The Cowboys season has been tough for their fans. This is an organization that has won 12 games in each of the past 3 seasons, and there were high hopes for them coming into this season. Injuries to their biggest stars contributed to their poor play for most of the season, and although they won’t be headed to the playoffs this season, there are some things to take away from the past 4-5 weeks.
Rico Dowdle Is an RB1
First of all, when they run the football, the entire offense is better. They were dropping back to pass far too often earlier in the season, and it hurt their offensive line in pass protection and made them far too one-dimensional. Since they started giving Rico Dowdle the ball more, this team has simply been better.
CeeDee Lamb Is Worth The Big Bucks
Not only has Lamb performed at a high level with both Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush this season, but he does it in so many ways. He is an elite route runner, and he is amazing at the point of the catch; few are better once they have the ball in their hands, and Lamb also does the dirty work in the run-blocking game. Dallas was smart to extend him.
Mike McCarthy
There have been many people calling for him to be fired. The thing is, if he didn’t lose Parsons and Lawrence for so many weeks and lost Bland and Diggs for so many games, the Cowboys defense could have been one of the best in football. That is 4 all-pro players that missed huge chunks of time. He also lost his starting QB mid-way through the season and still, his team has played better than they are given credit for. Do not be surprised if Jerry Jones brings McCarthy back next season.
Dak Prescott
They couldn’t run the football before he got hurt, and it led to him having to do too much and take too many hits. Make no mistake: Dak is a far superior QB to Cooper Rush, even though the team has been playing better since Dak got hurt. Their rookies on the offensive line have gotten better, they have established a run game, and the defense is being gashed for a million yards. Give Dak all of that, and he would be having another MVP-caliber season.
Michah Parsons
If there was a defensive MVP award, Parsons would be one of, if not THE front runner for the award. The Cowboys defense with Parsons vs. when he was hurt is night and day. He truly makes every other player around him better and has a huge impact on every game. He, too, is worth big money, and keeping him healthy next year will be a key to the Cowboys success.
Jerry Jones
He is the Cowboys biggest problem. He needs to take a step back and simply be a figurehead and an owner, not the GM. He should not be getting involved in any player personnel decisions. He needs to let football people do football things. Until he is ready to do this, the Cowboys will continue to disappoint year in and year out.
