Cowboys Country

'I Played Faster!' Deuce Vaughn Stars in Cowboys Sloppy Loss: Top 10 Whitty Observations

Rookie running back Deuce Vaughn again steals the show in a Dallas Cowboys' preseason loss, this time 22-14 to the Seattle Seahawks.

Richie Whitt

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On a sloppy night in Seattle, the Dallas Cowboys may have (again) found something in rookie running back Deuce Vaughn, but also perhaps lost a promising rookie linebacker along with a 22-14 preseason game to the Seattle Seahawks.

10. DEUCE x 2 - Okay, Deuce Vaughn creates a buzz with a couple plays in the preseason opener and he's a cute story. But the 5-foot-5 waterbug did it again Saturday night in Seattle - on his first carry, mind you - and now he's ... a legitimate weapon? Vaughn took a hand-off left, sprinted through the hole, made one airborne Seahawks' defender miss, spun away from another and scampered in standing up from 14 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. Two games. Two scores. If not the No. 2 running back, Deuce just has to be heavily involved in Dallas' regular-season game plans. Good things happen when he touches the ball. We're sold.

Is Deuce fast? Sure. But he's suggesting there is another gear coming ...

“I feel like I was more comfortable as far as playing faster,” Vaughn said. “Last week, I felt like there was a couple times, whether it was in pass protection or running the football, I wasn’t playing as fast because I was thinking a little more. But another game under my belt and I felt like I played faster.”

9. TACO SATURDAY? - We're not ready to pronounce Mazi Smith another defensive lineman bust from Michigan (like 2017's Taco Charlton), but there are certain plays - like all rookies, to be fair - where he appears overwhelmed. In the first quarter, the 6-foot-3, 340-pound nose tackle was literally, legally picked up and dumped on his back by 6-2, 320-pound Seattle center Evan Brown. Seahawks' rookie running back Zach Charbonnet scooted through the huge opening in the middle of Dallas' defensive line for 29 yards.

8. QUARTERBACK CONTINUITY - You might complain that the Cowboys haven't given Dak Prescott a preseason snap since 2019 (especially when reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes played last week for the Chiefs). But you might also put a sock in it.

In 2016 in Seattle starting quarterback Tony Romo scrambled and was crushed by two tacklers, fracturing bones in his back. Enter Prescott. Exit, eventually and permanently, Romo.

The Colts announced this week they’ll start rookie Anthony Richardson, the eighth consecutive year they’ll have a different quarterback in Week 1. The Cowboys have their share of woes, but quarterback continuity isn’t one of them. Over the last 17 years (counting 2023), they’ve amazingly had only two quarterbacks take the first snap of the season: Dak (8) and Romo (9).

7. TOLBERT GIVETH, TAKETH - Second-year receiver Jalen Tolbert has had a snappy training camp and preseason. On the heels of a touchdown catch last week he snared a 35-yarder against Seattle corner (and 2019 Cowboys' draft pick) Michael Jackson. 

But just when we lean into cementing him as the No. 4 receiver ... oops. On a second-quarter play Tolbert reacted to a short pass from Cooper Rush like a kid who had never had a ball thrown his way in his life. He awkwardly fought it, butchered it and finally dropped what should have been an automatic 10-yard catch. 

But ... One bad - horrendous - drop can't ruin a splendid Summer, and Tolbert finished with four catches for 66 yards.

6. OVERSHOWN ... OVER? - Former Texas Longhorns' star Demarvion Overshown has been one of training camp's pleasant surprises. But ... that didn't look good. After a first-half tackle he initially got up, but then grabbed his left knee and went down. 

He was taken to the locker room on a cart and, yep, a torn ACL is the fear. MRI scheduled. Breath held. (Here's the latest.)

5. JERRY SAYS - Sporting a small bandage on the tip of his nose for an unknown reason, owner Jerry Jones said in an interview before the game that as many as "four" undrafted free agents could make the final 53-man roster. 

Maybe ... Kicker Brandon Aubrey. Tight end John Stephens (injured in this game). Offensive lineman T.J. Bass. And ... hmm.

Jones also explained why he caved and gave Zack Martin a lucrative contract extension. "He's in a league of his own," Jerry said of Zack. "He's indispensable to the Dallas Cowboys."

4. KEYSTONE COWBOYS - You know it's the preseason when you look up to see backup running back Rico Dowdle making a nifty run up the sideline, only to realize he had just ventured out of his own end zone - and actually stepped out of bounds for a safety - after fielding the ball on a bounce from a blocked punt. It was Dowdle, by the way, who totally whiffed on his block attempt that allowed Seattle's John Hall a free path to block Bryan Anger's attempted punt.

3. KICKER CHILL - We know he yanked an extra point wide left last week against the Jaguars, but since Tristan Vizcaino was released on Aug. 7 Brandon Aubrey has made 43 of 49 field goals in practice and preseason games. He made both extra points and his kickoffs were also no-doubter touchbacks that landed near the back of the end zone.

2. PRESEASON, PACIFIC NORTHWEST STYLE - The Cowboys have a - let's call it "diverse" - history with the Seahawks. Emmitt Smith setting the NFL rushing record in 2002. Tony Romo's infamous bobbled hold in 2006. Prescott's first playoff win in 2018. The historically horrible trade of two first-round draft picks for receiver Joey Galloway in 2000. All against Seattle.

In the preseason, even, there have been memorable moments in the Pacific Northwest.

Bad: All-Pro safety Charlie Waters tearing his ACL in 1979.

Good: DeMarcus Ware's rookie introduction in 2005, highlighted by a sack, a tipped pass and an interception all in the first half. After the game, Bill Parcells tried to mitigate the hype by saying "let's not get out the anointing oil with this guy just yet." Fine, Bill. We waited 18 years before enshrining him into Canton. But, um, without a Cowboys jersey or helmet?!

1. OH FOR PRESEASON? - Despite being 0-2 this preseason, it's not exactly a must-win for the Cowboys when they host the Las Vegas Raiders next Saturday night at AT&T Stadium. Oddly enough, they have had moderate success in seasons in which they didn't win an exhibition game. The 2021 preseason, which ended 0-4, was the the seventh time the Cowboys entered a season without a win and they wound up winning the NFC East. The last three times they've been winless in the preseason they've made the playoffs.

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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