Apparently, the Dallas Cowboys' decisive season-opening win over the Cleveland Browns didn't buy the team much equity when it comes to one of the franchise's all-time great players.
A week after their 33-17 win in Cleveland, the Cowboys were blasted at home by the New Orleans Saints, 44-19. That performance was enough to make former Cowboys Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith question whether the Cowboys are a playoff team, let alone a Super Bowl contender.
"I'm not sure," Smith recently said on Up & Adams. "Last week was just a debacle. It just was a debacle, period. And we didn't then rise up like we should have, and maybe we don't have that talented of a football team to rise up and do what people expect.
"We do have a few injuries here and there, but bottom line is, next man up. And right now, I feel like some of our players, whether this be on offensive side or even on the defensive front, we could be playing with some, what I would call back in the day, playing B and playing C guys.
"So (Mike) McCarthy, he has his work cut out for him. Mike Zimmer has his work cut out for him as well."
When it comes to the offense, Smith felt the Cowboys needed to take more shots down the field against the Saints. He added that, while he is not concerned with the Cowboys' running game, he is concerned with the team's commitment to running the ball.
Defensively, Smith signaled out the team's inability to stop Alvin Kamara, the Saints' stud running back who rumbled for 115 yards and three touchdowns this past Sunday. This Sunday, Dallas will be tasked with trying to stop the Ravens' dangerous duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
"Derrick Henry is probably licking his chops right about now because of what we gave up last week," Smith said. "We're going to have to get our pride back, because I think the Saints came in and took something from us, and now we've got to fight like hell to get it back."
So, how can the Cowboys get it back? Smith has some ideas.
"We've gotta get back to the basics. We've gotta run it. And defense has to stay in the gaps, you cannot open up run lanes like they did last week against the Saints," he said. "You've absolutely got to do what coaches have taught you to do. In Zimmer's scheme, if you are supposed to be in a game, you need to be in that gap. And if you're not in that gap, you're going to create running lanes that you saw the Saints just run through last week.
"You don't want that to happen this week with Derrick Henry, because secondary guys do not want to tackle Derrick Henry by themselves. It's gonna be a problem."
Not even Smith can argue that the Cowboys have some talented players, led by quarterback Dak Prescott, receiver CeeDee Lamb, linebacker Micah Parsons, offensive tackle Zack Martin, cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland and kicker Brandon Aubrey. But depth could be an issue for the Cowboys, depth that will be tested Sunday against Baltimore and for the duration of the 2024 season.
