Cowboys 'Win in All 3 Phases': Cliche, But Key to Looking Like Playoff Team
A star is born?
On a Saturday night when the Dallas Cowboys won a preseason game for the first time since 2019 and a road preseason game for the first time in 10 years, a local pint-sized talent dazzled with a breakout, two-touchdown performance in Los Angeles.
10. SMALL STEPS - After last week's dismal 17-7 loss to the Denver Broncos, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said "Not good enough football ... we've gotta be better."
Lesson learned.
Dallas was much improved in all three phases.
From KaVontae Turpin's two touchdown returns, to first-round rookie Tyler Smith's road-grading blocking to Israel Mukuamu's physical, ball-hawking play in the secondary, the Cowboys looked like a team with playoff talent.
Oh, and only eight penalties, a step in the right direction compared to last week's 17.
"All three phases.'' It's a coaching cliche. But if a team wants to really be what Dallas thinks it is - yes, a playoff team, and one that QB Dak Prescott believes is superior to last year's Cowboys playoff team - "all three phases'' sure would help.
9. HELLO, (PRESEASON) WIN COLUMN! - The Cowboys won a preseason game for the first time since Aug. 24, 2019 and preseason game on the road for the first time since Aug. 13, 2012. Though they'll have to go undefeated in the preseason until around 2029 to flirt with the Baltimore Ravens' gaudy 21-game August winning streak, the victory did break a Cowboys' six-game losing streak in games that don't matter.
8. MOOSE CALL(BACK) - Don't know about you, but we can't watch rookie tight end Jake Ferguson catching a quick pass and rumbling downfield without seeing visions of former fullback and three-time Super Bowl champion Daryl Johnston. The Wisconsin product caught a wide-open two-point conversion and later broke two tackles on a 24-yard reception.
7. NO. 1 AT NO.2 - In the battle to be Dak Prescott's backup, neither Cooper Rush nor Will Grier grabbed the job. Dallas put up 32 points, but that included only one touchdown drive of more than 15 yards. Rush started the game, going 3 of 6 for 32 that included a drop by rookie receiver Jalen Tolbert. Grier, making his first appearance of the Summer, played the second and third quarters and completed 6 of 10 for 98 yards with a sack. Jury is still out on this competition.
6. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER - On its ninth possession of the preseason, the Cowboys' offense finally produced a touchdown. Running back Rico Dowdle plunged in from one yard to cap a 12-play, 69-yard drive. The march, led by Rush, was highlighted by an 19-yard catch by rookie receiver Jalen Tolbert and a seven-yard reverse by Turpin.
5. TOLBERT'S (NON) TOE-TAP - Tolbert made improvements from last week with two catches for 25 yards. But apparently he needs to be reminded that this isn't South Alabama, it's the NFL where a receiver must get two feet down for a reception. Tolbert made a nice leaping catch in the back of the end zone in the second quarter, only to get just one foot down for an incompletion when it was clear he had time and space to tap his other foot. Ironic that Tolbert is one of the receivers the Cowboys are counting on fill the void left by Amari Cooper ... known as one of league's best all-time toe-tappers.
4. RARE RAVE - Something we haven't written that often: Impressive play by Trysten Hill. The fourth-year defensive tackle - who has only 0.5 sacks in his career - beat his blocker and deftly reached out with his arm to knock the ball out of Chargers' quarterback Easton Stick's hand before also recovering the fumble. Hill needs impact plays to make the Cowboys' final roster and he produced a beauty - a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery all in one fell swoop.
3. TYLER THE CREATOR - Yes, the penalty-plagued rookie from Tulsa did draw another flag (for a first-quarter false start), but he also proved again that he can move mountains. Smith was the main blocker on the Cowboys' long second-quarter touchdown drive. He at times devastated his Chargers assignment, consistently opening glaring holes for Dowdle.
2. THE NEXT GREAT 24? - Okay, we're waaaay jumping the gun here but with his play recognition, physical tackling and refreshing ball skills on display against the Chargers, is it too far-fetched to project Israel Mukuamu as the Cowboys' next great No. 24 in the secondary? The sixth-round pick in 2021 produced a violent tackle in the backfield in the first quarter, and on the next play spotted an overthrown pass by Stick to calmly make an interception near the sideline. Everson Walls. Larry Brown. Chidobe Awuzie. Israel Mukuamu? (Here's hoping he's not the next Morris Claiborne, who soiled the otherwise pristine jersey number 2012-16.)
1. TURPIN (PRIME) TIME - It's not just that the former TCU standout and USFL MVP returned a kick-off 98 yards for a touchdown and - in the same first half - ran back a punt 86 yards for another. It's that he wasn't even touched by a Charger on either electric return.
Stops. Starts. Zigs. Zags.
184 total yards. And, nope, not a single L.A. coverage-team member laid a hand on him, much less tackled him. Turpin only had to make two cuts on his kick-off return, but then made six Chargers miss on his breathtaking dance-and-dart punt return.
"I just used my speed," Turpin said, "off to the races it was."
We know, we know. It's August. But Turpin's dynamic double-dip could be the Cowboys' most impressive display of raw, unteachable athleticism since Deion Sanders produced a punt-return touchdown, Pick-Six score and 55-yard reception in a memorable Monday Night Football performance in 1998.
Didn't seem like a major signing when the Cowboys inked Turpin a month ago, but he's now the Cowboys' version of Tyreek Hill.
Said a smiling McCarthy, "I'm glad he's with us."
So is anybody in Cowboys Nation who believes in "all three phases.''
