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By John Owning
9:00 AM on Jul 2, 2021
After years of being nicknamed the NFC Beast, last year’s events indicate that the NFC Least may be a more appropriate nickname for the Dallas Cowboys’ division, as the Washington Football Team (7-9) proved to be the brightest bulb in the dimly lit room that is the NFC East.
This once-great division is easily the worst in the NFC, making it ripe for the taking in 2021. However, that doesn’t mean the Cowboys will be able to just stumble into an NFC East crown, and we need only look to last year to see how a season can go awry for a team expected to do great things.
Therefore, it’s important that the Cowboys take care of business and perform up to standard if they hope to win the NFC East. And with that in mind, let’s discuss a few things that must happen for Dallas to win the NFC East.
Better injury luck
There were many reasons why Dallas failed to live up to expectations last year, but none were more responsible for the Cowboys’ struggles than injuries. The Cowboys lost Dak Prescott, Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Zack Martin, Blake Jarwin and Leighton Vander Esch for significant stretches during the 2020 season.
The loss of Prescott alone removed any margin for error that the Cowboys had in 2021, and the rest of the injuries just rubbed salt in the wound. It’s near-impossible to sustain that many injuries at some of the most valuable positions on an NFL roster and still win games consistently. If the Cowboys were in any other division, their playoff chances would have been dashed by midseason.
That’s why the No. 1 factor for Dallas’ NFC [L]East hopes is health.
Now, the NFL is a physical game and the season is long (and will be even longer this season with the implementation of a 17th game), so injuries are going to happen, and they are going to happen often. However, it’s just can’t happen to Dallas’ most valuable players, especially Dak Prescott.
If the Cowboys hope to reign over the NFC East in 2021, better injury luck is the biggest key to making that happen.
Limit turnovers on offense
Even when Prescott was healthy last year, the Cowboys juggernaut offense was its own worst enemy, coughing up a ton of turnovers that routinely put Dallas in an early hole. In Weeks 1-5, the Cowboys turned the ball over 11 times (2.2 turnovers per game) and posted the worst turnover differential in the NFL.
While Prescott did throw four interceptions over that span, the Cowboys can live with that, as Prescott has proven to be judicious with the ball over the course of his career. It’s the fumbles that Dallas can’t live with, as they fumbled eight times in five games while losing seven of those fumbles (most in NFL over that time span).
We’ve discussed in the past how Elliott can clean up some of his fumble issues, but the Cowboys offense overall needs to be less careless with the ball in their hands, as Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Dalton Schultz also coughed up the football in 2020 and will be playing major roles in 2021.
That’s just not a recipe for success for a team that’s not expected to be very good defensively. If the Cowboys are going to be successful in 2021, the offense is going to need to do the majority of the heavy lifting. To do so, the Cowboys will need to do a better job taking care of the football with Prescott healthy, or the sluggish start last year will turn into a sluggish season this year.
Merely mediocre defense
Stuck with underperforming talent and a coaching staff unable to adjust to the unique circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cowboys defense was one of the worst in the NFL in 2020, finishing 28th in points allowed per game (29.6), 31st in rushing yards allowed per game (158.8) and 27th in third-down conversion rate allowed. Overall, it was the most points allowed and the second-most yards allowed in Cowboys history.
Even when considering the fact that it was often put in compromising positions due to the offense’s turnovers, the Cowboys’ defense was simply awful last season.
Luckily, given the talent the Cowboys have on offense, it’s going to be new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s job to get the defense to simply creep back toward mediocrity, which should be attainable. Now, the Cowboys aren’t exactly dripping with talent on the defensive side of the ball, but they do have enough talent to hover around average if they play up to their potential.
In my opinion, the Cowboys did a much better job this offseason finding defensive contributors than they did in 2020. Instead of grabbing past-their-prime veterans such as HaHa Clinton-Dix, Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy, the Cowboys signed players who aren’t past their prime and should fill more distinct roles, such as Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal, Tarell Basham and Brent Urban. While none of them are game-changers, they do collectively improve the overall talent level on the Cowboys’ defense.
In addition, having Quinn as defensive coordinator should be a notable upgrade over Mike Nolan from a year ago. While Quinn is now a ways removed from his glory days leading the Legion of Boom, his defenses have routinely outperformed the money spent on defense in terms of DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average).
Outside of 2020, when Quinn’s season was cut short, the only season where Quinn’s defense finished lower in DVOA than they ranked in money spent on defense was 2018 — a season where Atlanta lost key contributors Deion Jones, Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal for lengthy stretches, which explains why Atlanta’s defense struggled more than it had previously during Quinn’s tenure.
If Quinn can continue to work his magic in Dallas, then the Cowboys will have a great shot at returning to their rightful place as the NFC East champions.
9:00 AM on Jul 2, 2021
After years of being nicknamed the NFC Beast, last year’s events indicate that the NFC Least may be a more appropriate nickname for the Dallas Cowboys’ division, as the Washington Football Team (7-9) proved to be the brightest bulb in the dimly lit room that is the NFC East.
This once-great division is easily the worst in the NFC, making it ripe for the taking in 2021. However, that doesn’t mean the Cowboys will be able to just stumble into an NFC East crown, and we need only look to last year to see how a season can go awry for a team expected to do great things.
Therefore, it’s important that the Cowboys take care of business and perform up to standard if they hope to win the NFC East. And with that in mind, let’s discuss a few things that must happen for Dallas to win the NFC East.
Better injury luck
There were many reasons why Dallas failed to live up to expectations last year, but none were more responsible for the Cowboys’ struggles than injuries. The Cowboys lost Dak Prescott, Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Zack Martin, Blake Jarwin and Leighton Vander Esch for significant stretches during the 2020 season.
The loss of Prescott alone removed any margin for error that the Cowboys had in 2021, and the rest of the injuries just rubbed salt in the wound. It’s near-impossible to sustain that many injuries at some of the most valuable positions on an NFL roster and still win games consistently. If the Cowboys were in any other division, their playoff chances would have been dashed by midseason.
That’s why the No. 1 factor for Dallas’ NFC [L]East hopes is health.
Now, the NFL is a physical game and the season is long (and will be even longer this season with the implementation of a 17th game), so injuries are going to happen, and they are going to happen often. However, it’s just can’t happen to Dallas’ most valuable players, especially Dak Prescott.
If the Cowboys hope to reign over the NFC East in 2021, better injury luck is the biggest key to making that happen.
Limit turnovers on offense
Even when Prescott was healthy last year, the Cowboys juggernaut offense was its own worst enemy, coughing up a ton of turnovers that routinely put Dallas in an early hole. In Weeks 1-5, the Cowboys turned the ball over 11 times (2.2 turnovers per game) and posted the worst turnover differential in the NFL.
While Prescott did throw four interceptions over that span, the Cowboys can live with that, as Prescott has proven to be judicious with the ball over the course of his career. It’s the fumbles that Dallas can’t live with, as they fumbled eight times in five games while losing seven of those fumbles (most in NFL over that time span).
We’ve discussed in the past how Elliott can clean up some of his fumble issues, but the Cowboys offense overall needs to be less careless with the ball in their hands, as Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Dalton Schultz also coughed up the football in 2020 and will be playing major roles in 2021.
That’s just not a recipe for success for a team that’s not expected to be very good defensively. If the Cowboys are going to be successful in 2021, the offense is going to need to do the majority of the heavy lifting. To do so, the Cowboys will need to do a better job taking care of the football with Prescott healthy, or the sluggish start last year will turn into a sluggish season this year.
Merely mediocre defense
Stuck with underperforming talent and a coaching staff unable to adjust to the unique circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cowboys defense was one of the worst in the NFL in 2020, finishing 28th in points allowed per game (29.6), 31st in rushing yards allowed per game (158.8) and 27th in third-down conversion rate allowed. Overall, it was the most points allowed and the second-most yards allowed in Cowboys history.
Even when considering the fact that it was often put in compromising positions due to the offense’s turnovers, the Cowboys’ defense was simply awful last season.
Luckily, given the talent the Cowboys have on offense, it’s going to be new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s job to get the defense to simply creep back toward mediocrity, which should be attainable. Now, the Cowboys aren’t exactly dripping with talent on the defensive side of the ball, but they do have enough talent to hover around average if they play up to their potential.
In my opinion, the Cowboys did a much better job this offseason finding defensive contributors than they did in 2020. Instead of grabbing past-their-prime veterans such as HaHa Clinton-Dix, Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy, the Cowboys signed players who aren’t past their prime and should fill more distinct roles, such as Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal, Tarell Basham and Brent Urban. While none of them are game-changers, they do collectively improve the overall talent level on the Cowboys’ defense.
In addition, having Quinn as defensive coordinator should be a notable upgrade over Mike Nolan from a year ago. While Quinn is now a ways removed from his glory days leading the Legion of Boom, his defenses have routinely outperformed the money spent on defense in terms of DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average).
Outside of 2020, when Quinn’s season was cut short, the only season where Quinn’s defense finished lower in DVOA than they ranked in money spent on defense was 2018 — a season where Atlanta lost key contributors Deion Jones, Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal for lengthy stretches, which explains why Atlanta’s defense struggled more than it had previously during Quinn’s tenure.
If Quinn can continue to work his magic in Dallas, then the Cowboys will have a great shot at returning to their rightful place as the NFC East champions.
