–The Cowboys were in a not-so-select group of teams that were hit with roughing-the-passer penalties last weekend on plays that seemed like routine plays from past seasons.
In Dallas’s case, defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford dropped Seattle QB Russell Wilson on a third-and-5 from the Seahawks’ 12. But it was ruled that Crawford landed on Wilson with his body weight, and that is a popular infraction in the NFL these days.
Crawford spoke about the difficulty of playing within the new rule interpretation during a conference call on Tuesday.
“When you see a sack, you go even harder,” Crawford said. “When you see the quarterback, you go harder trying to get there before the ball is thrown. To pull off at literally the last millisecond is kind of hard.”
–The Dallas defensive line christened itself the Hot Boyz during training camp. Given the rate at which that group is performing, perhaps some other position groups should give themselves nicknames.
After three weeks, the Cowboys are tied for second in the NFL with 11 sacks. The Hot Boyz fearless leader, DeMarcus Lawrence, who was tied for second in the league with 14.5 sacks in 2017, leads the group with 2.5 sacks.
–The Cowboys released wide receiver Dez Bryant and tight end Jason Witten retired last spring. Dallas retained the services of wide receiver Terrance Williams, though that fact has been easy to forget.
Through three games, Williams has two catches for 18 yards. Williams has caught at least 35 passes in each of his 5 NFL seasons, all with the Cowboys. After having a catch apiece in the Cowboys’ season-opening loss at Carolina and their home-opening win over the Giants, Williams was shut out at Seattle last week.
The inability to get the ball to Williams has drawn criticism as part of the general critiques levied at the Cowboys’ anemic passing game.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1 — The number of Cowboys completions of more than 20 yards this season. Prescott hit Tavon Austin for a 64-yard touchdown on the third play of Dallas’s victory over the Giants. And that’s it.
