By Brandon Simmons
Will a Trade Save the Cowboys?
As the trade deadline approaches, the Dallas Cowboys have now taken front and center. The Cowboys have been linked to 2 defensive stars in the trade market: Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby and Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson. Dallas obviously made headlines earlier before the season started, when they sent defensive end Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a couple of first round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. What followed was the expected result of many of the trade’s critics. The Cowboys ranked dead last in defense for the year including 2 blowout losses to the Chicago Bears, and most recently, the Denver Broncos.
Any type of defense for the Dallas Cowboys would be a huge upgrade for this team. They are dead last in defense overall, especially against the pass. It’s just not pass rush where they are lacking, but the secondary has certainly been disappointing and they still are going to be without cornerback Trevon Diggs in the near future. Despite that, they remain in 2nd place in the NFC East, roughly 3 games behind the Philadelphia Eagles and just 2 games behind the San Francisco 49ers for the final playoff spot. In addition to that, the Cowboys offense has been burning the league down. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott has been playing at a high level while Cowboys wide receiver, and offseason acquisition, George Pickens has been worth every bit of the trade made with the Pittsburgh Steelers. One midseason trade isn’t going to throw into title contention, but the right move paired with this high-powered offense will have them in a much better position than they are now.
Trade SZN Updates Featuring Breece Hall, Logan Wilson and A.J. Brown
So here’s the latest trade rumor updates a week before the deadline:
- Las Vegas Raiders defensive end has been linked to the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. However, Raiders owner Mrk Davis told Fox Sports Jay Glazer that the team refuses to trade, even though Glazer also reported that Dallas was “rebuffed” in their offer.
- Amidst the potential moving of defensive end Trey Hendrickson, the Cincinnati Bengals are also looking to move linebacker Logan Wilson, who requested a trade last week.
- New York Jets running back Breece Hall has been in trade rumors for a while with analysts linking him to the Kansas City Chiefs as well as the Houston Texans.
- The wide receiver market has been fairly quiet until the past week. The Jacksonville Jaguars have been rumored to move wide receiver Brian Thomas, Jr, their 1st round pick from last season. Speaking of wide receivers, the Philadelphia Eagles have denied wanting to trade wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The most intriguing trade of all of these will be with the Bengals. Hendrickson was involved in a contract dispute with this team since the offseason and he could provide a big boost to a team with title hopes this year. The San Francisco 49ers could certainly use his help with all the injuries they’ve experienced. Breece Hall is another trade that could shale things up. Hall had a monster game this past Sunday rushing 18 times for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns, so he will be a big play factor on the ground game for a team looking to make a deep playoff run. Plus, with the Jets sort of spiraling out of the playoffs for another year, the draft picks would be more tham welcomed.
Is There a Shift Coming with the Ravens?
The Baltimore Ravens might have some changes coming but in a positive way. After an abysmal 1-5 start, the Ravens won this past Sunday, beating the Chicago Bears. One big change that happened was during the week leading up to the game, when Ravens QB Lamar Jackson banned distractions in the facilities such as pool tables, videogames, etc. At least for one game, it paid off. Baltimore also received news that Jackson will return to the starting lineup for the Week 9 Thursday Night Football matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
The Baltimore Ravens can use this win as a spark. Their next 5 games are against the Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals That’s a favorable run right there, especially with Lamar being back at QB. In Sunday’s win, the Ravens beat a solid Bears team with just their backup, but established an effective gameplan, with running back Derrick Henry who ran for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns, which put him in 5th place over Walter Payton on the all time rushing TD list . Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers also looked like he had a spark with 7 catches for 63 yards. As this team gets fully healthy, and remain that way,
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to New York Jets QB Justin Fields who won his first game of the season despite criticism from his owner. Jets owner Woody Johnson came out in the wake of NY’s week 7 loss and says the team’s winless record was due to the lack of production at the QB position. Fields responded with saying no response would make him play any better. Fast forward to this past Sunday, when the Jets were down 38-24 in the 4th quarter and Fields led a comeback to win the game 39-38. The QB finished the game throwing for 244 yards and a touchdown. As much as been said about Fields, even on this platform, it is great to see him overcome what might’ve been one of the lowest points of the season.
Shut out to blowouts. It seems like every other game was a blowout score, including Monday night’s matchup where the Kansas City Chiefs dominated the Washington Commanders. Maybe a sign that a lot of teams are ready for their bye week.
Can’t believe it’s already Week 9 and the postseason race is about to begin. The game of the week is going to be the Buffalo Bills hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. This rivalry is about to going to live up to its reputation, despite the Chiefs’ record this year. The Bills had a strong start but have been slipping lately. Regardless of what time of year these teams had their slide, expect another grueling battle between them. But until then…I’ll holla.
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