FRISCO — Cowboys rookie corner Shavon Revel hasn’t played football in more than 400 days. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown hasn’t played in more than 300 days. Even defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, newly acquired from the New York Jets, hasn’t played in more than three weeks, thanks to back-to-back bye weeks for his former team and his current one.
It’s probably safe to say it’s felt long for everyone around the Cowboys headquarters between their last game and Monday’s game in Las Vegas.
As Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer started the week by saying, the team won’t move on from the loss of Marshawn Kneeland, who died by suicide Nov. 6, but they will move forward. They did that this week with sessions with mental health professionals, a team breakfast, a vigil for Kneeland and his loved ones, and ultimately, with practice.
The next step is Monday’s game — an important one for the Cowboys if they hope to move the conversation for the rest of the season to a potential playoff run, instead of potential draft picks they might make this coming spring.
Cowboys
Here are five final thoughts leading into Monday’s game against Las Vegas.
Playing for Marshawn
Players and coaches this week have been adamant that people need to approach the grieving process in their own way. For some, getting back on the field has been therapeutic. Schottenheimer said the game has always been an escape for him, going back to the time he lost his father, Marty, in 2021. That doesn’t mean playing will be easy for everyone, however.
“It’s been hard. Playing Monday is not going to make it easier,” Overshown said. “Playing the following Sunday and Thursday is not going to make it easier. I just really ask for y’all’s mercy on me, my teammates, the coaches, and ask for continued prayers, because as much as we run around and push forward and laugh and smile, that hole is still there. That hole is still there.”
And Kneeland likely won’t be far from their minds. Cowboys defensive end Solomon Thomas said this week that they’re supposed to feel those feelings, but they can also use them positively.
“It’s to not run away from your grief; bring the grief with you, because those emotions, you can use them for good,” he said. “You can use them in the memory of Marshawn and how he used to play.”
And that, in the words of his teammates, is with great passion for each play and great hustle. Quarterback Dak Prescott said this week that Kneeland’s memory can be a counterbalance to moments where the Cowboys aren’t giving their all on a given play. He said there was a practice play this week where a jog turned into a sprint because he knew that’s what Kneeland would do.
“And that’s what we’re going to bring this Monday night and throughout the whole season,” wide receiver Ryan Flournoy said. “Just playing for him, because he would love to be on that field playing with us.”
Change in the air
The Cowboys’ defense was one of the worst in the NFL through the first nine games of the season. They entered this week with the 31st-ranked defense in terms of scoring and yards allowed. After the bye, though, there is optimism about a potential change.
That’s because of the potential changes they have.
Owner Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) on Friday that the Cowboys could have as many as six new players playing on defense. Overshown and Revel are a part of that. So are Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson, who was acquired from Cincinnati before the deadline. The Cowboys also could get back their two starting safeties, Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker, who both missed the loss to Arizona in their last game. Hooker is questionable and currently on injured reserve, though Schottenheimer said he was trending toward playing.
“There’s no question we’re going to be improved,” Jones said.
Now they’ll have the chance to show it.
One problem
The Raiders’ offense, conveniently, offers a nice testing ground for the Cowboys’ new and improved defense. The Raiders have struggled. Their offensive line is banged up. They traded wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to Jacksonville at the deadline.
In short, there aren’t a lot of ways they could — in theory — hurt the Cowboys.
Tight end Brock Bowers could, though. Bowers was an All-Pro in his rookie season last year. He’s dealt with injuries this season but has shown his potential. Two weeks ago, he had 12 catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns. This past week, however, he was limited to three targets.
The Cowboys are preparing for his potential impact, especially when it comes to Bowers’ ability to break tackles. Schottenheimer said it’s essential that the Cowboys get Bowers on the ground, as difficult as that is to do.
“Anytime you have that tight end who’s an incredible combination of quickness, speed, run-after-the-catch ability for a quarterback like Geno [Smith] — that I think is really just a very pure passer of the football — it’s incredibly difficult. There are certain ways you try to neutralize the guy, but he’s an impact player.”
Slow is a no-go
The Cowboys have had two of their four lowest scoring outputs this season the last two weeks. They struggled mightily on the road against Denver. AT&T Stadium had been a setting for a high-powered Cowboys offense before the loss to Arizona, when Dallas struggled again.
Is there reason to be concerned with a Cowboys’ offense that had been one of the best in the league before this two-game stretch? It could depend on whether the Cowboys start fast or slow.
“We got behind in both games and had to kind of play catch-up,” Schottenheimer said when asked, specifically, about Prescott. “Unfortunately, there’s not many guys that are going to play at a high level. That’s not how we want to play. Certainly, we want to be a team that can run the football and use our [play] action passing game, make people guess. It feels for really most of the second half of Denver and then certainly the last quarter against Arizona, we were playing mostly two-minute. That’s hard when they know you’re going to pass, you have to pass and everyone in the stadium knows you’re going to pass. It’s difficult.”
The Cardinals scored on their first two possessions against the Cowboys. If Dallas wants to stay in its normal offense, that pace can’t be allowed against Las Vegas.
Have to have it
Jones has talked before about how much of a friend former Raiders owner Al Davis was before he passed away in 2011. Davis, famously, had a saying when it came to his Raiders: “Just win, baby.”
Well, for the Cowboys, Monday’s game against the Raiders is a must-win, baby.
As of last week, the Cowboys had a 5.3% chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN. Losing Monday could drop that to significantly low and unlikely levels.
Simply put: the Cowboys can’t afford to have a 3-6-1 record when Monday ends.
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