The overall game was less than stellar Monday night as the Cowboys edged the Raiders 3-0 in a sloppy, penalty-filled game that had more mistakes and good plays.
As team, it wasn’t one for the memory books, other than being the lowest-scoring game in preseason history. But individually there were some good and bad worth mentioning.
Here are three players who helped themselves and three players who might have taken a step back from Monday’s game with the Raiders.
Moving Up:
1. Andre Holmes -- This jumbled mess at receiver might have gotten a small bit of separation with the play of Holmes, who led the team with three catches for 40 yards. He played like a 6-5 receiver and used his height to come up with grabs.
2. Alex Albright – The versatile LB who can play inside and outside was all around the ball. He led the team with nine tackles and was his usual self on special teams, getting down fast and being disruptive. Not sure where he will play the most, but it’ll likely be somewhere.
3. Ben Bass – Out of nowhere, this guy keeps showing up. He’s gone from just a workout guy to fill out the rookie minicamp, to getting signed and Monday night, he was all over the field, making five tackles, a sack and two stops behind the line of scrimmage. Practice squad might be too low for this guy now.
Moving Down:
1. Cole Beasley -- This is only about expectations, considering he was having a great week of practice and ran with the first-team nickel offense. Yet, Beasley didn’t catch a pass and couldn’t come up with a deep ball down the field. It’s not to say he doesn’t have a chance, but we might have been expecting too much.
2. Derrick Dockery -- The veteran guard was placed in there to start next to David Arkin at center, a position Arkin has never played before. But Dockery didn’t help much, also struggling with some inside blitzes the Raiders showed. Dockery didn’t look like a veteran of 10 seasons.
3. Kyle Wilber -- His stock moved down only because of the injury he suffered that will keep him out for nearly a month. A broken left thumb is the second finger injury he’s sustained since getting drafted in the fourth round last April. Wilber missed two months with finger surgery and will now likely undergo surgery on his thumb. He is expected to make the team as a backup rusher and special teams contributor.
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