👋 Good morning! Let’s kick off the week with an exciting announcement: We’ve added Ali Jawad to the DLLS Sports staff! Once we make sure we remember all the passwords and get him settled in, Ali will take over newsletter duties and will join the crew on the DLLS Cowboys show. You’ll hear from me one more time tomorrow, and Ali will take over from there. It was a pleasure spending every morning with you! — Bobby Karalla

This weekend’s 31-13 Cowboys loss to the Ravens was just icky. There aren’t many better words to describe it.

It’s only preseason, of course. But man.

A few more recognizable names played than in the first game against the Rams, but that’s about all Cowboys fans could take with them. Joe Milton? He went 2 for 8 for 14 yards and a pick in the first half. Not on the first drive. The first half.

Miles Sanders, Deuce Vaughn, and Phil Mafah combined for 15 carries for 33 yards.

Jonathan Mingo caught a 49-yard pass but is undergoing further testing for what could be a pretty serious knee injury. (That catch was the Cowboys’ first third down conversion of the game. It came after halftime.)

The Ravens, meanwhile, didn’t struggle much at all. Cooper Rush threw a couple picks, but otherwise ran a very professional game. Rasheen Ali and D’Ernest Johnson combined for 30 carries for 123 yards. Tez Walker did whatever he wanted on the first few possessions before finally being subbed out later on.

It was the type of performance after which there are more questions than answers. Namely, as our Clarence Hill ponders: Who the heck is this team’s backup quarterback? What happens if Dak misses one drive, let alone a few games? And will they ever be able to stop the run?

Our DLLS Cowboys postgame show was of course a little more existential, but they posed those same questions. Jeff Cavanaugh was joined by former NFL quarterback and current UFL quarterbacks coach Seneca Wallace for what turned out to be a fun show after a not-so-fun football game.

The list of important guys who didn’t play is longer than the list of the ones who did, so it’s still too early to completely freak out. But what we’ve seen through two weeks is enough to reinforce the idea that this team might not be particularly deep on either side of the ball. The starting quarterback is really good. Hope he plays all 17! The two receivers are going to be incredible. Otherwise, Jalen Tolbert I guess! Micah Parsons… ah, never mind.

There’s still one game and a little more than two weeks left until the season opener against Philly. They have time to figure some things out before then. Hopefully they do.

Marcus Semien got a rare day off on Saturday in what turned into a rout of a loss against the Blue Jays. He returned to the lineup on Sunday and responded with a walk and three hits, including a homer. It’s been a miserable season for almost any Ranger with a bat, especially for Semien, who’s followed up last season’s .237/.308/.391 with an even worse .228/.304/.365. If he can get going it would give the Rangers offense such a massive boost, as evidenced by their 10-4 win yesterday. Time still remains, but not much of it. Our DLLS Rangers crew broke it all down on the postgame show.

Diehards! Come hang with the DLLS Mavs crew and me one week from today, Monday, August 25! We’ll be at the DLLS Sports studio in Victory Park from 7-9 to watch some Mavs film, do a Q&A, eat some food, drink some drinks, and have a good time one night before our one-year anniversary. (I think we have a special guest lined up for that day’s show too, but we’ll announce that later.) Go here for more info!

Speaks for itself.

Be sure to subscribe to our shows wherever you listen to your podcasts. Traffic can be the worst, and one of the best ways I get through it is by listening to the audio versions of our DLLS shows. You should, too!

Bobby Karalla
DLLS Sports Head of Content​
[email protected]