Bowler is coming off a season where he finished with 5.5 sacks, which was third behind former Cowboys Robert Quinn and Michael Bennett.

Dallas has transitioned into a hybrid scheme since hiring defensive coordinator Mike Nolan during the offseason. So far, we have seen flashes from Aldon Smith and Everson Griffin — both new additions — but have yet to feel the dominance of a $20 mil a year player in Lawrence. The Cowboys travel to Seattle next week who allowed 10 quarterback hits on Russell Wilson in week one.

Dalton Shultz answer at Tight End?

When Blake Jarwin went down last week with a torn ACL that sidelined him for the year the immediate reaction was who Dallas was going to find in free agency to replace the veteran tight end. Shultz, a seventh-round pick out of Stanford, made a huge impact in Jarwin’s absence with nine catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted 10 times and averaged 9.8 yards per catch.

Trevon Diggs new number one?

The second-round pick out of Alabama has found himself around the ball in both of the Cowboys’ first two games of the season. He dropped a sure interception on a deep ball to Calvin Ridley in the fourth quarter. Diggs was tasked with matching up against Julio Jones, one-on-one, at times during the ball game and Matt Ryan didn’t fail to attempt to exploit that matchup.

Diggs was called for an offensive interference call on a third down in the first half when it appeared Julio had him beat over the top — though the ball was well overthrown. And he also nearly gave up a touchdown to Jones later in the game when wide receiver Russell Gage bombed a deep one out of Wildcat.

However, Jones ended with two receptions for 24 yards on the day and Diggs seems to have a lot of promise for a rookie cornerback in this league.

Three 1,000-yard receivers?

After seeing how the offense performed in week one, it’s certainly not many people still pondered this question heading into week two. But this receiving core shined against an Atlanta Falcons defense who was torched by Seattle the week prior. CeeDee Lamb had his first career 100-yard game and Amari Cooper totaled 100 yards on the day too.

Michael Gallup had two catches on the day but had a beautiful sideline catch late in the fourth quarter that led to a Dak Prescott rushing score. Gallup finished with 58 yards on the day.

To be or not to be aggressive?

One of the biggest issues fans took with last year’s coaching regime with how complaisant they could get in critical parts of the game. This coaching staff has shown early in the year they won’t have that same issue. A critical fourth-down call last week partially cost them the game.

Two fake punts, an early attempt at a two-point conversion, and an onside kick are what all the coaching staff had to show in week two. Fortunately, it equated to a win, but going forward it’ll be interesting to see how well this aggressive approach continues to work for Dallas.

Staff Writer covering the Dallas Cowboys | Madden Legend | SFA Alum | Fascinated by Success

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