INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Watching this game immediately reminded me of the old NFL Films highlights when you see those quarterbacks barking off a play-call and trying desperately to draw the defense offside.
Can't you just picture Marino or Elway or Aikman yelling, "Hut-Hut-HUT HUT HUT!!!!"?
I told you it was coming. Did you stay onside, or did you jump?
OK, see where I'm going with this? Please don't jump offsides on this one game. I get it, this preseason opener was pretty ugly with not a lot to get too excited about. But for the love of God, please don't draw conclusions for the rest of the season based on this game.
I've seen too many of these preseason openers that went either really good or really bad, and we saw an exact opposite result for the rest of the season. So miss me on the part of being worried about the 2025 Cowboys based off this game.
Now, all that being said, this was pretty ugly in terms of four quarters of football. The Cowboys didn't tackle well on defense. They gave up too many plays in the open field. They got pushed around at the line of scrimmage. The offense couldn't move the ball and wasn't balanced at all. Plain and simple, it didn't look like this was a team that had been practicing for the last couple of weeks just an hour up the highway in Oxnard.
And to make matters worse, the biggest hit of the day was given out by the sideline official, who completely blasted CeeDee Lamb, who was too far out on the field during a second-quarter pass. At that point, all you could do was laugh, especially since Lamb wasn't hurt and he was laughing it off on the sidelines. But he definitely took a big hit – in a game where he's the last one who needs to get rocked, especially by a ref. That's when you know it's going to be a long day.
I know Brian Schottenheimer wanted a much better showing than this. And for him, it can be twice as bad because he isn't just the head coach making his debut, he's also the play-caller. And not only did his team look sloppy at times, the offense couldn't muster any real success – aside from a couple of second-quarter drives that ended in field goals and some fourth-quarter drives.
So let's get to a handful of things that stood out of the most:
- The cornerback depth is already a problem, and on the very first drive of the game, they lose a starter in Robert Rochell, who appeared to have a hamstring pull that knocked him out early. Rochell was getting beat on a would-be touchdown that fell incomplete. But his injury causes even more of an issue at corner, where they have three players already on injured lists, including Trevon Diggs.
- This is a game where I'd like to see Mazi Smith be more effective. The 2023 first-round pick didn't get a lot of snaps, but when he was out there, he definitely didn't dominate. I know he's been limited with a knee injury the last few practices, but we've been waiting on him to take that leap and it hasn't happened yet.
- Joe Milton is fun to watch, but that doesn't mean it's always good football. He can throw the ball as hard as anyone and probably further than anyone. Sometimes he needs more touch on the ball. I think he missed a handful of open receivers, including one for a touchdown in the second quarter because the pass sailed on him. Again, he needs to play a lot of football, and that's why the Cowboys let him go nearly the entire game. He did look a little better in the second half, especially on the touchdown drive.
- Israel Mukuamu made one of the best plays I've seen since we've come out to California. Some of the best catches have been made by the likes of CeeDee and George Pickens, but Mukuamu was able to turn his head just in time to make one heck of a play for an interception. A play like that is probably good enough to get him a spot on the team, if it was ever in doubt.
- I've said it for a while now and I'm not going to back off – Phil Mafah runs hard, and he's got a little juice. I'd like to see him get a few more carries, but, of course, we all want to see Jaydon Blue as well. Malik Davis was impressive just for the fact that he wasn't even in camp until Friday, and now he's running the ball as well as anyone.
All in all, it's a preseason opener. Just for clarity, the Cowboys haven't won a preseason opener since 2017, and they had lost nine out of 10 preseason openers since 2014. Over those years, we've only seen two losing seasons in that span.
Does that mean the Cowboys are going to be great just because the other seasons turned out to be fine? No, it means this game really doesn't matter because it's the preseason. Just like the other ones haven't either.
