Cowboys’ Jerry Jones Speaks Out On Trade Possibilities After Loss
The Dallas Cowboys‘ outing against the Denver Broncos on Sunday certainly did not go as well as the team would have hoped, as they returned to Texas having had the Bo Nix-led offense put 44 points on the their 31st ranked total defense.
Ironically, despite having had Sean Payton’s men hang almost a half-century on them, the Cowboys’ defense went from 32nd to 31st after week 8, after the Cincinnati Bengals‘ shootout against the New York Jets, which ended with New York getting their first victory of the season in the Midwest.
Post-game, owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, was asked by a member of the media if the Cowboys’ loss on Sunday impacted the way the franchise could approach the trade deadline.
However, the 83-year old was bullish that the organization’s strategy over the next week would not be impacted by the result in week 8.
Jerry Jones Will Not Change Trade Deadline Strategy After Loss
“A loss is discouraging,” Jones said after the game, “but as far as my temperament – if I saw a proposition for us to help this team, no matter what this score was today, then I would look at it on the merits of helping this team.
And if you’re talking about trading for a player or trading a player, I’d completely look at it on the merits on the team, both for next week or the weeks after or for the longer term. So I’d have to answer your question “no”, today would not affect a decision on trading for a player.”
Jones was adamant that the team would remain on the lookout a deal based on the “merits of helping this team”, rather than the situation they find themselves in after eight games.
Now with a record of 3-4-1, the Cowboys lie 1.5 games behind the San Francisco 49ers, who would currently occupy the 7th playoff spot if the postseason started today – so they are far from out of the loop by any means.
Cowboys Already Looking For ‘High-Impact’ Players At The Deadline
Even prior to this game, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Saturday, Dallas had already been looking for “high impact” and quality players at the trade deadline, particularly at edge rusher.
“The Cowboys are looking for – I’m told – an impact defensive player.” Fowler reported on Saturday, explaining that the team could use some of the trade capital they acquired from the Micah Parsons trade, which sent the All-Pro the Green Bay Packers for two first rounders over the next two drafts.
“They’re looking around – you see Trey Hendrickson there. The Cowboys have really called around to several teams – pretty much most of the league to try to survey the market and see who could be available in the front seven.”
Maxx Crosby – as Fowler also reported – was a target Dallas inquired about, but the Raiders seem intent on keeping him in Las Vegas after signing him to a three year, $106.5 million extension this past offseason.
Hendrickson makes about the most sense, given his tense relationship with the Bengals brass and his continuing status as an elite edge rusher in the NFL. But it would not be wholly shocking to see the Cowboys give up major draft capital for another top defender up front over the next few days.
Cameron Heyward Calls out Steelers Teammates After Disheartening Loss to Packers
The Pittsburgh Steelers took another one on the chin in Week 8. After a strong first half, things fell apart for the team, especially Cameron Heyward and the Steelers defense, in the second half against the Green Bay Packers.
At one point, the Packers scored 25 of 28 points, which allowed them to cruise to a 35-25 victory.
Obviously, Heyward, one of Pittsburgh’s defensive captains, was not pleased with the team’s performance. He let that be known in so many words while speaking to reporters after the game.
“You gotta handle adversity a lot better. This game eroded in the second half and big plays were the death of us today,” Heyward told the media, via TribLive.com’s Joe Rutter. “You’re not going to be perfect out there, but you’ve got to keep fighting.
“I just think there is a lot of ball and not enough fight on our side.”
Heyward continued to say even more.
“We can’t let penalties or stuff that goes against you affect your heart in the game,” he added. “When you’ve got a love affair with this game, there has got to always be a buy-in.”
The Packers started Sunday night’s affair 1-for-6 on third downs. However, on their first third-down attempt of the second half, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love completed a 59-yard pass to tight end Tucker Kraft.
That was the start of the Packers converting four of their final six third-down tries in the game. Green Bay also finished with 454 yards and a 9.7 yards per pass average.
Meanwhile, the Steelers helped the Packers’ cause, committing two personal foul penalties in the second half. The Steelers had six fouls for 65 yards in the loss.
Cameron Heyward, Steelers Pass Rush Goes Missing
The Steelers effectively placed Love under some pressure throughout Sunday night. So it wasn’t as if the team had no pass rush at all.
However, the Steelers were unable to create any splash plays with their pass rush. They failed to record a sack against Love, and when under pressure, Love often still connected with a receiver for a big play.
Week 8 was the first time this season Heyward and the Steelers were unable to register a sack. Still, over the past two games, the Steelers have just two sacks. They also don’t have a takeaway in the last 13 quarters.
It’s difficult to create turnovers when the opposing quarterback isn’t under consistent pressure.
Steelers Secondary Torched Again
Heyward’s comments appeared to be more general rather than directed at a certain teammate or even position group. But the team’s secondary deserves a lot of criticism for the second straight week.
The Pittsburgh secondary allowed a season-high 360 passing yards against the Packers. It was the third time in the past four games the Steelers yielded 300 yards through the air.
During that stretch, the Steelers have allowed eight passing touchdowns and registered two interceptions.
On Sunday night, the team’s secondary couldn’t keep up with Kraft, who posted the most yards after catch for a tight end since 2018.
Kraft was the first tight end with more than 140 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers since Jackie Smith in 1963.
Whether due to the lack of “fight,” failing to deal with adversity or something else, it was an embarrassing performance for the Steelers defense. Heyward and his teammates will be danger of dropping to the .500 mark next week if they don’t improve quickly on that side of the ball.
