Monday Night Observations
The Cowboys looked good on both sides of the ball, though the Raiders are a bad team, and it’s hard to remember it ever being otherwise. My biggest takeaway was how good George Pickens is — he’s stronger and better after the catch than CeeDee Lamb.
Dak Prescott was virtually perfect. No mistakes, great accuracy on his throws. He’s a bad-team killer. I guess most QBs over a certain threshold are, but Prescott really racks up the numbers against them.
Javonte Williams ground out 93 tough yards, most of which were after contact, but there were no explosive runs. He did yeoman’s work on blitz pickup though, stopping Maxx Crosby at least once.
Pickens was the WR1, Lamb the WR2. I know that will probably change, and Lamb should have had a second wide-open TD he dropped, but Pickens looks hungry and motivated.
Jake Ferguson got the TD but only 16 yards. He’s a distant third option with both receivers healthy.
Brandon Aubrey kicked a 50-yarder like it was an extra point. If they narrowed the uprights by 70 percent, Aubrey would still make most of his kicks unlike the rest of the league where you’re praying it sneaks inside the upright. He’s the Justin Tucker of this decade, if you massage the timeline a bit.
The Raiders abandoned the run right away after Ashton Jeanty got stuffed a couple times. Jeanty caught six passes for 27 yards, but nothing explosive.
Brock Bowers had a modest day on 12 targets, and even dropped an easy ball, though it wasn’t going anywhere. Geno Smith didn’t have much time to throw, so Bowers’ deeper targets weren’t happening.
Tre Tucker had eight targets and caught a TD. Seems like he’s the No. 1 wideout with Tyler Lockett nominally the No. 2 with Jakobi Meyers gone. Tucker is marginally startable, I guess.
I still can’t tell if Jeanty is good. The booth harped on his issues in pass protection too.
Boswell is the best kicker of all time. Tucker is the “public’s best kicker”. It’s incorrect. Bos has kicked 83% of FG 50+ which is just stupid. They are right down the middle. At Heinz Field. But the circumstances/stakes make him the best ever. There’s never emotion because he’s a robot. Steelers are my team and have been in purgatory for 15 years. Bos is the sole reason Steelers have made undeserving playoff appearances time after time. I don’t know who is 2nd. Probably Massage Tucker…but it’s a distant 2nd.