At the beginning of the regular 2017 season, Dallas Cowboys had a problem with the four-game suspension that their defensive tackle David Irving had to serve. That problem manifested in a 2-2 start for the Cowboys which was no surprise given the fact that their best defensive player wasn’t there. Upon his return, he managed to make the same impact as he did the year before, but unfortunately, the win rate has not improved.
This guy means so much to the team because of his possibility to put pressure on the opposing QB’s even when not tackling them and thanks to his insane wingspan he can easily battle passes into the opposing backfield or just to tip ones that get intercepted in the secondary. This man is a pure monster on the field, and if you don’t believe us just ask Jeff Heath and Anthony Brown if it is true. If you recall Irving missed the last week’s game against the New York Giants due to a concussion he got after the Redskins game a week before that. Everyone was hoping that he will bounce back quickly and aid in the match against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday night but, as you probably saw, that didn’t happen.
You are all aware that the duel against the Redskins was a season-saving win, and thanks to it, the Cowboys playoff run began basically after that game. They are certainly giving all they’ve got to this point and thanks to that fact they managed to make a three-game win in this month. The last one was the game against the Raiders which they ended up winning 17-20. But this match was highly spoken of, and it was believed that Cowboys had the upper hand in it but with the fact that they are missing Irving and are still waiting for Elliot to end his suspension it wasn’t a game that will be easy to win and the end score reflected it.
Thanks to the fact that Amari Cooper also missed that duel and that Raiders’ overall performance is just as bad as Cowboys’ was, our team managed to sneak another win. Derek Carr was also out of his passing game, and he hasn’t been lighting up the field the way he knows, but hey, thanks to those little slips the Cowboys managed to get the third consecutive win without some key players. America’s Team is now 8-6, and their very paper thin chance for making the playoffs is still alive as they are still very much alive in the NFC wild-card race. Thanks to the fact that next week is Elliott’s big return from his six-game suspension they will be getting another puff of wind under the wings for sure.
If the Cowboys really want to make it to the playoffs, they will need all the luck and help they can get. They will need playmakers on the defensive front, meaning Irving and guys like DeMarcus Lawrence, Sean Lee and Anthony Hitchens who have had a remarkable season so far. This was proven in the game against Raiders where the defensive coach brought everything he could in order to stop Marshawn Lynch and managed to do so with a very thin defensive line and without his most athletic and unblockable ace. This shows that nothing is impossible if you want it hard enough. Good luck to you Dallas and hope you really make it!
