NFL
By: Greg Rector
Dallas Cowboys fans should be rejoicing these days, of course, they have become so jaded with the failures of the last 26 seasons that it isn’t happening. Look no further than myself as a victim of those disappointments. I was immediately a part of the doom and gloom brigade seeing Dak Prescott injured in week one. I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised for the most part by the first Cowboys team since the 90s to put together back-to-back seasons with 10+ wins. Let’s look at what has been done to see that happen.
Stephen and Will
No one is more critical of Stephen “Cap Boy,” Jones and I have rarely agreed with him on much. Here is the one area where I will give Jones and Will McClay full credit, the last two draft classes. Combining players with physical gifts and a much better mentality is no easy task. The duo responsible has found us a lot of guys who hit both check marks. Look no further than Tyler Smith and his rookie season. Certainly, the penalties have been an issue but watch Smith play one of football’s most difficult positions and you see him play with a ton of physicality and determination. Hasn’t mattered to him that he’s also been shifted to left guard at times. Go back one year and what we have seen from Trevon Diggs and Micah Parsons, players that absolutely crave playing at a high level, willing to do the things it takes to improve, and neither is ever SATISFIED. For far too long players were comfortable just being a player for the Dallas Cowboys. Not anymore. These guys all strive for improvement. They want to be considered the best player at their positions and never rest on their laurels. Let’s not forget that for both they are still guys who have only played their positions for 4 years. The improvements are evident. Parsons is also the vocal leader of this defense and often the team as a whole. So indeed Stephen and Will have done a wonderful job on draft day.
McCarthy and His Staff
I was neutral about Mike McCarthy’s hiring and mostly was simply relieved that the 9.5 seasons of Jason “Coach Clapper,” Garrett had finally ended. There was a guy I never was on board with from the start. McCarthy of course has had to deal with the injury-ravaged 2020 season that no coach was going to succeed in. 2021 brought us a 12-5 season only to see the heartbreak of the playoff loss to San Francisco. There were moments of course on multiple 4th down attempts that failed and bad clock management where McCarthy was rightly criticized. All in all, though putting up 12 wins in the NFL is no easy feat and McCarthy was kept despite the many calls to see him fired. We all know how respected defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is around the league, while offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has play-called seasons with some impressive offensive numbers, including this season once Dak Prescott returned from his injury. On the bye week the Cowboys did an exercise called “Across The Hall,” the offensive coaches were assigned the defensive players and vice-versa. The goal was for every player to understand what the opposite side saw in each player from the perspective of the coaches responsible for the other side of the ball. That’s a lot of work for the coaching staff, breaking down players from the other side of the ball just as they would the next opponent. It gave the players insights into how opposing offenses and defenses looked at each of them. Areas of strengths and weaknesses were all discussed. To me, that was a simply brilliant idea. You can get so locked into your role that you miss the bigger picture at times. It showed the players that this is truly a team game and it takes a ton of work to get it right.
On The Field
The Cowboys in years past would have folded their tents and gone home in more than one game this season. Look no further than the Houston Texans game. Things went wrong from the start and if you went back just one season it was eerily similar to the horrific loss against the Denver Broncos. Not this season folks, the Cowboys fought back and won the game despite the setbacks. That resiliency is a huge difference from years past indeed. The defense made a huge stand in the 4th quarter stopping the Texans on 4th and goal. The Cowboys’ offense then was surgical in their game-winning 98-yard touchdown drive. Those things for years have been missing for way too many games as Cowboys fans have painfully experienced. The one instance where the team seemed to forget a game is 60 minutes long was against the Packers. They were absolutely livid with that performance and it has shown in the next few games. This is where the character traits that Jones and McClay have focused on matter, playoff games are generally never a cakewalk. This group doesn’t shrink from those tough moments. All we can hope for is that come playoff time that they fight for those 60 minutes. Getting a deep playoff run and if things go right that possible first February playoff game is the goal. Everyone is doing their part to achieve that. Is the defense as physical as the Niners? Not quite but they use speed as their best weapon along with being able to create turnovers an element that was absent for way too long.
The Test
After this week’s game, the division and NFL-leading Philadelphia Eagles come to Dallas on Christmas Eve. That will be the test to see if all the work this season has paid off. Can they adjust from the first game? Will they dictate the game the way they are capable of rather than be reactive to what the Eagles want to do? Go back and watch that first game. The Cowboys were totally outplayed in the second quarter however, they went toe to toe with The Eagles in the other three quarters. Will it be a disaster if they lose? Not really. They could still end up with that 3rd game against an opponent in the same season. The hardest thing to do in the NFL is going 3-0 against an opponent. Dallas could instead find themselves having everything go their way in a playoff rematch even in Philadelphia. We will see how it all unfolds. If everything that this organization has done to see a different outcome works for the first time in almost 30 years. I will only be disappointed if the fight isn’t there as has been the case for so long.
As always find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
