Dallas City News

The Dallas Cowboys are eliminated from playoff contention, but you wouldn’t be able to tell with how they’ve been performing. Despite facing a very capable opposing offense, the Cowboys held off the Tampa Buccaneers on Monday night to win their fourth game in the last last five weeks.

Dallas now sits with a record of 7-8 and has the 15th pick in the NFL draft. Of course, plenty of Cowboys supporters have wanted the team to tank and put themselves in a position for a high draft pick. Players can’t think that way with their jobs on the line, and neither can coaches. So, when looking at it from that perspective, it’s not surprising to see this type of effort from the players and even the coaching staff in Dallas.

Up next for the Cowboys are the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles followed by their season finale at home against the Washington Commanders. This gives them the opportunity to prolong a division title for the former and make the latter sweat to secure a playoff berth. With that being said, here’s what we have learned about the Cowboys as Week 17 approaches.

Mike Zimmer keeps making a case to be brought back

Dallas didn’t do Mike Zimmer any favors in the offseason by not giving him what he needed to succeed, especially at the defensive tackle position. Then, injuries galore made things worse. With guys getting back healthy, Zimmer has started to make his unit resemble what many thought it could look like before the season. The Cowboys defense has forced 21 turnovers this season, but 12 of them have come over the last five games, which speaks to why they’ve won four of them.

Take a guy like defensive tackle Mazi Smith. He’s starting to show the progression that’s been missing in the early part of his career. Before he went down with a season-ending knee injury, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was arguably the Cowboys best defender with Micah Parsons out, and defensive lineman Chauncey Golston is having his best year in the NFL. Give Zimmer a healthy defense with some added pieces for 17 games, and there’s no telling what he could do. Things like this are why the Cowboys should strongly consider bringing him back in 2025.

Marist Liufau continues to shine

Maris Liufau is another guy who’s shining under the tutelage of Zimmer. He came right in once Overshown went down and had 1.5 sacks versus the Cincinnati Bengals. After five tackles against the Carolina Panthers, Liufau racked up seven more when the Cowboys played the Buccaneers while logging a career-high 72 snaps. Liufau also has six pressures and four quarterback hurries over the last three games.

Liufau is still going to make mistakes as a young player. For example, as well as he’s played recently, he’s also missed four tackles and been tricked on some assignments here and there. However, Liufau is getting much-needed experience with Overshown out, and he’s continuously stacking good performances on top of each other.

CeeDee Lamb is a warrior

CeeDee Lamb has been dealing with a bad shoulder pretty much the entire second half of the season, and it will force him to miss the final two games of the season. It happened during the Cowboys Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and he aggravated it against the New York Giants on Thanksgiving and against the Buccaneers last week which forced him to pretty much miss the second half. However, Lamb has toughed it out and racked up two of his top three performances in terms of yards this season since the injury, and has hauled in 48 receptions during that span.

Mind you, Lamb is producing at this level playing with a limited passer in Cooper Rush on top of not being healthy. With the Cowboys season going the way it is and the fact that he’s injured, Lamb could have taken it easy to a degree. However, he is showing that despite some doubts about his dedication earlier in the season due to some sideline incidents, he’s all about the team and he’s willing to go the extra mile.