Cowboys vs. Colts Stock Report: DaRon Bland shines while secondary takes a hit

Dec 5, 2022 - 5:00 PM

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Don’t lie. You were nervous.

Things were a little bit tense early on against the Indianapolis Colts, but all of it was rendered moot by the 33-point explosion that the Dallas Cowboys had in the fourth quarter. A win is a win as is so often said.

We discussed everything from Sunday’s win on the latest edition of The Postgame on the Blogging The Boys podcast network. Make sure to subscribe to our network wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss any of our shows! Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe here.

Normally when the Cowboys win the way that they did (54-19 sounds awesome in retrospect) we have kept the vibes positive and stuck to only stock ups as far as the weekly stock report is concerned.

The most important thing here remains that the Cowboys won, but we would be kidding ourselves if we said that they played a perfect game. They did ultimately dominate the Colts because they flipped on a switch when the moment called for it, and while that is worthy of some praise, there are some things for us to pay attention to as well.

It is time for our weekly stock report if that is not obvious. It was mostly positive!

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Stock Up: CeeDee Lamb

Over the last few weeks we have seen CeeDee Lamb start to look more and more like a top-flight wide receiver. On the team’s second possession of the game he very much embodied that spirit with an incredible heads-up touchdown.

Interestingly, this was Lamb’s first catch of the day. His second was a critical third down conversion. Really all of Lamb’s touchdowns make significant impacts. People remember how he played against the New England Patriots in 2021 but this may have been his most dominating performance from start to finish since he joined the Cowboys over two years ago. It sounds weird to say that way because he has had other moments that were better or more memorable, but it felt like he was totally in control against the Colts in a way that he hadn’t been before.

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Stock Up: Anthony Barr

It was such a welcome sight to see Anthony Barr back in the fold for the Cowboys defense and he made a big impact by even recording a sack.

There were a lot of highlight moments from Cowboys players throughout this game and seeing Barr among them was a breath of fresh air. This was one of his better games in a Cowboys uniform and the fact that it came after some time away made it feel all the more special.

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Stock Up: Michael Gallup

Over the last two weeks it has felt like Michael Gallup has started to find himself as he returns from a torn ACL. There have been far more physical catches and moments from him as of late which made the frustrating start for him against Indianapolis, well, frustrating.

But a breakthrough moment came at the end of the first half thanks to Malik Hooker (more on him in just a moment). Dak Prescott found Michael Gallup for a touchdown, the first time that they have connected for a score this season.

This was a big moment and a big play from Gallup, and the fact that he is still ascending is important in context. But it was only the end of the first half and he had more work to do.

Prescott found Gallup for a second time right as the fourth quarter began. It was an incredible throw AND catch.

Michael Gallup has such a delicate and graceful strength about him. This moment did put the game away, but there was so much more to come.

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Stock Up: Malik Hooker

Sometimes we make a bit too much out of revenge games in the NFL, but it makes all the sense in the world that a player would want to prove to a team who let them go that doing so was a mistake. Malik Hooker was in that situation on Sunday night.

The Colts took Hooker with their first-round pick back during the 2017 NFL Draft and things never worked out. Hooker got his first chance to face his former team on Sunday night and came away with an interception off of a tipped ball.

This proved to be an important interception. Just before it the Cowboys had been unable to get points before intermission. While it didn’t exactly seem like the Colts were going to be able to, it was still possible at this point.

Hooker’s takeaway set the Cowboys up with great field position with under a minute to go and the offense did its job by getting in the endzone thanks to Gallup. It was a huge swing in the game.

But where Gallup’s moment followed Hooker’s at the end of the first half, the two did incredible things back-to-back yet again. Right after Gallup scored for the second time, Hooker recovered a fumble and scored!

An incredible shout out to Damone Clark who forced the fumble. What a moment.

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Stock Up: Damone Clark

The highlight is right above this, but he had a critical forced fumble that Malik Hooker was able to score off of that gave the team breathing room in the final quarter.

We have seen Clark get better and better as the season has gone along. The Cowboys do appear to have stole one here. It is wild to watch considering on one level it felt like he would not play at all this season. The fact that he even is playing is a victory in and of itself, but he is doing more than just that. He is a high-level contributor.

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Stock Up: DaRon Bland

DaRon Bland became more important to the Cowboys when Jourdan Lewis was hurt a few weeks ago. After Anthony Brown left the game with what is feared to be a season-ending Achilles injury, that pressure increased. He responded with not one, but two interceptions.

The rookie has come along rather nicely, don’t you think?

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Stock Up: Donovan Wilson

It feels like Donovan Wilson sacks are catalytic for this defense and Dan Quinn knows exactly when they are the most necessary. In a game that was full of defensive highlights, Wilson’s feels a little bit smaller in hindsight, but it was just one example of how much he was flying around.

Time will tell what the future holds for the Cowboys and Wilson, but he has become an incredible player for them in his contract year. He is one of the more energy-inducing players, not just on the defense, but on the entire team as a whole.

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Stock Down: Kelvin Joseph

Not only did Kelvin Joseph have an interference penalty on the first Cowboys punt of the game, but he also got beat several times on defense when he had to fill in for Anthony Brown.

It is unfortunate because the Cowboys spent a second-round pick on Joseph but he simply is not a player who they can rely on right now. To be more specific, he is a liability for them whenever he is on defense or special teams, a matter that is concerning with Anthony Brown’s injury status.

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Stock Down: Trevon Diggs

It is rare to find Trevon Diggs in the stock down department, and while he did mostly neutralize Michael Pittman Jr. he also got beat badly for a touchdown early in the game.

Look, one touchdown is one touchdown. It is not a good thing to give one up but giving one up is not the end of the world. The NBC broadcast even noted Diggs’ aggressive play style when showing the replay and there is no question that he bit a little too hard. He will be fine.

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Stock Down: Cornerback Depth

We have talked about it several times already, but the Cowboys are up a bit of a creek with this Anthony Brown situation. Considering that they are already operating without Jourdan Lewis, they are going to either be forced to rely on Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright more, or explore alternative options. Given how often Wright has been inactive this season, it feels more likely it will be Joseph or some alternative.

Injuries are a part of the game in the NFL, so this is not shocking. But this will test Dallas. It is time for them to re-stock in the secondary.