NFL
By: Greg Rector
Dallas Cowboys fans as we are painfully aware the same old story and narratives will be all over the place after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round. “They can’t win the big game” “The Cowboys choke” and all the rest of the stories we’ve lived with since the Super Bowl XXX victory will be out there in full force. Let’s review the good, the bad, and the ugly for the 2022 season.
The Good
The Cowboys’ defense once again caused a whole of problems for opposing offenses. Followed up the 34 takeaways from 2021 with 33 takeaways in 2022. that’s very rare. They also pressured opposing quarterbacks more than any other team in the league. Micah Parsons was one of the most disruptive players in the league. The offense saw great years for Tony Pollard (over 1000 rushing yards) and Ceedee Lamb (1,359 yards 9 TDs) proved he is a legitimate WR1 in this league. Sorry, Mike McCarthy haters a second straight 12-win season showed the man knows how to be a head coach. Rookies Tyler Smith, Daron Bland, and TE Jake Ferguson exceeded expectations. Smith held his own as left tackle way better than most of us thought possible. Often overlooked this Dallas Cowboys team is the third-youngest roster in the NFL (even with Jason Peters at age 40), so there is plenty of good that this team can look forward to in future seasons. Losing Terence Steele Jourdan Lewis and yes haters even Anthony Brown for the season was very tough to overcome. It would be for any other roster in the league as well.
The Bad
Obviously weeks one and eighteen jump out right away when the bad of the season is being discussed. I will add in the two 4th quarter collapses against the Jaguars and Packers as low-lights for the team. Could things have gone differently with Dak Prescott not missing 5 games? We’ll never know. This team however at key moments all year had trouble executing on both sides of the ball at the most inopportune times. That happens in football but it also takes you into the realm of being a good and not a great team. You can afford just one or two down weeks, and of course, absolutely none in the playoffs. The inability to see the backups rise to the occasion, especially both 2021 corner draft picks hurt this team greatly. The number one bad for me though was the play calling from Kellen Moore. far too often the offensive play calls made little sense, were too risky, and went against what has always been the Cowboys’ key to success. Now I will also say the decisions made by the quarterback left little to be desired too often as well. The offense was effective at times but still, there were too many cases all season long where there was a miscommunication between Dak and his receivers, terrible routes in some games, and when least needed the quarterback throws behind his receivers way too much. Certainly, the players have a responsibility as well, but it starts when the coordinator simply makes too many bad calls week in and week out. Michael Gallup had an awful season and was a non-factor not what a WR2 is supposed to bring to the table at all.
The Ugly
Once again the ugly are the losses that should not have happened. the constant instant reactions of fanatics both within the fanbase and the sports media landscape. Ridiculous that no other franchise gets this much attention for not getting to Super Bowls, anyone else screaming as much that it’s been an even longer drought for Washington? Of course not. Being two of 32 teams to reach the showcase in February is damn hard. As much as I love the Cowboys’ my distaste for the ridiculous hatred is as strong as my well-known dislike for the family that owns the Cowboys. For me as I said last off-season the UGLY mistake was choosing to keep Moore as the offensive coordinator. I am loathed to instantly call for a coach to be fired but the proof he is not the right guy to be in Dak’s ear was there in the last playoffs and again this year.
2023
The good news? This is a young team, they made strides and they do get very angry when they don’t play well. The inability to defeat the Niners two straight years in the playoffs will motivate this group. If the Jones family is wise (oh oh) they will keep Mike McCarthy as head coach. Furthermore, they have an out available to them post-June 1st. The way Dak’s contract is structured the dead cap hit by cutting him after June 1st is $0 in 2023 and would then be a $34 million hit in 2024 (see overthecap.com) which is when the salary cap could be almost 45 million higher than this year. For both sides, this might be the best move. Dak gets blamed for everything as we all know and yes he has earned some of that without a doubt. He also brings a whole lot of negativity and doubt surrounding the team from the outside to the facility in Frisco. He needs a change of scenery and Dallas needs to move on. The reason it likely won’t happen? The “loyalty” from JJ and Stephen. They are also stubbornly famous for loving their guys as we all know. Scared of doing that? Did y’all not just see the 262nd pick of the draft win against Dallas? There are plenty of good quarterbacks in this draft (get over needing a franchise savior) I am also moving on from both Ezekiel Elliott and Tyron Smith as hard as it will be for some folks, there comes a time when the hard choices need to be made. Hopefully, they don’t screw up re-signing Tony Pollard. We will see what they do this off-season. So for the 27th season in a row, Cowboys Nation did not get their dream ending. As I said before it is damn hard to get there. Focus on the upside going forward, folks. So ends the 2022 season.
As always find me on Twitter @GregsCowboys
