The Dallas Cowboys finished the 2023 season with a 12-5 record and made the playoffs for the third straight year. They finished top 5 in points per game for the third straight year – including leading the league in points for the second time in 3 seasons. It was a very successful regular season for the Cowboys – but as we know – their season came to an end in a very ugly loss to the Green Bay Packers. As everyone knows – the Cowboys haven’t went to the NFC championship game since the middle of the 1990’s – and we are now entering year 9 of the Dak Prescott era – and since Dak has taken over as quarterback – he has a postseason record of just 2-5. The Cowboys team preview is going to be unlike a lot of other team previews because this isn’t a team that struggles a whole lot. And in fact – you may be surprised to find out that – there’s only team to have 12 wins in each of the last 3 regular seasons. And it’s not Kansas City. It’s Dallas. But despite going a combined 36-15 over the last 3 regular seasons – they’re 1-3 in the playoffs with their lone playoff win coming over a team that actually had a losing record in the regular season – which of course was the 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And here we are in the present day where the Dallas Cowboys are in a brutal situation. Because the fan base – and understandably so – is fed up. And the loss to Green Bay last year – took a lot out of the fan base. So the big question entering 2024 for Dallas – who lost a lot of players in free agency by the way – is – how far will they go? Well, we’re going to break everything down in today’s video. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by breaking down who the Cowboys lost in free agency and it starts with former pass rusher Dorance Armstrong Dorance is a very solid player and has been for the past few years and he actually has 21 sacks over the past 3 years. He had 8.5 sacks in 2022 and 7.5 in 2023 and this loss is going to be a lot bigger than people realize. Not just because he left – but because the player who was going to replace him – in 2022 2nd round pick Sam Williams – unfortunately tore his ACL in camp and is done for the year. Drafting Sam Williams ahead of time knowing the plan was for him to eventually take over was a great decision and it’s always great to have a plan in place – but losing Dorance – and especially to a division rival is going to hurt that much more. Now obviously Dallas had no way of knowing Sam was going to get hurt before the 2024 season even began – and we of course wish Sam the best in his recovery and hope he kills it in 2025 – in what will be a contract year for him – but the butterfly effect of this is – is – they’re going to have to have rookie Marshawn Kneeland step up and be the third guy to get after the quarterback behind Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence of course. And for what it’s worth – I don’t blame Dallas for letting Dorance walk in free agency at all – they had a plan in place and unfortunately an injury put a fork in the road – which is entirely out of their control. They lost center Tyler Biadasz to the Commanders as well and while losing both Armstrong and BIadasz aren’t franchise changing losses – they’re not easily replaceable. I mean – Dallas spent a second round pick on Sam Williams to eventually replace Armstrong – and they are entering the year with Brock Hoffman slated to be the starting center.
Brock is a true wild card at center and while Biadasz isn’t Jason Kelce by any means – replacing a player of his caliber is a lot more difficult than you think. And a lot of the time when you talk ball with your buddies or people at the bar or wherever – quarterbacks are going to be one of the first things to come up. And there’s a reason quarterbacks don’t get traded. But Centers don’t either. And having anywhere from an average center – to an elite center – is critical and something that I think from a fans perspective at times – can be taken for granted. Brock is a former undrafted free agent from Virginia Tech and I am eager to see how he does this year – but I would be surprised if he plays at the level Biadasz did last year. And that wasn’t the only loss along the offensive line in free agency as Tyron Smith – the long time Cowboy – signed with the Jets and of course – running back Tony Pollard is now a Titan. Replacing those guys isn’t going to be easy and I know Tyron Smith hasn’t played more than 14 games in a season since all the way back in 2015 – but he did play 13 last year so they are in fact – replacing a starter from last year to this year. We’ll discuss the offense a lot more in depth later in the video – but letting Tony Pollard walk to bring back a 29 year old Ezekiel Elliott and have the running back room they currently do – is certainly a choice. They also lost defensive coordinator Dan Quinn who is now the head coach of the Commanders and brought in former Cowboys defensive coordinator and former Vikings head coach – Mike Zimmer – to replace Quinn for the 2024 season.
Now pertaining to the Cowboys defense in 2024 – whatever you think of this team – I love their defense. And one part of the Cowboys defense that I don’t think is getting talked about enough nationally – is the return of Trevon Diggs. The Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs for the year in 2023 in the middle of a practice leading up to week 3 and just like that – he was done Losing a player like that is obviously tough – and the silver lining within this was having Daron Bland step up and have 5 pick 6’s over the course of the 2023 season. So when you have two ball hawking corners like this – combined with a pass rush that will again be very good even with the loss Dorance Armstrong in free agency – and now Sam Williams to a torn ACL – I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to watch this defense this year. Micah Parsons is also a 1 of 1 player defensively and he had over 100 pressures for the first time last year which was preceded by a 90 pressure season in 2022. It is not an exaggeration to say Micah makes everyones jobs easier on defense because of how much opposing offenses have to account for him. Hell – there was a game back in 2022 against the Vikings where Micah beat Christian Darrisaw – who is a very good left tackle and just signed a $100+ million dollar extension – and had a strip sack and the Cowboys would go on to win absolutely dismantle the Vikings to a tune of 40-3. The tone was set early in that game by Micah Parsons. And Micah had 13 games last year where he had 5 pressures or more which from one player – is downright insane. And when you have a player who can get after the quarterback at the rate Micah does – corners like Trevon Diggs and Daron Bland are in a position to be able to attack the football as corners because the opposing quarterback is going to have less time to throw the football. Now one thing I do worry about with the Cowboys defense in 2024 – is something that happened in a few of their losses last year. Dallas’s defense naturally thrives on being able to get after the quarterback and to be able to put Micah, D Law, Osa Odighizuwa and the gang in great situations for them to succeed. And the Cowboys won 9 games by double digits – and there was a reason for that. They would get up on teams quick and not let up. And when they couldn’t get up quick and pounce on a teams throat – it was 50/50.
And they couldn’t pounce on the Packers in the wild card round like they did to teams throughout the year and that’s what worries me with Dallas in 2024. And another game that represented this to a tee – was the Bills game in week 15. Buffalo had 3 drives in the first half alone that were double digit play drives that ended in touchdowns – all of which were 75 or more yards. Not surprisingly – Buffalo had over 35 minutes time of possession in this game and ran the ball 49 times as a team. Josh Allen threw for just 94 yards but the Bills won by 21 points. And for as much as I love certain players on this defense – I can’t help but wonder how they’re going to play in a game where they don’t match up well against. 3 games in their first 7 which are games against Baltimore, Detroit, and San Francisco – are games I’m going to be paying particular attention to see how this team plays them – who are all elite at running the football. And side note – i can’t wait for the Detroit game especially with how that game ended last year between these teams. One thing I do want to be clear with the 2024 Cowboys – is – I think they’re going to be a very good team. And I think you would be ignorant to just say eh it’s the Cowboys they’re not a serious threat. Now – do I think they’re going to go all the way and win the Super Bowl and have it be their year? No. Because I think they are very flawed offensively which we’ll get into – but i worry about how the Cowboys play in big games more than I worry about with other teams. Whether it was a 32 point loss to San Francisco last year, or a 21 point loss to Buffalo later in the year, or even a 16 point loss to Green Bay – which was honestly a gift from Green Bay based on how that game was played – because we all know it was a lot uglier than a 16 point loss – which is already pretty bad as it is – I worry about how the Dallas Cowboys will play when it comes hell or high water.
