The Cowboys run defense finally put on the performance that everyone had been waiting for.
But the star of the show was someone nobody expected.
Dallas held the Giants to just 26 total rushing yards on in Thursday night’s 20-15 win. The 1.1 yard-per-carry average they allowed represented the lowest ever in Cowboys franchise history in games where the opponent had at least 20 rushing attempts.
And garnering universal praise for the effort is none other than defensive tackle Mazi Smith, the former first-round draft pick who many in Cowboys Nation had already written off as an all-time bust.
Smith ended the night with three tackles- one of them for a loss- and was PFF’s highest-graded player (88.4) from the game. He knows his interior position doesn’t exactly lend itself to monster stats, but the 23-year-old seemed immediately aware that his Week 4 outing was an important step in what was been, thus far, a rough start to an NFL career.
#Cowboys DT Mazi Smith’s PFF grade by week:
Week 1: 30.4
Week 2: 30.2
Week 3: 32.7
Week 4: 88.4— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) September 27, 2024
“I feel like I grew. I feel better,” Smith said from the visitors’ locker room after the win. “I want to keep growing, don’t want it to be a flash in the pan.”
Sheesh, Mazi Smith. pic.twitter.com/oYurnwsuy8
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) September 27, 2024
But Smith was even more pleased with how the rest of the Dallas defense executed their game plan on the night. Taking away any semblance of a Giants’ ground attack was instrumental in helping the Cowboys snapping a two-game losing streak in which the run defense got torched for 464 yards on the ground by the Saints and Ravens combined.
On Thursday? The unit took real estate back from the Giants over the third and fourth quarters; New York’s rushing total after the halftime break was negative-three yards.
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“Everybody was doing their job. Everybody was doing what they’re supposed to. That’s really how you stop it,” Smith explained. “It ain’t no bells and whistles to stop a run game: everybody do their job, do what they’re supposed to do. That’s how you stop it.”
.@dallascowboys v @Giants the andwer is YES YES YES….the Cowboys can play run defense when they plug the gaps and attack the LOS. The G-men averaged 1 yard/carry. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/tbSvmqt6ay
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 27, 2024
After back-to-back weeks of Cowboys team…
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