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By Jon Machota 25m ago
It has become an annual tradition the day after the Super Bowl. Although the game hasn’t even been over for 24 hours, it’s time to look to the future. A new season means new hope, even for teams that haven’t reached the game’s biggest stage in 25 years.
A 6-10 record in 2020 says Dallas isn’t close. The Cowboys’ 2021 schedule includes road games against both Super Bowl teams: Tampa Bay and Kansas City.
But there is enough talent on the roster that, combined with some key moves in free agency and the draft, the team should at least be in playoff contention next season. And with some good luck, maybe they can get hot at the right time.
Before listing the 10 things Dallas need to do to reach next year’s Super Bowl, let’s take a quick look back at some of the items on last year’s list. Two that immediately stood out: Sign Dak Prescott to a long-term deal and stay healthy. Neither happened, and both items remain on the list this time around, too. Three other categories involved the defense. Obviously, those weren’t a success, considering Dallas had one of its worst defensive units in franchise history.
So what will it take in 2021? Here’s the updated 10.
1.) Better health. This will always make the list, but especially after the year the Cowboys just experienced. Prescott, Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Zack Martin, Gerald McCoy, Trysten Hill, Blake Jarwin and Leighton Vander Esch were all lost for an extended period of time because of injuries. Losing Prescott in Week 5 and never having anything close to a healthy offensive line all season were the biggest blows. It was difficult to not think about that while watching Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes running from constant pressure Sunday night as he was without both of his starting offensive tackles. The Buccaneers, on the other hand, were about as healthy as a team could be entering the game. Health matters, and a lot of luck is involved. But it’s safe to say the Cowboys won’t have any shot at a long playoff run if they aren’t much more fortunate in this area.
2.) Get a long-term deal done with Prescott. Why does this matter? Even if the long-term deal isn’t done, Prescott will be with the Cowboys in 2021, playing under a second franchise tag. Well, not getting one done could lead to a huge distraction. A second tag means there’s a good possibility that Prescott plays elsewhere in 2022. I’m not sure how that helps the Cowboys’ playoff chances in 2021. While Prescott will have plenty of motivation to play well in another contract year, he has shown no signs of being a player who would grow content and apathetic after a long-term deal is reached. And if Prescott isn’t signed to a new deal by the end of April, the Cowboys have to at least explore the idea of drafting a quarterback in the first two rounds. So then they have Prescott and a young QB on the roster who is his potential successor; what could possibly go wrong?
3.) Get Prescott’s best season. He was playing well before getting hurt last year. A second year with Mike McCarthy, a second year with CeeDee Lamb, a healthy Jarwin and a healthy offensive line could certainly lead to Prescott’s best NFL season. The Cowboys are going to win with their offense. That’s just the way this team has been constructed. To reach the highest level, their most valuable player has to have an outstanding year.
4.) Have something resembling an NFL defense. For much of the 2020 season, that was in question. The run defense is where the disaster started, allowing five teams to rush for over 180 yards, which led to five losses. No one should be expecting Tampa Bay’s defense. But they should be at least middle of the pack. What does that mean? Well, for starters, a group that all looks like they’re on the same page. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is expected to implement a 4-3 scheme that most of the players are familiar with. There should be no excuses that it took a while to learn the new scheme. One of the greatest strengths of that scheme is that it keeps things simple so players can play fast. It shouldn’t be too much to ask for a good tackling group that is on the same page, limiting big plays and averaging around one and a half takeaways per game.
5.) A successful defensive draft. To help Quinn, they have to add some young playmakers to the mix. At the very least, they should get two defensive starters from this draft class. Safety and cornerback should be at the top of the list. Defensive tackle shouldn’t be far behind. Watching the Buccaneers, it’s easy to see how solid they are up the middle on defense, from the tackles to the linebackers to the safeties. The Cowboys aren’t anywhere close to Tampa Bay in any of those areas. A good defensive draft could go a long way in fixing that problem.
6.) Some help in free agency. Aldon Smith looked like a significant 2020 offseason addition during the first few games. Andy Dalton was obviously important after Prescott was lost for the season. Greg Zuerlein was a good addition at kicker. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, things didn’t work out as well for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Dontari Poe, Cameron Erving, Daryl Worley, Gerald McCoy and Everson Griffen. There won’t be a lot of room to sign free agents. The 2021 salary cap is expected to be around $180 million. It was $198.2 million in 2020. The Cowboys are projected to have around $18.4 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com. And that’s before paying Prescott. But they’ll need to find a way to fill some holes in free agency, something they have a much better chance of doing if Prescott is under contract long-term and they can move some of his cap hit into the future.
Photo of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
7.) Better linebacker play. This is an area where the Cowboys have made some significant investments on defense. Leighton Vander Esch was a first-round pick in 2018. Jaylon Smith signed a six-year, $68 million contract in 2019. Neither have played great the last two seasons. Vander Esch has missed 13 games the last two years because of injuries. Smith hasn’t made the type of impact that was expected when he signed his most recent contract. It was difficult to not think about linebacker play on Sunday while watching former Cowboys Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson start for Kansas City and see the type of impact Devin White and Lavonte David made in Tampa Bay’s victory.
8.) Take care of the ball on offense. Even when Dallas’ offense was putting up big numbers early in the season, the turnovers were a major concern. The Cowboys turned the ball over 15 times in their first six games. During that stretch, Ezekiel Elliott fumbled five times. Everyone is aware of the talent on the Cowboys’ offense. They have the personnel to be one of the league’s best. But none of that will matter if they don’t do a better job of taking care of the ball.
9.) Better coaching. The pandemic did no favors for the Cowboys’ new coaching staff. They implemented a new defensive scheme, largely via virtual meetings, and it wasn’t a great fit for the personnel on the roster. There were also several head-scratching decisions made during games and too many times when the players seemed lost on the field. A second-year should go a long way in fixing those issues. The more aggressive approach the Cowboys took last season was refreshing, but overall, the coaching has to be better than it was in 2020 if a deep playoff run is the goal.
10.) Take advantage of a weak division. Will the NFC East be better than it was in 2020? Sure. How can it be worse? But it still isn’t expected to be very good. Washington, the defending division champion, is extremely talented on defense but doesn’t do much to scare you on offense. Look through the other seven divisions, and you won’t find one with a weaker team at the top. Then there are the Giants and Eagles. New York still doesn’t appear to have a franchise quarterback. Philadelphia has a new coaching staff and looks nothing like the team that won the Super Bowl in 2017. This is where the Cowboys must start: They have to at least win the worst division in football.
