2 weeks Ago
The Dallas Cowboys' 44-19 loss to the New Orleans Saints naturally took the headlines for Mike McCarthy's team, and such was the manner in which "America's Team'' lost at AT&T Stadium that Jalen Tolbert's career day has been overlooked. In what was the best return Dallas has gotten from Tolbert, the receiver totaled six catches for 82 yards, including a superb one-handed catch , as Dak Prescott and the offense were trying to get some juice going in the passing game. With Tolbert's performance being so far and beyond anything he's ever done in a Dallas uniform, now comes the hardest part - backing it up.
And McCarthy is looking forward to seeing Tolbert's rise against the Baltimore Ravens. “Jalen has a tremendous work ethic and I just think through his work, his diligence, you can see his confidence just continues to increase,” McCarthy said. “I think that's the product that you got to see this past week.
It's always refreshing and you love seeing your young players grow, but this guy doesn't miss an opportunity to get better. So I just want to see him build off of what he did against the Saints.” Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images That's a good thing, because in the analysis of our Mike Fisher, the long-time Cowboys beat writer, Dallas' "Texas Coast Offense'' is starving for a particular sort of help.
"There is CeeDee Lamb, but that's it, in terms of a proven guy who is both explosive and productive,'' Fish says. "The Cowboys essentially have only one weapon like that. Jake Ferguson might be the team's No.
2 receiver. But he's not 'explosive.' So it's one guy.
And that's a problem.'' Indeed ..
. With the Saints perhaps showing the blueprint for hope to neutralize the Cowboys' offense by doubling Lamb and forcing other lesser-knowns to beat you, one can easily envision Baltimore doing something similar. That means Tolbert will again have to step up and be an option for Dak because Lamb will no doubt get most of the attention.
Related: Dak Preaching Patience; Cowboys Fans Trusting 'Process'? Tolbert has steadily progressed over the last 18 months, and his efforts against the Saints felt like his crowning moment, but it's just one game; the key is to do it consistently. Like McCarthy, we're itching to see how Jalen performs in a game in which he will be expected to consistently make plays for the Dallas offense. And in truth, if the Cowboys are to cause an upset, Tolbert might have to reproduce another career-best day, which isn't an ideal situation to be in for Dallas.
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