Ranking the Cowboys top 5 Players of the Week against Falcons
Another frustrating loss has the Dallas Cowboys at 3-5 on the season. With three-straight losses now, the Cowboys are watching this campaign slip away and might need to consider being sellers at the NFL trade deadline.
While the front office has to consider that, we can continue to look at what happened during their loss on Sunday. It's easy to assume the entire team was awful following another defeat but that's not the case.
MORE: Jerry Jones' Cowboys trade deadline update is a bunch of jibberish
In this one, several players had strong individual performances. Here's who stood out as the top five players of the week for Dallas.
5. Cooper Rush, QB
Cooper Rush has always performed well when called on and that was the case again in Week 9. Rush was put into a tough spot when he entered the game in the fourth quarter following an injury to Dak Prescott.
He was being asked to take over a stagnant offense trailing by two scores. Throw in the limited time on the clock and everyone knew he would be dropping back to pass. Despite the deck stacked against him, Rush had 115 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-25 passing. It would have been an even better stat line if a couple of drops didn't take place.
One was by CeeDee Lamb, who had dime from Rush go through his hands on third-and-11 from the 31. On the next play, he hit KaVontae Turpin who couldn't hang on, forcing a turnover on downs.
4. Jake Ferguson, TE
Dak Prescott hardly threw the ball more than five-yards downfield while he was playing, which meant the Cowboys were asking their pass-catchers to break tackles. Jake Ferguson seemed to do that more than anyone, finishing with 71 yards on seven receptions. He continues to be a weapon, but the Cowboys have yet to get him a touchdown pass, which feels criminal at this point.
3. Brandon Aubrey, K
The most consistent player in Dallas this year is Brandon Aubrey. The second-year kicker was 2-for-2 including a 57-yarder. He's now 20-22 on the season and could be the next player to make Jerry Jones cry about the salary cap in the offseason.
2. Carl Lawson, DE
Carl Lawson had his best game for the Cowboys on Sunday. One of the few bright spots for a struggling defense, he registered two sacks and forced a turnover on one of those as Kirk Cousins coughed up the ball.
1. Rico Dowdle, RB
Dez Bryant believes the Cowboys are disrespecting Ezekiel Elliott by not giving him the right opportunities. It's hard to believe that's the case when Rico Dowdle continues to outperform him whenever he's given the chance.
On Sunday, Dowdle had 75 yards on 12 rushing attempts and 32 yards on five receptions. He even made a potential play of the year reception when he caught a touchdown pass that he initially bobbled.
Dowdle might not be an elite back, but he continues to be the only one in Dallas who deserves more snaps.
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