Instant Analysis: QB Sam Howell falls short in Cowboys loss; did he earn roster spot?

Friday's preseason finale gave Cowboys coaches a good look at how their bubble players will- or won't- perform under pressure, with several prospects likely tipping the scales one way or the other toward earning a roster spot.

The Cowboys came up short in a 27-24 loss to New Orleans to just miss going undefeated in the preseason, but quarterback Sam Howell showed plenty of grit and fight in leading the team back from a 15-point deficit in the second half of action from AT&T Stadium to tie the score late.

Howell put up a better half of football than Joe Milton, going 12-of-18 passing for 155 yards and pair of touchdowns and also running in the two-point conversion that evened the score at 24-24 with six minutes to play. The 25-year-old actually had a perfect passer rating at that point, but going 2-for-7 on the offense's failed final drive dropped him to a 130.6 for the game. It's debatable whether he wrestled the QB2 job away from Milton, but he may well have proved himself worthy of keeping around.

The Dallas run game was rather lackluster, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry behind the trio of Phil Mafah, Israel Abanikanda, and Jashaun Corbin. Mafah got most of the work, with 12 attempts, and despite his 3.8 yards per tote, looked stronger than his numbers might indicate behind an offensive line of depth hopefuls.

Several receivers stood out. Jordan Hudson in particular showed a nice connection with Howell, posting nearly 100 yards and scoring on a toe-tap touchdown in the fourth quarter. Anthony Smith, Tyler Johnson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling all caught multiple balls, though they all face long odds to make the 53-man roster due to sheer numbers. Preseason hero Camden Brown added just one catch to his totals, but it was another acrobatic grab that only helped his case for making the team.

At tight end, Zack Kuntz hasn't seemed to click with the offense since being signed earlier in the month. Rookie Michael Trigg, working his way back from a toe injury, had three bad drops on three decent targets. And Mitch Van Vooren hauled in a touchdown even though he only joined the team on Monday. How the Cowboys handle the TE group will be fascinating.

Defensively, Dallas allowed the Saints to convert just three of their nine third-down tries, but New Orleans found other ways to inflict damage. Christian Parker's B- and C-teams had trouble getting off the field overall, giving up five drives of 40 yards or more, all of which ended in points.

The Cowboys were sloppy against the run, as the Saints posted 5.3 yards per attempt on the night, had five different players rip off a ground gain in the double digits, and tallied rushing three touchdowns.

In the end, the preseason finale- for any team- is the rare instance where how the team performs as a whole isn't nearly as important as which individual players proved they belong. Friday's 27-24 exhibition loss will be forgotten soon by the Cowboys' fanbase. But it will have been enough to extend the NFL dream for a handful of hopefuls... and likely haunt almost 40 men who will no longer be on the team come Monday.

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