Calling Delanie Walker and Clay Matthews? Dallas Cowboys suffer 2 major injuries in Week 1 loss at Rams

The 2020 Dallas Cowboys were supposed to be one of the most talented teams Jerry Jones has had this century, and maybe the Cowboys will be Super Bowl contenders. Well, not if they can't win close games. Dallas fell to 1-7 in one-possession games since the start of 2019 with Sunday night's 20-17 loss at the Los Angeles Rams, and to make matters worse two starters, tight end Blake Jarwin and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, suffered serious injuries. Only the Bengals have a worse record in one-score games since the start of last season (0-9).

Jarwin's season is over as he reportedly suffered a torn ACL in L.A. The fourth-year player was a popular breakout candidate for this year after getting a three-year, $24.5 million extension in the offseason and future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten not re-signing in free agency. Jarwin had one catch for 12 yards Sunday before leaving with a non-contact injury to his right knee. He had 31 catches for 365 yards and three TDs in 2019.

That leaves the rather anonymous duo of Dalton Schultz and Blake Bell as the only tight ends on the Cowboys' active roster. Schultz, a 2018 fourth-round pick out of Stanford, has 14 catches for 133 yards and no TDs in his pro career and had one catch for four yards vs. the Rams. Bell, a former quarterback, has 38 catches for 424 yards and zero TDs in his six seasons.  Undrafted rookie tight end Sean McKeon, inactive Sunday, could also be in uniform moving forward.

Dallas absolutely will need to go find a tight end and speculation already is rampant the team might sign Delanie Walker. The 36-year-old used to be a fabulous player – three Pro Bowls, four straight 800-yard-plus seasons from 2014-17 -- but was limited to eight total games the previous two seasons with the Titans due to injury. Walker has been a free agent since mid-March, when the Titans released him due to a failed physical.

Meanwhile. Vander Esch is going to miss likely between 6-8 weeks with a fractured collarbone. The 2018 first-round pick out of Boise State had a fabulous rookie season but was limited to nine games last year due to a bulging disk. The severity of that injury was compounded by congenital spinal stenosis, a condition that involves the narrowing of the spinal column.

Joe Thomas replaced Vander Esch in Sunday's game. With Sean Lee also banged up (he didn't play Sunday and is on injured reserve), there's some scuttlebutt the Cowboys could call free-agent linebacker Clay Matthews, who played under Dallas coach Mike McCarthy in Green Bay. Seven-time Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas is also still on the market. 

If Cowboys fans are looking for a bright side to Sunday's loss, the team started 0-1 in 2016, 2014, 2006 and 2003 and made the playoffs. In addition, the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas' main projected competition for the NFC East title, looked pretty awful in an upset loss at Washington. The Cowboys remain -110 division favorites at William Hill with the Eagles at +150. Dallas has its home opener this Sunday vs. Atlanta, which is a 6-point underdog. 

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