Huddle up! Here’s a look back at this weekend on the gridiron, with three key takeaways from the state’s football scene -- and a glimpse at what’s to come next week.
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Cowboys finish off bad week with loss at Arizona
The Cowboys were defeated 28-16 by Arizona on Sunday, but it definitely wasn’t their biggest loss over the past week.
One of the lynchpins of what many pundits have been saying is the league’s best defense, Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs, suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice last Thursday.
The loss to Arizona wasn’t necessarily on the pass defense — Arizona rushed for 222 yards — but it does bring to question about how much the defense will change without Diggs there to lock down top opposing receivers.
Dallas hasn’t played an elite quarterback yet, but for the next four weeks will be going up against quarterbacks who enter tonight among the NFL’s top-10 in passing yards: Mac Jones of New England, Brock Purdy of San Francisco, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams.
This upcoming stretch should provide a good barometer of how well the Dallas defense can replace Diggs, and if it can continue the dominance showed during the first two weeks of the season.
Backup QB, defense save day for Aggies
When starting quarterback Conner Weigman went down in the first half of Texas A&M’s game against Auburn on Saturday, you wouldn’t blame fans for thinking the season might have started to go down also.
In a game the Aggies badly needed to win, Weigman went down with Texas A&M only sporting a 6-3 lead.
Fortunately for the Aggies, backup quarterback Max Johnson and the defense came to the rescue in a 27-10 victory that for the moment lessened cries for head coach Jimbo Fisher’s job.
Johnson came in and threw two touchdown passes, one of which was to his brother Jake. The defense held Auburn to 56 yards passing and 200 yards overall.
Weigman’s status for this Saturday’s game in Arlington against Arkansas isn’t known, according to what Fisher said after the game.
Texans put it all together in Jacksonville
So, where did THIS come from?
That’s probably what fans of the Houston Texans were asking themselves in a good way on Sunday following an impressive 37-17 win at Jacksonville, a team that made the playoffs last year and was pegged as the favorite in the AFC South to start the year.
C.J. Stroud continued his good start to the season and his career, going 20 of 30 passing for 280 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
The win was the first as head coach for DeMeco Ryans and created the obvious question: Is this a sign of things to come, or just a one-game aberration?
Time will certainly tell, starting with a home game on Sunday against Pittsburgh.