How the Cowboys got better in 6 days

LAS VEGAS – Not that any preseason game will ever get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but if Canton ever does decide to bubble-wrap a single game, it won’t be this one here Saturday night in Las Vegas.

But that’s never the point for games like this. Staying healthy is the ultimate goal and winning the game is always a nice bonus. However, seeing improvement, especially from week to week, is something all coaches strive for.

And there’s no denying the Cowboys looked like a completely different team here Saturday night than what we saw just six days ago in Los Angeles.

Again, throw the 27-12 score out the window. Just like it didn’t matter last week, getting the win this time is a nice bonus, but not the story of the night.

The Cowboys got better, and it started on Wednesday when they made a surprising trade to acquire veteran defensive tackle Jordan Phillips from the Giants for next to nothing – swapping a sixth for a seventh-round pick in 2026. That’s two years from now, but it took like two days for him to get here and make a difference.

I was surprised Phillips even played in the game, and he was in there for the first two series. By my view – and it was pretty high in the press box at Allegiant Stadium – I think Phillips took every snap. That’s very impressive for someone his size, who hasn’t practiced all week and just got here, but he was able to jump right in.

Let me tell you, Phillips is going to be a huge difference-maker. I watched him on every play, and while he doesn’t get to the ball every time, he’s someone teams have to account for. At 345 pounds, Phillips is as big as a house and just impossible to move with one guy. There were a couple of times he got held up at the line of scrimmage with a double-team, but not really pushed back.

Just think about what a player like that in the middle can do for this defense, when you’ve got Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence on the outside and a linebacker like Eric Kendricks in the middle.

Phillips was officially credited with one tackle and it wasn’t even a solo tackle. But there’s no doubt the Cowboys will be a better defense with Phillips anchoring the middle, even if he does rotate with Mazi Smith at the nose tackle. For him to come in and take about eight or nine plays in a row, that’s an impressive debut at a position of need.

OK, how else did the Cowboys get better?

The running backs now seem to have a little more depth all of a sudden – to the point where the Cowboys will have some tough decisions to make.

But getting Deuce Vaughn back on the field this week seemed to be big for this offense. We all know Deuce rhymes with “juice” and No. 42 had some of that Saturday night. He actually had it on Wednesday when he got back to practice after missing more than a week with a hamstring injury, and he was able to carry that into the game.

Personally, I thought Vaughn had the best run of any play we’ve seen since he got here. And yes, I know he had some touchdown runs last year in the preseason, but those were against guys who probably didn’t even make an NFL roster. On Saturday, Vaughn got in the game when most of the Raiders’ starters were out there on defense, including Maxx Crosby. But his 12-yard run where he made a couple of guys miss was good enough to get the eyeballs popping up here in the press box. It got a few “Deuuuuuce” calls from the Cowboys fans in the stands, and you know it got the attention of Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy, who have been waiting for him to take that second-year leap. It’s still early but Vaughn looked really good, and Royce Freeman wasn’t bad either. I think with those two, Malik Davis and Hunter Luepke, it’s going to be interesting to see how the running back room shakes out behind Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle.

And let’s talk about the third quarterback. Trey Lance was much better this time around. Hey, his passes are still off-target at times, but he looked more comfortable in the offense and even got the ball into the end zone – thanks to a 1-yard touchdown pass before halftime.

OK, so it wasn’t RIGHT before halftime. Because that belonged to Brandon Aubrey, who blasted a 66-yard field goal as time expired. It’s not like the Cowboys got a lot better as a team because of that kick, and it’s probably not one McCarthy would even attempt very often in the regular season. But let’s not forget how accurate he continues to be – no matter from 54 or 66. What a week for Aubrey, who left camp for a couple of days to witness the birth of his son. He comes back and booms a kick that would’ve tied an NFL record in a regular-season game.

Aubrey is an absolute weapon because it seems as if the Cowboys are always going to be either in field-goal range or close.

And one more for good measure, the Cowboys might have a new center now in Cooper Beebe. Last week, it seemed as if Brock Hoffman would win the job, but after getting first-team reps in practice and then his first start on Saturday, Beebe was rather impressive – and don’t forget it was against the Raiders’ starting defense.

All in all, there are plenty of things the Cowboys need to clean up. But in a game like this, there were also a few things to get excited about it.

And more than that, a few things that made the Cowboys a better team than they were last Sunday.