Adam Schefter tweeted today around noon:
“Cowboys and DE DeMarcus Lawrence will not reach a long-term deal before Tuesday’s franchise deadline, per source. Dallas has said it will place franchise tag on Lawrence if no long-term deal reached. So tag coming for Lawrence.”
This will set Lawrence up for a $17.1 million dollar year in 2018. The deadline for the franchise tag is March 6 at 4pm EST., so it will be finalized before then. Demarcus had 14.5 in 2017 (tied for 2nd in the NFL), which is over 60% of his career sack total of 23.5.
It was rumored that Lawrence was looking for “Von Miller money”, which is 6 years, $114 million with $70 million guaranteed. The Cowboys were obviously not ready to pay that price after one great year of productivity. Lawrence will need to prove himself again this year to receive a contract similar to that.
The down side of this deal is that the Cowboys have $16.4 million in cap room as it stands now. This means that they will have to move some money around in order to make room for Lawrence’s 2018 salary. If, however, Lawrence decides to sign with another team and the Cowboys do not match the deal, they will be compensated with 2 first round picks.
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WEEK 8 PREVIEW: Eagles @ Cowboys
Game Time: 7:30 (NBC – SNF)
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Line: Dallas, -4.5
In a league begging for conversation topics, I was really trying hard to find something to spotlight in this game. And not because there are too few, it’s quite the opposite here in Dallas. In this Sunday Night Football matchup between league rivals, you have a 5-1 Cowboys team facing off against a 4-2 Eagles team, both of which are starting rookie quarterbacks. Add the fact that Cowboys’ long time quarterback, Tony Romo, actually practiced for the first time since training camp on Thursday and you are pretty much guaranteed to see and hear plenty about the QB debate during the national broadcast. Is this Dak’s last game? This game will tell us. If the Cowboys win by 14, Dak has a rating of 100+ and Zeke rushes for 150, it will be really hard to pull him. A Cowboys loss, on the other hand, makes it really easy for the front office and coaching staff to put Romo back in and let him get a shot at a ring. Needless to say, there are plenty of story lines leading into Sunday Night.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys will look to stop the run and force Carson Wentz to move his feet. When Wentz can hang in the pocket, he can deliver a nice pass. However, when he is forced to move while throwing, he tends to throw flat footed and rely on his arm causing the ball to sail. Last week we saw the defense rush 3 and drop 8. The Packers didn’t have a running back for most of the game, so this made sense. This week, the Eagles have two in Jordan Matthews and Darren Sproles, both of which can hurt you. That said, the Eagles are ranked 17th in the league in rushing with 111/ypg. On paper, this Eagles offense doesn’t look like a 4-2 team. Their defense, however, is a whole ‘nother story, allowing only 307/ypg (5th in the league) and 14.7 points per game (3rd in the league).
Offensively, Dak and Zeke have this team rolling and Dez Bryant is coming back. The Eagles will need to pick their poison and are going to really need to think about their choice. Their run defense is ranked 24th in the league allowing 4.5 yards per carry and their starting defensive tackle, Bennie Logan, is might not suit up. If that happens, Zeke is going to have a field day. The only way to stop this from happening is to load the box, leaving 1:1 with Dez outside. This might be the day Dak posts his first 300 yard game.
Keys to the Game:
Find a way to get in the backfield: Doing this will give the running backs less room to move and force Carson Wentz to move his feet. Over the last two weeks, teams have been able to do this and Wentz has looked more like a rookie. The Offensive line isn’t as good as the Cowboys have faced in the first 6 weeks, so if there was a matchup that allowed a rush, this is it.
Run: The Eagles defense as a whole ranks in the top 5 in the league in yards per game and points allowed, however, the run defense is ranked 24th. Feed Zeke. Force the Eagles to stop him and by doing so freeing up the receivers. Zeke or Dak should have a big game, which one depends on the Eagles preference.
Get Dez started early: With Dez set to start for the first time in 4 weeks, look for him to get some early receptions in order to kick off the dust. If the Eagles decide to shut down Dez, look for Cole Beasley to have another big game.
Prediction:
Cowboys: 24
Eagles: 10
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GAME RECAP: Giants 20 – Cowboys 19
It wasn’t all fun and games for Dez Bryant and the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon. Actually, I think it’s safe to say that no fun was had by any athlete donning a star on their helmet. As time expired in the 20-19 loss to the New York Giants, I couldn’t help but say, “I told you so.”.
The key to this game was the Cowboys’ Defensive Line. Not the rookie QB – Not the rookie RB – The Defensive Line. The D-Line had more holes than a cheese hat from Green Bay, which allowed the Giants to rush up the middle at will. However, the game ultimately came down to a play that couldn’t have been scripted any better for Cowboy haters, as Terrance Williams made the bone-head decision to turn back towards the middle of the field rather than getting out of bounds to stop the clock with only 10 seconds remaining. With no timeouts, the Cowboys ran out of time at the Giants’ 40 yard line, which coincidentally is exactly where they needed to be for a game-winning field goal try by Dan Bailey.
As for Dak Prescott, his debut was ok. He showed poise in the pocket at times, but there were too many other times when it seemed like he was simply throwing in the general direction of his receivers and hoping for a miracle. Dak finished his debut going 25 of 45 for 227 yards with no Touchdowns, no Interceptions and an overall passer rating of 69.4. Not exactly the triple digit rating we were all hoping for, but if it wasn’t for a horrible drop by Beasley in the red zone, it would’ve have been a little better.
[ecko_pull_quote alignment=”left” source=”Ezekiel Elliott”]I think I was average, you know – average. [/ecko_pull_quote]
Ezekiel Elliott didn’t live up to expectations either, averaging just 2.4 yards on 20 carries for 51 total yards. Every time he touched the ball he was met by a wall of defenders at the line of scrimmage. After the game, Zeke acknowledged his lackluster performance, saying “I think I was average, you know – average. That’s not why I was brought here to be average, so we’ve got a lot of work to get done. A lot to work on.”. Alfred Morris seemed to have better luck finding the holes, gaining 35 yards on 7 touches (5.0 YPC). Maybe the defense played Morris a little looser, maybe not.
But the most shocking stat was Geoff Swaim having a bigger day than Dez Bryant. The 2nd string TE out of the University of Texas hauled in one pass for 21 yards while the star wide receiver was nearly X’d-out (pun intended), finishing with only 8 yards from one catch. Dez had a couple opportunities for big plays in the end zone, but failed to come down with the ball in either instance. The timing and feel between Dak and Dez will come with continued practice and they will eventually find their rhythm, but for the sake of Cowboy Nation, I sure hope it’s soon… Star CB Josh Norman awaits Dez next week in Washington.
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The Rangers are similar to the 2006 & 2011 Mavericks, and that’s a very good thing.
[ecko_quote source=”Maya Angelou”]People won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.[/ecko_quote]
Maya Angelou was right, and often times sports are the same way. We may not remember every play or sometimes even the final score, but we always seem to remember where we were during the big games (because of the strong feelings we have at those moments). A championship game can pump you up so much that you riot into the streets as if you were invincible, but it can also bring you down so low that you have to call into work the next day. Below are my personal accounts of the feelings I’ve had with both the Mavs and the Rangers, followed by some odd similarities that may give DFW sports fans a reason to feel optimistic about November baseball.
June 20, 2006 – Mavs lose the Championship: After Game 6, Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat accept the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the American Airlines Center. My body-painted jersey begins to fade as I watch in disgust from the lower level. That championship was ours for the taking, and we let it slip through our fingers. The shock slowly sets in as I begin to realize the Mavs will have to start over at square one next year.
June 12, 2011 – Mavs’ Redemption: Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks payback the favor to Miami, as the Mavs are crowned NBA Champs after Game 6 in the American Airlines Arena. I watch the game at a friends’ ‘Man Cave’, where Phil (the other half of the SOS podcast) and I both brought multiple bottles of champagne as if we would be celebrating with the team afterwards. Complete hysteria ensues; the party begins; 2006 is forgotten.
October 27, 2011 – Rangers lose the championship: I am the only Rangers fan in the bar, on the north side of Chicago. Several beers and shots in, I may or may not have been talking trash to the sea of St. Louis Cardinals fans, in both the 9th and 10th innings. I feel like a toddler in timeout, as I sit in my corner booth, after David Freese hits a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Many of the aforementioned Cardinals fans walk by with some choice words for my premature celebrations. The next day, I sneak away to the doctor’s lounge during my on-call OB night shift, to watch yet another DFW major sports championship slip away as the Cardinals pulled off an easy 6-2 win in game 7.
November, 2016 – Rangers’ Redemption?: Currently, the Texas Rangers sit atop of the American League with their eyes set on November Baseball. But will they get there? The similarities between these franchises seems to point towards the Rangers righting the wrongs of five years ago, just as the Dallas Mavericks did in 2011. Let’s take a look…
THE STARTERS
For starters (pun intended), both the 2016 Rangers and 2011 Mavs are returning about 15-20% of their roster from five years before. This shows that both teams did have strong cores in their previous championship run, but trying to make a run with the same team five years later will not work. Jon Daniels and Donnie Nelson both made the necessary moves to keep their teams in contention. Dirk and Jason ‘The Jet’ Terry returned for the Mavs, while the Rangers held onto Beltre, Mitch Moreland, Colby Lewis, Elvis Andrus, and Derek Holland. Jon Daniels could’ve gone the way of the Marlins after both the 1997 and 2003 World Series wins and completely blown up the roster for a rebuild. Instead, he chose to keep a good core while letting go of a few expensive luxuries, so that he could retool the Rangers into a team that could make another run in October.
In both the 2010-11 NBA season and the 2016 MLB season, there was a team in the other conference/league that was getting all of the headlines. The 2010-11 Miami Heat “Big-three” of Wade, Bosh, and Lebron made a hater out of everyone, and had them tuning in just hoping they would lose every night. While the MLB doesn’t have a team with quite that star power, they do have the Chicago Cubs who started out the season an incredible 24-6 pacing them to win 130 (which would’ve blown their own record of 116 wins out of the water). Now its mid-August, and the Cubs have cooled, but they still lead the majors in wins and are on pace for over 100 wins.
THE INJURIES
Both teams also lost what was thought to be an integral piece to a championship run mid-season, and would never see that player in their team’s uniform again. The Mavs lost starting wing, Caron Butler, to a season-ending knee injury and he signed with the Clippers the following year. This forced the Mavs to bring defensive-minded Deshawn Stevenson into the starting lineup, who added a toughness to a team usually thought of as ‘soft’. Stevenson was usually ignored on the offensive side of the floor, but could always nail a three when his man sagged off a little too much. JJ Barea is probably the player who gained the most from Butler’s injury, since he grabbed a boatload of quality minutes in the playoffs that earned him a 4 year/$19 million contract from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Rangers, on the other hand, just recently lost starting 1st baseman/DH, Prince Fielder, to a career-ending neck injury. While Prince was not having a very good year for himself, he was still a dangerous bat that opposing pitchers would fear in tight ballgames. The recent loss of Shin Soo Choo could be added to this injury issue, as well, although he may be available very late in the postseason.
THE TRADES
Personnel trades are always a big part of championship runs, and 2011 and 2016 were no different. The Mavs pretty much stole candy from the baby when they swapped Erick Dampier for the Bobcats’ Tyson Chandler. Chandler turned out to be the most important player on the Mavericks, not named Dirk. His presence, both on the defensive end of the floor and in the locker room, changed the Mavs into a driven, determined force to be reckoned with. Put Dampier back on the team, and ‘Mother’s Day Massacre’ might have a completely different meaning for Mavs fans.
Jon Daniels proved to everyone that the Rangers have their eyes set on the World Series in 2016, when they picked up both Carlos Beltran and Jonathon Lucroy at the trade deadline. Many fans were upset when they didn’t pickup a starting pitcher, but Daniels was just not willing to give away the farm (system) for a single pitcher, but the trades he did make we’re still pretty bold. Beltran is a great bat to add to the lineup, the only issue will be if he will have to play in the field for three games in the World Series. Lucroy is a huge addition to the Rangers for this year and next, filling in the one weak position they had in the field. Not to jump the gun or anything, but in Lucroy’s first fifteen games with the Rangers, he has seven home runs and fourteen RBIs. Not bad my friend, not bad at all.
THE PRIOR YEAR
Finally, both teams also finished their prior year by losing to a rival in the playoffs. The Mavs, as a two-seed, lost in the 1st round to the much hated San Antonio Spurs in 2010. This rivalry during the Duncan/Dirk era will live on forever in fans hearts, and this series was no different. Losing again with such a high seed and a 1-0 lead made Dirk fans start to question if he would ever win a championship in the NBA. The articles circulated, which no doubt got back to Dirk to fuel the fire for the following year. And what a year 2011 was!
The 2015 ALDS between the Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays may not have started as a rivalry, but, if Bautista’s bat flip and Odor’s punch heard round the world haven’t proven it to you yet – it is one now. The Rangers took games one AND two on the road, and it looked as if no one could deny the Rangers another chance at the pennant. We all know how this story ends though, with the Blue Jays roaring back to take both games in Texas, then flying home to crush Rangers fans’ hearts as Elvis Andrus committed two crucial errors to seal their fate. It may not have been all that bad though, considering it didn’t look like anyone could have beat the Royals in 2015.
Early November 2016: So where will I be at this time? Where will you be? Maybe I’ll scrounge up some tickets and see the magic unfold live before my eyes. And you can never rule out the camaraderie found in a sports bar, with hundreds of other strangers with one common goal: a win for the home team. They say championships live forever, but really, it’s the memories that do.[ecko_button color=”red” size=”large” url=”http://news.sportsoverserved.com”]VIEW OTHER ARTICLES[/ecko_button]
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