One Problem Addressed, One Still Waiting

Joey Porter Jr. is on the roster now, and that matters. The secondary has been held together with tape since early in the season, and Dallas finally has a corner who can actually cover someone. I noted when the trade happened that it was the first real infusion of talent the back end had seen all year. That part of the story has moved.

The linebacker situation has not. DeMarvion Overshown is out for Week 4, which means the position Dallas has been most worried about since training camp remains exactly as thin as it was. Rashan Gary and Von Miller are splitting snaps, and there is nothing behind them worth leaning on. Overshown was supposed to be the answer at off-ball linebacker — the beat narrative coming out of Oxnard had him as the anchor the defense needed there. He has not been able to stay on the field long enough to be that.

So Dallas heads into Week 4 with its corner situation stabilized and its linebacker room still a problem. Those two things are both true at the same time, which is about where this defense has lived all season — one fire partially out, another one burning.