Dak Prescott threw for three touchdowns in his first home game since he suffered an ankle injury on the same field almost a year ago, Trevon Diggs returned an interception 59 yards for a score and the Dallas Cowboys dominated the Philadelphia Eagles 41-21 on Monday night.

Ezekiel Elliott ran for a season-high 95 yards and two touchdowns, and tight end Dalton Schultz had the first two-TD game of his career.

Except for a fumble in the end zone that gave the Eagles (1-2) their first touchdown, Prescott was efficient, going 21 of 26 for 238 yards without an interception in the first NFC East game for both teams.

Prescott’s first game at AT&T Stadium since the season-ending compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle in Week 5 last year against the New York Giants was also the return to full capacity, with 93,267 inside and

the retractable roof open at the $1.2 billion facility.

The Cowboys (2-1) had a 19-1 edge in first downs late in the first half, but the Eagles were down just 20-7 at the break. After Javon Hargrave forced Prescott’s fumble and caught the ball for the score, the Eagles stuffed the QB on a fourth-down sneak at the other end.

Diggs stepped in front of a pass from Hurts to the sideline on the third play of the second

half and ran untouched for his first career TD while becoming the first Dallas player with a pick in each of the first three games since Everson Walls in 1985.

Diggs and Cincinnati’s Logan Wilson share the NFL lead with three interceptions.

Hurts had completions of 41 yards to Quez Watkins, 38 yards to tight end Dallas Goedert and 27 yards to tight end Zach Ertz while

finishing 25 of 39 for 326 yards with two TDs and two interceptions. Plenty of the Texas native’s passing yards, and the second TD, came with the game out of reach.

Prescott’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Schultz put the Cowboys ahead for good at 14-7 late in the first quarter, and a 2-yarder to Cedrick Wilson on fourth down essentially put the game away at 34-14 early in the fourth.

Any doubt was erased when rookies Micah

Parsons and Osa Odighizuwa shared a sack of Hurts on a desperation try on fourth-and-9 midway through the fourth quarter. Odighizuwa had his first career sack in the first half, dropping Hurts for an 11-yard loss.

Schultz, who led Dallas with 80 yards receiving, scored again on a 22-yarder in the fourth quarter.

HALL OF FAME RINGS

Jimmy Johnson, who coached the Cowboys to a pair of Super Bowl titles in the 1990s, made a rare appearance on their home field when he was presented his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring at halftime along with safety Cliff Harris and receiver Drew Pearson. All three were inducted this summer.

Johnson started his speech by thanking owner Jerry Jones and ended it with the famous line he first shouted after an NFC championship game win over San Francisco during the 1992 season: “How ’bout them Cowboys!” Johnson and Jones split acrimoniously after another Super Bowl title to finish the 1993 season. The two hugged before Jones put the ring on Johnson.

It’s finally here . The season debut for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers begins on Thursday evening in Tampa .

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will kick off their Super Bowl defense and the 2021 NFL season on Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys. The ageless Tom Brady will be at it again, seeking an unprecedented eighth Super Bowl victory at 44 years old. Brady will have mostly the same supporting cast, from tight end Rob Gronkowski to wide receiver Mike Evans, as the team returns all 11 starters on offense (and defense).

It’s a track record the Cowboys can only hope to achieve. America’s Team has taken their share of “Hard Knocks,” both in the HBO series this summer and through a slew of injuries that turned a promising 2020 season sour. After sitting out the preseason, franchise quarterback Dak Prescott will make his first throw in an NFL game in nearly a year, supposedly fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered last October against the New York Giants.

Prescott wasn’t the only one banged up. Tight end Blake Jarwin is back from an ACL tear that knocked him out virtually all of 2020; Pro Bowl offensive lineman Tyron Smith had season-ending neck surgery around the same time as Prescott’s injury. Another offensive lineman, La’el Collins, missed all 16 games with a hip injury. The hope for Dallas is these key contributors returning give them an edge in the league’s weakest division, the NFC East.

We will see how Dallas stacks up in this game early . One saving grace is that Tom Brady is only 4-3 in season openers .

Here are three things to watch out for as to how this game might play out .

How will Dak Prescott perform?
It’s rare the performance of another quarterback overshadows Tom Brady. But all eyes will be on Prescott, from a competitive and even fantasy standpoint.

A major key for Tampa Bay’s defense in Week 1 is how quickly they can get to Dak Prescott . With All-Pro Tackle Zach Martin out with Covid Protocols so it will be key for the Cowboys to protect Prescott . If not it could be a long night for the Cowboys offense .

Tampa Bay’s offensive weapons
Brady has an All-Star list of superstars to throw to, from the top rungs of Gronkowski and Evans down to new offseason pickup Giovani Bernard as a change-of-pace back. How quickly can they pick up where that Super Bowl victory left off?

Gronk had just two catches last year in the first two games. Evans caught one ball for two yards in that season-opening loss against the Saints. They’ll need to do better, and should, against a Cowboys defense that ranked 23^rd overall last season.

Can the Cowboys’ defense make a statement?
Dallas went out this past offseason and did their best to make over their defense. Former head coach Dan Quinn comes over from the Atlanta Falcons, taking on the role of defensive coordinator. The team made six straight selections on defense, all coming within the first 115 picks as they look to build young talent for the future.

First-round pick Micah Parsons is set to make an immediate impact, starting at linebacker alongside former Pro Bowler Leighton Vander Esch. The hope is the two can combine to become a dynamic duo after Vander Esch missed a total of 13 games the past two years due to injury.

It’s a group that has potential; last year, the Cowboys forced 23 takeaways, tied for seventh in the NFL. Problem was, they allowed 30-plus points in five of their first six games. You can’t give up that much to good offenses and expect to win. Can they force Brady into some early turnovers?

Final Analysis and prediction.

This game will come down to how Dak Prescott performs coming off major ankle surgery, and the shoulder strain suffered in training camp . Another key will be if the Dallas defense can cause Tom Brady into a few turnovers . Look for the Cowboys to pass the ball early and run the ball in the fourth quarter to close the game out .

Prediction: Dallas Cowboys 28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24

By Yusuf Nakhooda

The Nfl is full of stories with players coming from humble beginnings to stardom, but Azur Kamara’s career has taken a totally different path.

From fleeing a civil war in the Ivory Coast and making it, as a linebacker for America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys is truly quite a remarkable story indeed. His is one of strength, courage and preserverance, against all odds.

Azur Kamara and his mother and step father fled the Ivory Coast when he was ten years old, to the United States .

When Azur Kamara was five, his mother took her children to Guinea to where their uncle lived. While he wasn’t aware of it at the time, Azur Kamara later found out that it was to escape the civil war back home.

For the next half-decade, he would not see his mother again. He spent his life playing soccer and scavenging for food and water, but amidst all that was laughter. Despite that, there was always the nagging fear that his mother had abandoned him and his siblings.

Finally, one year, his uncle received a call from his mother that she was in the United States and trying to find a way to bring her children there to give them a better life. Azur Kamara and his siblings returned to Ivory Coast and waited a further three years before being reunited with their mother.

Azur Kamara was always a tall and athletic kid. However, his first choice was always the game he played back home as a child: soccer.

In high school, when Azur Kamara was about to enroll for soccer practice, his life changed forever. The football coach noticed him and admonished him for wasting his talents on soccer when he was a much better fit for football.

In high school, he tallied 106 tackles and 25.5 sacks in his senior season despite only just taking up the sport. That got him to Arizona Western College, where his performances in his freshman and sophomore years caught the eye of various universities. He chose Kansas as his landing spot, and his performances there got him an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine.

The rest, as they say, is history. Azur Kamara is now a linebacker with the Dallas Cowboys and is looking to realize his full potential as the franchise looks to bounce back from an injury-riddled campaign. Kamara, though, will be in the thick of it all, battling through.

By Yusuf Nakhooda

On First take with Skip Bayless and Shannon, Skip was shaming Mike McCarth, of the Dallas Cowboys as a bad coach because of his weight.

But in the history of the Nfl, some of the greatest coaches have been of the portly nature.

Jimmy Johnson, the recently inducted coach of America’s team into the Hall of Fame. Winner of two back to back Super Bowls. A great coach and motivator of his Dallas teams in the 1990’s who took the Cowboys to greatness in their darkest time. He made the Triplets, Smith, Aikman, and Irvin Hall of Famers and the great men that they are today.

Vince Lombardi. The Legendary coach of the Green Packers in the 50’s and 1960’s who guided the Packers to many Championships, in the old Nfl and winning two Super Bowls who guided his team to ultimate greatness. A great coach and motivator .

What about Andy Reid, who finally won a Super Bowl with Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. A great offensive genius of a mind. Other coaches through time were heavy as well that won Super Bowls. Bill Parcells winning two Super Bowls with the Giants.

This is nothing new for Skip Bayless, He has no shame. Coaches can take criticism, about their coaching but shaming them about their weight is a personal and degrading thing. This has been Skip’s whole career, looking for the worst in people instead of what they do on the field.

Even Jenny Taft, the Moderator on his show the Udisputed stood up for the Cowboys coach.

This is nothing new with Skip when it comes to criticising the Dallas Cowboys organisation. Back in September, the 69-year-old declared that he had ” No Sympathy for Dak Prescott after the Dallas quarterback opened up about his mental health issues. Bayless didn’t apologise for those comments, so “Undisputed” viewers probably shouldn’t expect to see Bayless offer a genuine apology to McCarthy.

By Yusuf Nakhooda

Drew Pearson celebrated his entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with all three first-ballot members of the class of 2021: Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson and Charles Woodson.

The “original 88” of the Dallas Cowboys figured it didn’t much matter anymore that he had to wait almost 40 years.

A year earlier, Pearson wasn’t very happy at all.

The receiver who caught the Hail Mary from Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach was a finalist for the special 13-member centennial class in 2020, and invited family, friends and television cameras to his house for the announcement.

The 70-year-old Pearson and Cliff Harris,

are the first undrafted Cowboys among their 15 players in the Hall of Fame.

Pearson started his college career as a quarterback at Tulsa after replacing Joe Theismann, who went on to win a Super Bowl with Washington, at South River High School in New Jersey.

Expected to be the starter going into his junior season, Pearson asked his coaches to switch to receiver because he thought that was his best chance to make it to the NFL. They agreed, and he caught 55 passes over two seasons.

After giving Pearson a $150 signing bonus, player personnel director Gil Brandt made sure the rookie had an apartment next to the club’s training facility.

Pearson had 489 catches in the regular season before retiring in 1983, but his most famous was one of his 67 playoff grabs — the Hail Mary from Staubach to beat Minnesota during the 1975 season.

The 50-yarder in the final seconds of a 17-14 victory in the playoff opener — Vikings fans will forever say he pushed off against cornerback Nate Wright — led to the first of Pearson’s two Super Bowls, a 21-17 loss to Pittsburgh.

Pearson’s championship came two years later against Denver.

Pearson had 7,822 yards and 48 touchdowns receiving over 11 seasons before the NFL became a pass-first league. He isn’t in the club’s top three for career catches, yards or touchdowns, but teammates always believed he belonged in the hall with his 1970s-era offensive teammates, Staubach and star running back Tony Dorsett.

Pearson isn’t the first “88” of the Cowboys to make the hall — that’s Michael Irvin. He might not even be the best-known “88” — that could be Dez Bryant, who has the club record for touchdown catches with 73.

Drew Pearson answered the call each and every day in his illustrious career, and he was alway Mr Clutch.

It has been a long journey but worth the wait in gold.

By Yusuf Nakhooda

Football is back. Oh what a feeling . The Boys are back.

Its finally here . Football is back. The Dallas Cowboys will battle the Pittsburgh Steelers in the annual Hall of Fame game, in Canton Ohio. 

These two storied franchises are rich in tradition. They have had many epic Super Bowl Battles in the past. The Steelers beating the Cowboys in Super Bowl 10 and 13, and the Cowboys finally breaking their streak against the Steelers in Super Bowl 29.  

As this game unfolds, here are some story lines to look out for:

1.) Who will make a impression for the Backup QB Position. 

With Dak Prescott, coming off major ankle surgery and nursing a mild shoulder strain in training camp the battle is on between Blane Gilbert. Ben Dinucci and Cooper Rush. 
Its Glabbert’s to lose as he has been the most impressive of the three in Camp. Dinucci who is vying for that position as well hasn’t done much to impress the coaching staff, as was evident in training camp last week, as the defence intercepted three of his passes. He will be giving a few series this evening to show that he belongs. Cooper Rush who always impresses in camp will have his chance as well.

2.) How will the Rookie Class of Defensive Draft Picks Perform:

The Cowboys goal was to draft heavy on the defensive ball, and with 11 Selections on Defence, which was the most picks of any team on Draft Day. Micah Parsons, Kelvin Joseph, and Osa Odighizuwa have really been impressive during their first NFL training camp. Their are many other late round picks and free agent additions who will try to earn a roster spot, and to impress the coaches. Israel Mukuamu,Tyler Cole, Matt Farniok, Orsirus Mitchell, and Quinton Bohanna will have to make a glowing impression in order to make the final 53 man roster in a few weeks.

3.)One of the most positive signs, this training camp has been the return of the starters on the offensive line. Last year was the injury carousel, so seeing them healthy is a big bonus. La’el Colins, Tyrone Smith, and Zack Martin have all rehabbed nicely from injuries in 2020. Martin and Smith, didn’t make the trip to Oxnard and are nursing very minor injuries, but Collins should see some playing time this evening. There has been some line shifting as Conner Williams, hash added the Centre position to his resume, which makes him versatile. It will be interesting to see if he plays on both sides of the line.

4.) The main reason the Cowboys signed Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn, was to fix a very bad defence which was the Cowboys worst, in team history.Dan Quinn will get a pretty good look early, to see how they have done in camp when they take the field, vs the Steelers. The Steelers who have a new offensive line combination, will be trying to establish the run with Najee Harris. With the combination of Randy Gregory,Brent Urban,and Carlos Watkins, they will be put to the test. If they can perform well this evening, as well as the secondary, this defensive will be on track.

In 2020 when Randy Gregory was suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy for testing positive for Marijuana it seemed his career was over .

But in 2020 in a Covid Season he was reinstated and he has turned his life around on the field and off. All indications are through training camp he is back and will be a bookend for the Dallas Cowboys defense which was one of the worst in team history in 2020.

Despite his past which was checkered, the Dallas Cowboys gave him another chance with a new contract. In the past team owner is a man of giving second chances and this was no different.

Gregory was reinstated by the League last September after fulfilling the necessary requirements by the league. He played the last 10 games and he performed well. He returned for the final 10 games of the 2020 season. Gregory ranked third on the team with quarterback pressures (16), earning him the second-best overall defensive grade (80.5) behind DeMarcus Lawrence, per Pro Football Focus.

It is a continual growth process, but a more mature Randy Gregory is staring at himself in the mirror. He is in a better state both mentally and physically, garnering recognition from head coach Mike McCarthy.

A projected starter next to Demarcus Lawrence this season, he will be required to produce huge numbers to anchor the defense, that will tell how far this team progresses in 2021.

If asked about the top performing defensive players throughout camp, Gregory would be listed on the top. His explosion out of a two-point stance is jaw-dropping. He is about as tantalizing as it gets for a defensive end with his ability to lock out offensive tackles at the point of attack. He has also gained some weight to add to his production in run fits.

He has continued to work one-on-one with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn during the beginning portion of practice on his get-off and hand placement. Quinn’s attention to detail and one-gap approach will benefit Gregory and accelerate his growth in 2021.

Randy Gregory has got his life in order and ready to create havoc on the NFC east and the football world. 2021 will be his breakout season. Look for him to be among the sack leaders in the NFL and anchor Dan Quinn’s defense and bring leadership to a young core of players.

By Yusuf Nakhooda

Yes the Hooker has arrived. Ok apart from bad jokes Malik Hooker has arrived.

After passing covid protocols as per league rules Malik Hooker was on the practice field in Oxnard California yesterday morning going through drills and workouts. This might be the missing piece to the Cowboys Safety position. They haven’t had a elite Safety since some guy named Darren Woodson roamed centre field .

What will Hooker bring to the a Secondary that was shredded last year, giving up big plays and giving up the most points in Dallas Cowboys history.

He will add much needed experience to a young and hungry defence which are showing signs in training camp that Dan Quinns defence could be really elite in 2021.

Hooker was a productive starter for the Colts his first three seasons in the league, posting 124 tackles, 7 interceptions, 11 pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. Then the injury bug hit him. A torn Achilles’ tendon ended his 2020 season after only two games, however, and the Colts didn’t re-sign him once his rookie contract ended.

The Cowboys brought him in for a visit in March during the Free Agency period, but did not sign him. Instead they signed Damontae Kazae the former Atlanta Falcon’s Safety to a contract.

The roles and rotations for the safeties are not determined but Hooker is a huge upgrade from last year. Xavier Woods signed as a Free Agency in March with the Minnesota Vikings. Donovan Wilson who really came on in the last half of the season last year, and showed he belongs in the mix. The Cowboys also signed veteran Jayron Kearse in the off season from the Vikings as well. Veteran Keanu Neal was also signed, but the plans for him are that he will be a Hybrid Linebacker in Dan Quinns Scheme.

The optimism is bright for the Safety position in Dallas . And Hooker will add more play making ability with Interceptions that has been lacking for a long time in Dallas.