The Dallas Cowboys won on Thursday night. A win is a win, a win is a win and we are all very grateful. However, several things can be true at the same time. While we’re happy that Dallas won, we can all recognize that there is still a lot of work to be done if we want to hold celebrations like this throughout the season and well into the new year.

Regarding Thursday night, while there were several things we would like to see tweaked by the coaching staff, there were many player moments that stood out and are cause for celebration. Our stock report after the Cowboys hit .500 after two long weeks features more up arrows than down arrows, and some names making their debuts.

Let’s get started.

Stock on: Mazi Smith

It is no exaggeration to say that we have just witnessed Mazi Smith’s best play as a professional footballer. The bar is low, but wow, what a show.

From NFL Pro and Next Gen Stats:

The New York Giants had 23 designed rushing plays against the Dallas Cowboys, which totaled 27 yards.

New York generated -49 rushing yards above expectations, the lowest total RYOE on designed runs for them as a franchise in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2018).

Specifically on designed runs, Giants ball carriers averaged -0.1 yards before contact and were contacted behind the line of scrimmage on 48% of those attempts.

This is a neon sign that says Mazi Smith dropped out on Thursday night.

For the first time in forever (shout out Frozen) Smith was an enforcer in the middle of Dallas’ defensive line. He clogged runs, stopped them completely and ended many before they even got off the ground.

Perhaps we are at the dawn of a new era. You can only hope.

Stocked by: Terence Steele

It’s been a long first month of the season for Terence Steele, as we’ve often complained about how unprepared he seems to be. As the second most experienced veteran, we have the right to expect more from him.

We got more on Thursday evening. Consider that Giants pass rusher Brian Burns (you know, the one they made a big trade for this offseason) had zero pressure against Dallas on the 25 plays in which he rushed the passer. This was the first time in his career that he was held without pressure in matches where he had at least double-digit attempts.

Of Burns’ 25 pass rush attempts… 17 were faced by the stone-cold Steele wall that is Terence Steele. Kudos to number 78 for putting his man away.

Stocked at: Dak Prescott

Immediately after the match we noticed here on the blog that Dak Prescott had a very efficient evening. To get more specific here, you need to know that Dak was 13 of 14 for 143 yards and two touchdowns on passes under 2.5 seconds.

That’s remarkably efficient work from the quarterback who gets paid for it every week. Considering this comes just a week after Dak had his highest tight window throw percentage (35.3%) in nearly six full seasons, we see how difficult the circumstances are around him in several ways.

Credit to Prescott for making it happen, and doing it so quickly that the chaos couldn’t properly engulf him as we’ve seen in recent weeks.

Stock: CeeDee Lam

It was great to see CeeDee Lamb in the end zone again. His first score of the season came from 65 yards (against New Orleans) and this one from 55. He’s flirting with the range that only Brandon Aubrey is comfortable with.

On a serious note, it’s clearly been a very long week for Lamb, with all the talk of pouting and whatnot during last week’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Burying things like that and moving on is much easier said than done. Good thing he’s doing it.

Stock Up: Rico Dowdle

We haven’t exactly had many opportunities to praise this team’s running backs, so we’re going to take advantage of every chance we can get. Rico Dowdle has found the end zone!

It will be interesting to see the advanced numbers and data from this game (they are not yet known at the time of writing), but it seemed like a much more efficient evening from Dowdle and the rest of the group. Actually it felt like a much less inefficient night, but with small steps.

Stocked by: Marshawn Kneeland

When DeMarcus Lawrence left the game, things looked pretty bleak for the Cowboys from a pass-rushing perspective. Losing someone of that caliber is never easy to overcome.

Enter Marshawn Kneeland, who is often compared to Tank Lawrence and, like Tank himself, had an epic blast from a New York Giants quarterback. Right on.

Stocked by: Hunter Luepke

This is one of those things that I think we’re all tired of fully and completely believing in. Hunter Luepke can clearly be a legitimate weapon if used properly on offense, and we’re starting to see its usage increase in volume.

Forget the raw numbers for a moment. Remember, the Cowboys faced a fourth-and-short from their own side of the field early in this game (in the second quarter, to be precise). Mike McCarthy decided to roll the dice and did so with his fullback, who was able to move the chains successfully.

This is not about a hyperfocus on one specific play or moment. But it is clear that Luepke is gaining the trust of the coaching staff. That’s great to see.

Stock at: Cooper Beebe

It’s so incredibly rare that the player we collectively hyped during training camp and what doesn’t actually live up to expectations. One of the names we might have to put on that list is Cooper Beebe. He arrives.

We talked about the pressure at the top and noted that Brian Burns was held without any pressure. Consider that his teammate Dexter Lawrence only generated a single pressure, according to Next Gen Stats. A! Dexter Laurens!

This is the case because, again according to NGS, the Cowboys double-teamed Lawrence on 20 of his 25 pass rush attempts. You know what’s so nice about that? Helping a rookie against a very good player makes sense! And the Cowboys did!

Outside of Lawrence, only Kayvon Thibodeaux and Isaiah Simmons provided pressure for the G-Men, giving them a total of four in the game. New York had a pressure rate of 14.3%, the lowest of any team in a single game this season.

Stock down: Donovan Wilson

Last week, Donovan Wilson bit on the move that Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman put on him. That was unfortunate, but it’s not unusual for receivers to win in the NFL. Simply put: it happens.

But Wilson will have another play that people are harping on this week, as he had Giants running back Devin Singletary on a fourth down that New York was going for. Wilson physically met Singletary well in the backfield and was then bounced off him as Singletary ran out and moved the chains. The Giants eventually scored on possession, just a field goal, but the point stands, which was a direct result of Wilson’s missed tackle.

It’s no secret that Wilson is a hard hitter. But we are witnessing one of the worst tackling teams in the NFL in the Cowboys and Wilson is unfortunately a leader in that sense.

Stock down: Andrew Booth

Rookie cornerback Caelen Carson did not play in this game, forcing the Cowboys to rely on veteran Andrew Booth. You’ll recall that Dallas traded for Booth during training camp.

To say it was tough for Booth would be incredibly kind. He struggled mightily against Giants rookie wideout Malik Nabers, and while Nabers is incredibly talented, these struggles were the kind that cannot be tolerated.

The situation got so bad that Dallas benched Booth when they came out for the second half. Kudos to the coaching staff for making the change, but wow, what a bad situation that was that almost cost the team a lot of money.