The Dallas Cowboys have won 12 regular season games. They also won a playoff game. Then they lost a close road game against a very good San Francisco 49ers.
Based on the reaction to the 49ers’ loss, you’d think they hadn’t won a game all season.
It’s time to Mike McCarthy was shot. They had to Consider moving forward From Duck Prescott. The fans were Tired of everything.
Everything is bigger in Texas, including anger from Cowboys fans.
We all know the main talking points. The Cowboys haven’t been to a Super Bowl since the end of the 1995 season. Super Bowl starter for Dallas Nate Newton will turn 62 this year. The Cowboys haven’t even made it past the Divisional Round of the playoffs since Super Bowl XXX season.
The problem is, the Cowboys have been pretty good for most of Prescott’s era (ranging in between 61 and 36 in his prime), but another team has always done better. And for the NFL’s biggest fanbase, 12 wins in the regular season and a lousy Tampa Bay Buccaneers win in the playoffs is not a satisfying season.
And in that cauldron, McCarthy put himself in a hotter seat in the off-season.
McCarthy is a punching bag, and it doesn’t have to be fair. McCarthy has a winning percentage of 0.614, better than Bill Parcells, Chuck Noll, Tom Landry and Bill Walsh are among the other greats. Only 10 coaches in NFL history with at least 150 wins have a better winning percentage. But all of his Green Bay Packers success was assigned to Aaron Rodgers and the Cowboys success was simply ignored amid calls for his job.
The Cowboys parted ways with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, McCarthy announced he would take over play-calling duties, and then in the NFL, he delivered some quotes that would be repeated every time the Cowboys lost 17-13 a game. With him he invites plays. There is no one to blame.
“I was where Killeen was,” McCarthy said. “Kellen wants to light up the scoreboard. But I want to run the damn ball so I can rest my defense. Think when you’re coordinating, you know, but you’re in charge of the offense. Being a head coach and being a caller, you’re more in tune.”
“I don’t want to be the first attacker in the league. I want to be the first team in the league with the number of wins and the championship. And if we have to give up some production and take better care of the ball to get that, that’s what we’ll do.”
With that, McCarthy became the rare caller who publicly declared that he hoped he wouldn’t have the NFL’s No. 1 offense. And his “Run the damn ball” streak will come up every time there’s a bad call on the 2nd and 12th or the 3rd and 5th this season. This time, McCarthy calls for criticism.
“It’s a lot of fun to call in heavy passes, but it’s not the best thing for your team,” McCarthy said. “Tenure time goes to hell, and staff turnover risks go up.
“So we have to get the security ball. We have to secure it better. We need to be a top-five team and that’s skill.”
This is probably the best cowboy formula. Coming off the season Prescott led the NFL with 15 interceptions and did so in just 12 games. He threw two more in that playoff loss to the 49ers. McCarthy’s old strategy should reduce Prescott’s interceptions (and yards, touchdowns, and scoring as a whole), but it’s nothing like what the Cowboys were doing and got them to the NFC Championship Game.
He’s just now putting more pressure on McCarthy, not that he needs him. Nor will it reduce the pressure on Prescott. He’s a Cowboys quarterback and pressure comes with the job.
Cowboys will be good again. They’ve been very good the last two seasons and had an unproductive season. Dallas is among the Premier League’s starting quarterbacks, such as receiver CeeDee Lamb and star defensive tackle Micah Parsons.
But everyone knows a repeat of last season won’t be good enough, or even close. The Cowboys need a special season, or maybe some of these big changes that fans are already clamoring for happen.
offseason degree
The Cowboys made two clever runs to fix the problem areas. They sent a fifth-round pick to the Indianapolis Colts for cornerback Stephon Gilmour, who wouldn’t win another NFL Defensive Player of the Year award but could be a good No. 2 cornerback against Trayvon Diggs even when he’s 33 years old. Dallas also sent a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a sixth-round pick in 2024 to the Houston Texans for well-traveled receiver Brandin Cox, who has six 1,000-yard seasons. The Cowboys did not have enough room to sign any free outside agents, although they did re-sign safety Donovan Wilson and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch. Dallas lost guard Connor McGovern to the Buffalo Bills and tight end Dalton Schultz to the Texans. The draft hasn’t been exciting, but first-round defensive tackle Mazie Smith fills a need in the middle of the second round, Luke Schoonmaker can help replace Schultz, and third-round linebacker DeMarvion Overshown can fill a role. As long as Gilmore and the Chefs had something going on, it was off.
degree: B
Quarterback report
Dak Prescott hasn’t had a good season. He led the NFL in interceptions. His yards per game and passer rating were well below the previous season. But he is still a good midfielder. Focus on professional football Prescott had been ranked as the second-best QB in standard accuracy last season, and the number one in avoiding inaccurate but inaccurate throws. Prescott tied for 13th in turnover plays last season, According to PFF, which says his interception total was unlucky. He wasn’t at the level of last season, but it’s also inconsequential when there’s talk that the Cowboys need to replace him. Prescott will turn 30 this season, he’s got a decent set of receivers, and while Mike McCarthy’s playing connection probably won’t allow him to put up huge raw stats, it seems safe to assume he’ll be better than he’s been this season. since.
Breakdown of BetMGM odds
Continuous negativity about cowboys can lead to the value of the bet. Last season, Dallas’ win total was 10.5 and one of the NFL offseason’s most popular bets is even lower. over hit. This year the winning total is about 10. Over 9.5 is -155 odds and Under 10.5 is -150 at BetMGM. I’d take over 10.5 at odds of +115. I’m skeptical of Mike McCarthy’s offensive philosophy, but his track record is also hard to deny. Dallas should have another strong season.
Take Yahoo Fictional
From Scott Pianowski of Yahoo: Tony Pollard currently has Yahoo ADP in the 18-19 range, which is slightly above his national average. I can log on with Yahoo enthusiasm.
Pollard is entering his fifth year with a mileage low, and the Cowboys still have a top-10 offensive line. Pollard makes plenty of splash plays as a runner (5.1 yards per rush over his career) and as a receiver (8.3 yards per grab). And maybe this year he’ll get more touchdowns. the quick; although it went up 12 last year, only three of those scores came from inside the top 10. Don’t worry about Pollard being a public theatric; often the right audience will call it the wisdom of the crowd.”
Stats to remember
Only seven players who appeared to have enough carries to qualify have finished their careers averaging at least five yards per carry. Five of the seven are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tony Pollard’s career average is 5.1 yards per carry. His efficiency has led to endless calls for him to get more of a load on Ezekiel Elliott, and that’s about to happen. Elliott was snapped and the Cowboys did almost nothing to add the No. 2 back to split time with Pollard. Elliott is unsigned and could probably come back, but Pollard is now in the lead with the biggest workload of his career. Pollard set a career best with 12.1 carries per game last season. He has had more than 15 catches only three times in 62 games. How much work would Pollard have with Mike McCarthy hoping to “run the damn ball” and without a proven backup? This could be the huge Pollard season everyone has been waiting for.
burning question
Is this Micah Parsons’ DPOY season?
At BetMGM, Parsons is the favorite to win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award at +650 odds. He may be a pre-season favorite for the next few years until he wins the award. And it looks like he’s going to win at least one DPOY before it’s over. Parsons had a fine following of a great rookie season, recording 13.5 sacks last season. He led the NFL with 106 pressures last season, Via Pro Football Focusso with some good luck, Parsons was able to chase the single-season sack record that he had Hoping to get past the season. The Dallas defense is excellent under coordinator Dan Quinn – the Dallas defense has finished second in Football Outsiders’ DVOA in two consecutive seasons – with talented players at all three levels. Parsons is clearly the biggest reason for the defense’s success.
best case scenario
For all the jokes about Mike McCarthy wanting to avoid crazy concepts like scoring too many points on offense, there was some logic in what he was saying. If fewer assists makes Dak Prescott more efficient, and helps the Dallas defense at the same time, then this complementary approach can be very successful. And Dallas is really in a good place. The Cowboys have been 24-10 the last two seasons with a dominant defense and offense filled with playmakers. Prescott is good enough to lead the Cowboys to a championship, but he just hasn’t done it yet. As good as the Philadelphia Eagles are, it’s not crazy to believe the Cowboys can beat them for the NFC East title. And although it’s been 28 years since the Cowboys made a deep playoff run, this team can do it.
nightmare scenario
In 2023, it’s hard to deny that the most effective offense is heavy passing. Mike McCarthy is not going to flip the Cowboys In the 1973 BillsBut slowing down crime could backfire. It’s also odd that Dallas wants a first offense but is so weak at running back Tony Pollard, who has never been a factor in the business. And no matter how the Cowboys play offense, if Dak Prescott keeps throwing interceptions, Dallas can’t go far. It’s hard in a weak NFC to see the Cowboys fall out of the playoffs unless there are a lot of key injuries. But a playoff berth and early exit would lead to another season of angst, and possibly big changes.
crystal ball says…
Cowboys in a strange place. They’re one of the best teams in the NFL, a Super Bowl contender and most fan bases would be glad they did. However, they are not the favorites to win their division, and while they do have Super Bowl contender status, you won’t find many people picking them to actually win or even achieve them. Mike McCarthy’s views on offensive football in this era aren’t comforting either. For some fanbases, that would be a dramatic prediction, but not for Dallas: The Cowboys are likely to have double-digit wins and make the playoffs, be very good but no better than the Eagles, and be tough in the playoffs but no win. Skip the division round. once again. Then after losing the playoff, we’ll watch Jerry Jones answer questions about whether to keep McCarthy and Dak Prescott.
Other team previews
32. Arizona Cardinals
31. Houston Texans
30. Chicago Bears
29. Tennessee Titans
28. Los Angeles Rams
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
26. Indianapolis Colts
25. Washington leaders
24. Las Vegas Raiders
23. Carolina Panthers
22. Denver Broncos
21. Atlanta Falcons
20. Green Bay Packers
19. New England Patriots
18. New York Giants
17. Minnesota Vikings
16. New Orleans Saints
15. Pittsburgh Steelers
14. Cleveland Browns
13. Los Angeles Chargers
12. Jacksonville Jaguars
11. Seattle Seahawks
10. Baltimore Ravens
9. Miami Dolphins
8. New York Jets
7. Detroit Lions
6. Dallas Cowboys
5. San Francisco 49ers
4. Buffalo bills
3. Cincinnati Bengals
2. Philadelphia Eagles
1. The Kansas City Chiefs