Cowboys Country

Winners and losers from Cowboys win over Raiders in Preseason Week 2

These players stood out as winners and losers for the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 of the preseason.

Randy Gurzi

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
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The Dallas Cowboys had a late-night game as their showdown with the Las Vegas Raiders kicked off at 10:00 pm EST. After dropping their opener on a last-second touchdown pass, the Cowboys made sure there would be no drama this time.

Defensive back Kemon Hall extended a one-point fourth-quarter lead to eight when he picked off Aidan O'Connell and ran the ball back 69 yards for a touchdown.

Trey Lance then put it away when he ran a touchdown in from two yards out to make it a 27-12 lead with roughly two minutes to play.

MORE: Cowboys add veteran reinforcements to their defensive line

Several players stood out in this one, so let's dive in and check out the winners and losers from Preseason Week 2.

Winner: Juanyeh Thomas, Safety

Dallas Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas
Dallas Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The depth at safety is no joke in Big D. Juanyeh Thomas has the talent to be a starter but he finds himself on the same roster as Malik Hooker, Donovan Wilson, Markquese Bell, and Israel Mukuamu. Even with those names surrounding him, Thomas is proving he belongs on the field.

On Saturday, he broke up a pass on first-and-10 meant for Jakobi Meyers during the opening drive. Later in the game, he put pressure on Gardner Minshew as he was rolling out and looking for an open receiver. When the Raiders' QB finally tried to get the pass off, Thomas leaped up and swatted the ball down.

Thomas had just one tackle, but his impact was felt well beyond the box score.

Winner: Ryan Flournoy, Wide Receiver

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the offseason, Ryan Flournoy was impressive. The sixth-round rookie showed off his talent every chance he could but then fell flat in his debut last week. Flournoy had a dropped pass and a fumble but made up for that this week.

Flournoy had much more confidence this time around, hauling in four passes for 23 yards and added a seven-yard rush. He also had his first touchdown of the preseason, catching a one-yarder from Trey Lance.

There's almost no scenario where Flournoy isn't on the 53-man roster when Dallas heads into the regular season. The only question is how often he can see the field as a rookie. If he keeps playing as he did in Week 2, he's going to get plenty of time.

Loser: Jalen Cropper, Wide Receiver

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Moreno-Cropper
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Moreno-Cropper / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Jalen Cropper has put together a great camp and had 26 yards on four receptions in the preseason opener. Even with his performance, it was going to be hard to make the roster given the depth at receiver. Still, he had an outside shot, especially if he could stand out as a returner. The more you can do, the better your chances.

Unfortunately for Cropper, it was his mistake as a returner that could doom him.

Early in the second quarter, Cropper fielded a booming 69-yard punt and ran it back eight yards but then fumbled. The Raiders recovered, taking the ball back at the Dallas 23.

Las Vegas didn't score as the defense held on a fourth-down attempt. Had this been a regular season game though, they would have taken the points since they were handed the ball in field goal range.

Winner: Deuce Vaughn, Running Back

Deuce Vaughn, Dallas Cowboys
Deuce Vaughn, Dallas Cowboys / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Deuce Vaughn made his preseason debut this weekend and made his case for a spot on the 53-man roster. The second year back had six yards on his first run, followed by an exciting 12-yard run on the final play of the first quarter.

Vaughn is still far from a lock to make the team with Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle, and Royce Freeman ahead of him. Even with that depth, he's a player they liked a lot coming out of Kansas State in 2023 and will make it tough for them to move on if he keeps moving as he did Saturday.

Loser: Malik Davis, Running Back

Malik Davis, Dallas Cowboys
Malik Davis, Dallas Cowboys / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Malik Davis again had a chance to earn a spot on the roster and this time he started off on the right foot. Davis ripped off a nine-yard gain on his first run of the night. From there, things went in the wrong direction.

Davis finished his night with just 14 yards on five attempts. That means he went for five yards on his final four rushes. Throw in his 18 yards on eight rushes performance against L.A. and it seems as though the practice squad is going to be his best bet.

Winner: Brandon Aubrey, Kicker

Dallas Cowboys place kicker Brandon Aubrey
Dallas Cowboys place kicker Brandon Aubrey / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Had this been a regular-season game, Brandon Aubrey would be in the record books again. After setting a new record by making the first 35 kicks of his career, Aubrey showed off his power on Saturday by drilling a kick from 66 yards out.

Aubrey closed out the first half with the field goal, which would have tied the league-record set by Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens in 2021.

Last week, Aubrey tried a 65-yarder but was short. The former MLS draft pick was the surprise choice for Dallas last season but has quickly established himself as one of the best in the business.

Winner: Trey Lance, Quarterback

He didn't light up the stat sheet, but Trey Lance looked much better in Week 2 of the preseason than he did in Week 1.

Lance was again the second quarterback for Dallas, taking over following three drives (and three passing attempts) from Cooper Rush. He closed out the first quarter and then played the remainder of the game. He looked far more confident under center and even threw his first touchdown as a Cowboy, hitting Ryan Flournoy from one yard out. He added another touchdown on the ground, putting the game away when he ran it in from two yards out.

He finished with 151 yards on 15-of-23 passing and added 34 yards on the ground. While there were several good plays the most heads-up decision he made all night might have been easy to miss.

With his team up 10-6 with just nine seconds until halftime, Lance took off for a 20 yard run and despite having room to run, he slid down with two seconds left and allowed his coaching staff to call timeout. This set up Brandon Aubrey for the 66-yard kick and brought back awful memories of when the Cowboys lost to the 49ers in the playoffs following the 2021 season.

That was when Dak Prescott took off and ran but didn't slide in time to get one final play off.

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Randy Gurzi

RANDY GURZI

Arizona State grad

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