If Cowboys Don't Get Pressure vs. Titans, They Should Give Michael Sam a Shot

With a patchwork, no-name defensive line, it was surprising to see the Dallas Cowboys record only a single sack in their Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Facing a quarterback who had the ninth-highest sack allowance rate in the league last year, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com, the 'Boys hit Colin Kaepernick five times but couldn't sustain constant pressure. 

With so many injuries on that side of the ball—Justin Durant is now out, too, according to ESPNDallas.com's Todd Archer, leaving them with only one original starting linebacker—Rod Marinelli's defensive front simply has to find a way to create more pressure. 

Now the Cowboys face a Tennessee Titans team that gave up 12 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and four sacks against a shorthanded Kansas City Chiefs defense in Week 1. With new defensive tackle Henry Melton expected to play a more prominent role, per Archer, there's no reason they shouldn't get more of a push up front. 

But if they don't, it should become Michael Sam time. 

I mean, what have they got to lose? It's not as though they'd be taking snaps away from anyone deserving, and Sam was a beast in flashes this preseason in St. Louis.

Promoting Sam—who is the league's first openly gay player—from the practice squad would give owner Jerry Jones a chance to start selling his jerseys, and it might even give the Cowboys a leg up in Week 3. Why? It's simple, really: Dallas faces the St. Louis Rams, the team Sam practiced against all summer. 

Plus, the guy is on fire. 

Less than a year after being named SEC Defensive Player of the Year for an 11.5-sack senior season at Missouri, Sam was one of only nine players to put together three or more sacks during the 2014 NFL preseason. He added five more pressures in addition to that, according to PFF, giving him eight in total on only 71 pass-rushing snaps. He also had 11 tackles while missing zero, per PFF.

And it seems those positive vibes have carried over to Texas. 

“He’s doing a good job,” defensive lineman Jeremy Mincey said of Sam on Thursday, per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “He works hard. He does what you ask of him, and that’s all you can do in this league.”

“He’s done some good things,” added Marinelli. “The only thing he really gets is some of our individual periods, and then he gets some one-on-one rushes on Wednesday, and I think he’s gotten a little bit better."

It just seems like an ideal opportunity. Let an inspired dude try to show up the team that cut him less than a month prior, in his first NFL game no less. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon