The Dallas Cowboys finished the 2024 season with a 7-10 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020. It was an unfortunate year for the Cowboys as franchise quarterback Dak Prescott got hurt in week 9 and missed the rest of the season. They were just 3-5 in games Prescott started in 2024 and I don’t think Dallas was going to make the playoffs even if Dak stayed healthy especially in a loaded NFC – because remember – the 7 seed Green Bay Packers were 11-6 – and Dallas would have had to finish the year on a 8-1 run – just to have a chance to get into the postseason- which would have required a sweep of the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles, as well as a sweep of the Washington Commanders too. Even before the Prescott injury – it was a disappointing year for the Cowboys as they were blown out by both the Saints and Lions at home as they lost by 25 to New Orleans and by 38 points to the Lions. As we know – this team has not been to the NFC championship game in 30 years and I have a lot of concerns with the Cowboys future at this point in time. How can they get better? How can they win when it matters? And what is their realistic plan for the future? Well we’re going to break everything down in today’s video. The concerns, the ways to improve the roster, and what they can realistically do to put themselves in a better situation. And there is a lot to breakdown in today’s video and without further ado – let’s begin.
And we are starting today’s video by talking about what the Cowboys biggest problem is – is a lack of talent throughout the roster. Despite how loud Jerry Jones can be at times and how loud some Cowboys fans can be at times – this may surprise you that they are a pretty well run organization when it comes to handling football matters – at least pertaining to the NFL Draft. Obviously no team is perfect – but in a 3 year span the Cowboys drafted great football player that fell into their laps in CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, and Tyler Smith. And CeeDee has received his contract extension and Micah and Tyler Smith will at some point – but the point in bringing these 3 players up – is – they played a significant part in the Cowboys winning 12 games in each year from 2021 – 2023. And this also may surprise you – that they were the only team to do that during that span. Not even the Chiefs did that who of course won two super bowls during this time period. Dak Prescott had 2 35+ passing touchdown seasons during this time period and even finished 2nd in the MVP voting in 2023 – and there are people out there who legitimately think Dak Prescott should have won the MVP in 2023. But this team completely fell off the wagon from 2023 to 2024 as they allowed the 2nd most points in franchise history as they allowed 27.5 points per game and allowed 27 or more points in 9 games in 2024 – and in those games – Dallas had a record of 0-9. For all of the things Dallas does right as a franchise – that other franchises wish they could do – like hitting on consecutive first round picks as simple as that sounds – Dallas also does not do a lot of things right. And I think a perfect example of that is if you look at their playmakers on offense at the moment outside of CeeDee Lamb. Jake Ferguson was a really good tight end during the 2023 season as he had over 750 yards and made the pro bowl – and credit where it’s due. But he – like a lot of other Cowboys in 2024 – didn’t have a good year and actually finished the season with zero receiving touchdowns despite having 86 targets in the 14 games he played. And what’s unfortunate for Dallas – is – he’s one of their better guys on offense at the moment outside of CeeDee Lamb. Jalen Tolbert was a 3rd round pick back in 2022 and had the best year of his career in 2024 as he had 610 yards and 7 touchdowns – but this is a player who has 73 career receptions and 890 career receiving yards. I think there is a very real possibility he has a good year in 2025 – and even surpasses his production from last year – but I think it’s important to remember he’s in a contract year and if he does have 800 yards or even in a crazy scenario – he has 1,000 yards and 7 or 8 touchdowns – he’s probably gone after the 2025 season so he can go get more money elsewhere – and you can’t blame him for wanting to do so. And in that scenario – Dallas would not give him the franchise tag to keep Jalen Tolbert on the roster. And I personally don’t think that’s going to happen but wanted to point out the possibility. KaVontae Turpin is their 3rd receiver and I’ll be honest – I don’t have a lot of confidence in Turpin becoming a great third receiver in this offense. He had 420 yards receiving last year as well as 2 receiving touchdowns and simply put – the Cowboys can do a lot better than KaVontae Turpin as their 3rd receiver. I thought the Jonathan Mingo trade was horrific and after being traded midway through the 2024 season from Carolina – Mingo played 8 games for the Cowboys and had 5 receptions on 16 targets for 46 yards. All of the praising we did for Dallas in terms of being able to hit on first round picks – quickly tapers off after the first round and that’s one of their biggest problems as to why they are in the position they’re in.
Now one of the other reasons why the Cowboys future scares me is because two of the other three teams in their division are pretty good. And one of course is the defending Super Bowl champions. Now Dallas did get outscored by the Eagles by a combined 75-13 when they played in 2024 and obviously that’s not good – but I will say Dak Prescott did not play in either game. However if he did play – I don’t think the result changes and I still think the 2024 Cowboys get bet pretty handedly by the 2024 Eagles. Just not by 28 points in one game, and by 34 points in another. The Eagles are a really good team and I know they lost several players this offseason – whether it be due to retirement or due to free agency – but their general manager Howie Roseman is one of the best in the business for a reason. He does a tremendous job building their roster and giving them a chance to seriously compete year in and year out. And sure I don’t expect the Eagles to go 14-3 again – as expecting any team to win 14 games in back to back years -is incredibly lofty for anybody – even the Eagles – but I would be pretty surprised if they don’t win double digit games due to how loaded their roster is. And I don’t like at the Cowboys roster at this specific point in time and think to myself – that hey – week 18 at the Linc – season on the line – NFC east on the line – I’m picking the Cowboys over the birds to win the division. I think there is a big step between these teams and I don’t personally think that should be a hot take. Now Washington is in an interesting situation because they are coming off of an NFC championship game appearance which was their first time being in the NFC championship game since all the way back in the early 90’s.
I don’t mean for this to come across as disrespectful but I am expecting a slight step back from Washington in 2025 and I don’t just mean that hey I don’t think they’re going to go back to the NFC championship game again. That would be incredibly easy to say and one of the safest predictions you can make because of how hard it is to get there in the first place. And by the way – credit to Washington for playing the best team game of the year in the divisional round against the Lions – truly. They forced 5 turnovers and ran for over 180 yards as a team and had multiple big plays and made big plays when it mattered. But I think there is a difference between where the Commanders and Eagles are and I think we saw that the following week. I know Washington committed several turnovers against Philly in the NFC championship – but to me – the defining part of that game – in terms of how it was played – was Washington starting the game off with an 18 play drive and coming out with a field goal. Awesome, we scored points with a rookie quarterback in the NFC championship game against a great team and we kept them off the field. Great. And Philly basically laughed at them and responded with a 1 play 60 yard touchdown and that was that. All of this to say – that I don’t think there is a substantial gap between Dallas and Washington and the Dallas is automatically going to go 2-4 in the division in 2025 at best and basically if you think otherwise – you’re wrong. That’s not the case. I could absolutely see Dallas winning 4 games in the division in 2025 and take your choosing of how they’re split. I didn’t bring up the Giants much because I think they’’re in a pretty bad situation themselves and they may give Dallas a game when they play – and to be honest – I don’t think the Giants are as bad as the media makes them out to be – I just don’t think they’re a good team either. But the for the sake of the Cowboys in 2025 – what really concerns me – is the idea of this team going on the road to win not just one – but multiple playoff games when it matters with a team that I don’t think is built to do that. At least not this year.
We break down the Cowboys swings and misses in the middle parts of the draft over the past few years as well as players they should target in upcoming draft. I hope you enjoy and have a great rest of your day!
