Improving upon these 5 weaknesses-success for this season

Cowboyny said:

Throughout the summer, I created several, original posts that detailed what I thought the team's weaknesses were. Last year's team was 1-6 in games decided by one score. Their point differential ranked 3rd in the NFC at +113. Point is, 6 out of the 8 losses could of come down to making 1 more play.

Any improvement in these 5 areas (in no .particular order), could determine success for this upcoming season. Win a few more close games and that record could easily go from 8-8 to 11-5 if not more:

Brief detail:

1) Improved Special Teams-how many times did the offense have to drive the length of the field and if they failed to score a TD came away with zero points as they had the most inconsistent PK in the entire league.

2) Offense's inability to start fast-the Cowboy Offense ranked #1 in yards last season, but were #18 in 1st quarter points. Playing always behind had a snowball affect for their entire team. In Dak's rookie season, the Cowboy Offense dominated the time of possession, forced opposing offenses to play catch up and become more one dimensional. With a more fresh defense and only needing to play the pass, it was far easier for them to have sustained success. Zeke is considered one of the best closers in the entire league, but rarely was given the chance as the Cowboy Offense was always playing from behind late in these close ball games.

3) Red Zone Offense Efficiency-ever since Dez Bryant was released by the team, their red zone offense left with him. This offense used to be ranked in the top 10 in red zone efficiency but now are more average then anything else, last year they were ranked 16th. It's not just his absence, but it's a combination of poor play-calling, poor execution and mental self-induced mistakes.

4) Defense Inability to create turnovers-the Cowboy Defense had an embarrassing interception total of a mere 7 interceptions, that was tied for the league worst. They ranked 20th in the league in turnover differential. No team can have success if they force their offense to drive an entire football field on a consistent basis. This has been an ongoing problem throughout Marinelli's tenture with the team. It was a combination of his coaching and not having any sort of playmakers within the defense.

5) Lack of Depth throughout the roster-we have seen it time after time with this franchise when a starter goes down, success usually goes down with him. This team under the Jones Family has always been built around stars, with questionable depth behind them. We see other teams maintain success with the next man up mantra, but rarely here. This has to change.

Certainly there are some other areas of concern. I do believe this team can compete for a championship now, but they need to get better in the little things to have a chance.

Click to expand...

Cowboyny said:

Throughout the summer, I created several, original posts that detailed what I thought the team's weaknesses were. Last year's team was 1-6 in games decided by one score. Their point differential ranked 3rd in the NFC at +113. Point is, 6 out of the 8 losses could of come down to making 1 more play.

Any improvement in these 5 areas (in no .particular order), could determine success for this upcoming season. Win a few more close games and that record could easily go from 8-8 to 11-5 if not more:

Brief detail:

1) Improved Special Teams-how many times did the offense have to drive the length of the field and if they failed to score a TD came away with zero points as they had the most inconsistent PK in the entire league.

2) Offense's inability to start fast-the Cowboy Offense ranked #1 in yards last season, but were #18 in 1st quarter points. Playing always behind had a snowball affect for their entire team. In Dak's rookie season, the Cowboy Offense dominated the time of possession, forced opposing offenses to play catch up and become more one dimensional. With a more fresh defense and only needing to play the pass, it was far easier for them to have sustained success. Zeke is considered one of the best closers in the entire league, but rarely was given the chance as the Cowboy Offense was always playing from behind late in these close ball games.

3) Red Zone Offense Efficiency-ever since Dez Bryant was released by the team, their red zone offense left with him. This offense used to be ranked in the top 10 in red zone efficiency but now are more average then anything else, last year they were ranked 16th. It's not just his absence, but it's a combination of poor play-calling, poor execution and mental self-induced mistakes.

4) Defense Inability to create turnovers-the Cowboy Defense had an embarrassing interception total of a mere 7 interceptions, that was tied for the league worst. They ranked 20th in the league in turnover differential. No team can have success if they force their offense to drive an entire football field on a consistent basis. This has been an ongoing problem throughout Marinelli's tenture with the team. It was a combination of his coaching and not having any sort of playmakers within the defense.

5) Lack of Depth throughout the roster-we have seen it time after time with this franchise when a starter goes down, success usually goes down with him. This team under the Jones Family has always been built around stars, with questionable depth behind them. We see other teams maintain success with the next man up mantra, but rarely here. This has to change.

Certainly there are some other areas of concern. I do believe this team can compete for a championship now, but they need to get better in the little things to have a chance.

Click to expand...

Cowboyny said:

Throughout the summer, I created several, original posts that detailed what I thought the team's weaknesses were. Last year's team was 1-6 in games decided by one score. Their point differential ranked 3rd in the NFC at +113. Point is, 6 out of the 8 losses could of come down to making 1 more play.

Any improvement in these 5 areas (in no .particular order), could determine success for this upcoming season. Win a few more close games and that record could easily go from 8-8 to 11-5 if not more:

Brief detail:

1) Improved Special Teams-how many times did the offense have to drive the length of the field and if they failed to score a TD came away with zero points as they had the most inconsistent PK in the entire league.

2) Offense's inability to start fast-the Cowboy Offense ranked #1 in yards last season, but were #18 in 1st quarter points. Playing always behind had a snowball affect for their entire team. In Dak's rookie season, the Cowboy Offense dominated the time of possession, forced opposing offenses to play catch up and become more one dimensional. With a more fresh defense and only needing to play the pass, it was far easier for them to have sustained success. Zeke is considered one of the best closers in the entire league, but rarely was given the chance as the Cowboy Offense was always playing from behind late in these close ball games.

3) Red Zone Offense Efficiency-ever since Dez Bryant was released by the team, their red zone offense left with him. This offense used to be ranked in the top 10 in red zone efficiency but now are more average then anything else, last year they were ranked 16th. It's not just his absence, but it's a combination of poor play-calling, poor execution and mental self-induced mistakes.

4) Defense Inability to create turnovers-the Cowboy Defense had an embarrassing interception total of a mere 7 interceptions, that was tied for the league worst. They ranked 20th in the league in turnover differential. No team can have success if they force their offense to drive an entire football field on a consistent basis. This has been an ongoing problem throughout Marinelli's tenture with the team. It was a combination of his coaching and not having any sort of playmakers within the defense.

5) Lack of Depth throughout the roster-we have seen it time after time with this franchise when a starter goes down, success usually goes down with him. This team under the Jones Family has always been built around stars, with questionable depth behind them. We see other teams maintain success with the next man up mantra, but rarely here. This has to change.

Certainly there are some other areas of concern. I do believe this team can compete for a championship now, but they need to get better in the little things to have a chance.

Click to expand...

Cowboyny said:

Throughout the summer, I created several, original posts that detailed what I thought the team's weaknesses were. Last year's team was 1-6 in games decided by one score. Their point differential ranked 3rd in the NFC at +113. Point is, 6 out of the 8 losses could of come down to making 1 more play.

Any improvement in these 5 areas (in no .particular order), could determine success for this upcoming season. Win a few more close games and that record could easily go from 8-8 to 11-5 if not more:

Brief detail:

1) Improved Special Teams-how many times did the offense have to drive the length of the field and if they failed to score a TD came away with zero points as they had the most inconsistent PK in the entire league.

2) Offense's inability to start fast-the Cowboy Offense ranked #1 in yards last season, but were #18 in 1st quarter points. Playing always behind had a snowball affect for their entire team. In Dak's rookie season, the Cowboy Offense dominated the time of possession, forced opposing offenses to play catch up and become more one dimensional. With a more fresh defense and only needing to play the pass, it was far easier for them to have sustained success. Zeke is considered one of the best closers in the entire league, but rarely was given the chance as the Cowboy Offense was always playing from behind late in these close ball games.

3) Red Zone Offense Efficiency-ever since Dez Bryant was released by the team, their red zone offense left with him. This offense used to be ranked in the top 10 in red zone efficiency but now are more average then anything else, last year they were ranked 16th. It's not just his absence, but it's a combination of poor play-calling, poor execution and mental self-induced mistakes.

4) Defense Inability to create turnovers-the Cowboy Defense had an embarrassing interception total of a mere 7 interceptions, that was tied for the league worst. They ranked 20th in the league in turnover differential. No team can have success if they force their offense to drive an entire football field on a consistent basis. This has been an ongoing problem throughout Marinelli's tenture with the team. It was a combination of his coaching and not having any sort of playmakers within the defense.

5) Lack of Depth throughout the roster-we have seen it time after time with this franchise when a starter goes down, success usually goes down with him. This team under the Jones Family has always been built around stars, with questionable depth behind them. We see other teams maintain success with the next man up mantra, but rarely here. This has to change.

Certainly there are some other areas of concern. I do believe this team can compete for a championship now, but they need to get better in the little things to have a chance.

Click to expand...

Cowboyny said:

Throughout the summer, I created several, original posts that detailed what I thought the team's weaknesses were. Last year's team was 1-6 in games decided by one score. Their point differential ranked 3rd in the NFC at +113. Point is, 6 out of the 8 losses could of come down to making 1 more play.

Any improvement in these 5 areas (in no .particular order), could determine success for this upcoming season. Win a few more close games and that record could easily go from 8-8 to 11-5 if not more:

Brief detail:

1) Improved Special Teams-how many times did the offense have to drive the length of the field and if they failed to score a TD came away with zero points as they had the most inconsistent PK in the entire league.

2) Offense's inability to start fast-the Cowboy Offense ranked #1 in yards last season, but were #18 in 1st quarter points. Playing always behind had a snowball affect for their entire team. In Dak's rookie season, the Cowboy Offense dominated the time of possession, forced opposing offenses to play catch up and become more one dimensional. With a more fresh defense and only needing to play the pass, it was far easier for them to have sustained success. Zeke is considered one of the best closers in the entire league, but rarely was given the chance as the Cowboy Offense was always playing from behind late in these close ball games.

3) Red Zone Offense Efficiency-ever since Dez Bryant was released by the team, their red zone offense left with him. This offense used to be ranked in the top 10 in red zone efficiency but now are more average then anything else, last year they were ranked 16th. It's not just his absence, but it's a combination of poor play-calling, poor execution and mental self-induced mistakes.

4) Defense Inability to create turnovers-the Cowboy Defense had an embarrassing interception total of a mere 7 interceptions, that was tied for the league worst. They ranked 20th in the league in turnover differential. No team can have success if they force their offense to drive an entire football field on a consistent basis. This has been an ongoing problem throughout Marinelli's tenture with the team. It was a combination of his coaching and not having any sort of playmakers within the defense.

5) Lack of Depth throughout the roster-we have seen it time after time with this franchise when a starter goes down, success usually goes down with him. This team under the Jones Family has always been built around stars, with questionable depth behind them. We see other teams maintain success with the next man up mantra, but rarely here. This has to change.

Certainly there are some other areas of concern. I do believe this team can compete for a championship now, but they need to get better in the little things to have a chance.

Click to expand...

quickccc said:

Several Great points, cowboyNY - thanks for sharing;

Despite it's problems with notorious slow starts, red zone issues and lack of splash runs on Offense, they still have numerous
posing elements going for them to help them overcome them.
We are gonna move the ball,.. we are gonna eventually score big points,..we 're gonna create issues for opposing defenses

- My main issue still clearly relies upon the Defense.
If your Offense has problems with being stagnant and stalling, your defense should be able to help you out until the wrinkles can be
ironed out, and the offense motor begins to warm up better.

And you know what's always been said about Defense down the road in championship stretches to SB.
Defense should change field position, per turnovers, sacks and quick 3 and outs
- What is Mike Nolan's new Defense gonna give us that Rod Marinelli's defense had not ?

1) COACHING- From HC to assistants - this is gonna vastly effect all areas of the team offense/defense/special teams
as well as Game Management, Critical In -Game Adjustment game decisions.
We were among if not top when it comes to adjusting halftime.
That simply will play HUGE in games and especially down the stretch.

2) DEFENSE - I want to see all of the Defensive elements into a Dominant overall unit
- Be Bigger and more Physical, more Disruptive and be a disciplined tackling team.
-Need a top 3-5 unit in Stop The Run, Pass Rush, and + plus in Turnovers.
- This begins with changing how we play defense; especially up front
-Marinelli's D' based on " quick twitch" -movement type with no ball hawks and a unit that eventually got exposed... and wore down
- If we stuffed run, that makes more long yd.3rd downs and plays into more obvious pass rush moments.
- DRE, starting CBs, tackling issues at safety and jaylon at OLB remain my biggest worries player personnel wise
https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings/defense

3) SPECIAL TEAMS - Easily worst coached unit in NFL. and at bottom in grades -affected and lost games for us.with
poor coaching decisions, lack of discipline, with killer penalties, poor field position, broken coverage, poor decisions in return game,
subpar punting and a sporadic FG kicker that HC stuck with cuz he had a powerful leg.
https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings/special-teams

4) OFFENSE - you're right about notorious slow starts, red zone efficency, but i also want to see our potent offense vs
toughest defenses too.Keep a big key look at our new OL coach, revamped run game/sustain top pass block unit,
https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings

5) RDE and Jaylon Smith - new regime going with Crawford at DRE, average edge rusher with hip issues not impact help we need.
Alden Smith ? Been out of football for 4 years and zero OTAs, preseason and limited training camp not helping his return to form.
Very weird NFL biz with Gregory's reinstatement in deep limbo. and its' rotation guys afterwards (ala armstrong, Bradley)
Vastly need bookend impact DEs on both ends. With jaylon, i worry about a non-instinctive guy that has to be "schemed"
has to be going forward vs turning in being in reverse in coverage. Limited player short term,imo

DEPTH - frankly on paper, i'm only concern about a lack of Depth with the LB unit. i'm not as big on Joe thomas as his
arrival preseason series outing. A fine SP whose always hurt, plays best in space than vs traffic.
And all else a total of unknowns and subpar after that with the likes of oft- injured Luke Gifford, undrafted rookie Bernard Francis
and special team only Justin March. i think we'll eventually be scrambling for off street help before long.
Otherwise look at our QB, RB, OL, WR, CB, DT, S situation and we may be among tops when it comes to overall team depth

Click to expand...

Rockport said:

The entire team was mistake prone last year which led to the weaknesses you mentioned. Offensive play calling and a bend but don’t break defensive philosophy doomed us from the beginning. Superb QB play is the only reason we won the games we did.

Click to expand...

xwalker said:

1. Situational run defense.
2. Situational run defense.
3. Situational run defense.

By situational, I mean that they stop the run when it's important regardless of the total rushing yards allowed.

They need to force offenses into 3rd and 6 or more yards as often as possible.

They need to do it with "7 men in the box".

Click to expand...

quickccc said:

Several Great points, cowboyNY - thanks for sharing;

Despite it's problems with notorious slow starts, red zone issues and lack of splash runs on Offense, they still have numerous
posing elements going for them to help them overcome them.
We are gonna move the ball,.. we are gonna eventually score big points,..we 're gonna create issues for opposing defenses

- My main issue still clearly relies upon the Defense.
If your Offense has problems with being stagnant and stalling, your defense should be able to help you out until the wrinkles can be
ironed out, and the offense motor begins to warm up better.

And you know what's always been said about Defense down the road in championship stretches to SB.
Defense should change field position, per turnovers, sacks and quick 3 and outs
- What is Mike Nolan's new Defense gonna give us that Rod Marinelli's defense had not ?

1) COACHING- From HC to assistants - this is gonna vastly effect all areas of the team offense/defense/special teams
as well as Game Management, Critical In -Game Adjustment game decisions.
We were among if not top when it comes to adjusting halftime.
That simply will play HUGE in games and especially down the stretch.

2) DEFENSE - I want to see all of the Defensive elements into a Dominant overall unit
- Be Bigger and more Physical, more Disruptive and be a disciplined tackling team.
-Need a top 3-5 unit in Stop The Run, Pass Rush, and + plus in Turnovers.
- This begins with changing how we play defense; especially up front
-Marinelli's D' based on " quick twitch" -movement type with no ball hawks and a unit that eventually got exposed... and wore down
- If we stuffed run, that makes more long yd.3rd downs and plays into more obvious pass rush moments.
- DRE, starting CBs, tackling issues at safety and jaylon at OLB remain my biggest worries player personnel wise
https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings/defense

3) SPECIAL TEAMS - Easily worst coached unit in NFL. and at bottom in grades -affected and lost games for us.with
poor coaching decisions, lack of discipline, with killer penalties, poor field position, broken coverage, poor decisions in return game,
subpar punting and a sporadic FG kicker that HC stuck with cuz he had a powerful leg.
https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings/special-teams

4) OFFENSE - you're right about notorious slow starts, red zone efficency, but i also want to see our potent offense vs
toughest defenses too.Keep a big key look at our new OL coach, revamped run game/sustain top pass block unit,
https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings

5) RDE and Jaylon Smith - new regime going with Crawford at DRE, average edge rusher with hip issues not impact help we need.
Alden Smith ? Been out of football for 4 years and zero OTAs, preseason and limited training camp not helping his return to form.
Very weird NFL biz with Gregory's reinstatement in deep limbo. and its' rotation guys afterwards (ala armstrong, Bradley)
Vastly need bookend impact DEs on both ends. With jaylon, i worry about a non-instinctive guy that has to be "schemed"
has to be going forward vs turning in being in reverse in coverage. Limited player short term,imo

DEPTH - frankly on paper, i'm only concern about a lack of Depth with the LB unit. i'm not as big on Joe thomas as his
arrival preseason series outing. A fine SP whose always hurt, plays best in space than vs traffic.
And all else a total of unknowns and subpar after that with the likes of oft- injured Luke Gifford, undrafted rookie Bernard Francis
and special team only Justin March. i think we'll eventually be scrambling for off street help before long.
Otherwise look at our QB, RB, OL, WR, CB, DT, S situation and we may be among tops when it comes to overall team depth

Click to expand...

xwalker said:

Mike Nolan will run as much 3-4 as 4-3 if not more.

Crawford's best fit is as a 3-4 type DE.

Jaylon will have role similar to Strong Side OLB in a 3-4 (i.e. Similar to Anthony Spencer back in the Wade Phillips days).
- Spencer played about 4x more coverage snaps than Ware and Spencer's other primary job was stopping the run. His 3rd priority was rushing the passer.

In 2018 the Cowboys played Crawford as the base RDE with Gregory as the pass rushing RDE. That was a decent combination.

They need 1 of either Poe or Woods to be near 100% healthy for each game. If one if gimpy, then make him inactive and play the other one. The key is to get to the end of the season with 1 or both reasonably healthy.

Joe Thomas has been the best 4th LB they had since switching back to the 4-3.

Teams rarely go to the Super Bowl in the 1st year with a new coaching staff; however, it has happened often in the 2nd year.
- Considering that and the Covid issues, they just need to get through the season while improving their foundation (schemes, core roster players, etc.).
- They need to get better as a team regardless of the 2020 win/loss record.
- Find the players that fit with the new coaches and move on from the ones that don't.
- If they win on the way to improving their longer term outlook, that's great. If they lose some close games then the new coaches will know what they need to improve for 2021.

Click to expand...

Cowboyny said:

Throughout the summer, I created several, original posts that detailed what I thought the team's weaknesses were. Last year's team was 1-6 in games decided by one score. Their point differential ranked 3rd in the NFC at +113. Point is, 6 out of the 8 losses could of come down to making 1 more play.

Any improvement in these 5 areas (in no .particular order), could determine success for this upcoming season. Win a few more close games and that record could easily go from 8-8 to 11-5 if not more:

Brief detail:

1) Improved Special Teams-how many times did the offense have to drive the length of the field and if they failed to score a TD came away with zero points as they had the most inconsistent PK in the entire league.

2) Offense's inability to start fast-the Cowboy Offense ranked #1 in yards last season, but were #18 in 1st quarter points. Playing always behind had a snowball affect for their entire team. In Dak's rookie season, the Cowboy Offense dominated the time of possession, forced opposing offenses to play catch up and become more one dimensional. With a more fresh defense and only needing to play the pass, it was far easier for them to have sustained success. Zeke is considered one of the best closers in the entire league, but rarely was given the chance as the Cowboy Offense was always playing from behind late in these close ball games.

3) Red Zone Offense Efficiency-ever since Dez Bryant was released by the team, their red zone offense left with him. This offense used to be ranked in the top 10 in red zone efficiency but now are more average then anything else, last year they were ranked 16th. It's not just his absence, but it's a combination of poor play-calling, poor execution and mental self-induced mistakes.

4) Defense Inability to create turnovers-the Cowboy Defense had an embarrassing interception total of a mere 7 interceptions, that was tied for the league worst. They ranked 20th in the league in turnover differential. No team can have success if they force their offense to drive an entire football field on a consistent basis. This has been an ongoing problem throughout Marinelli's tenture with the team. It was a combination of his coaching and not having any sort of playmakers within the defense.

5) Lack of Depth throughout the roster-we have seen it time after time with this franchise when a starter goes down, success usually goes down with him. This team under the Jones Family has always been built around stars, with questionable depth behind them. We see other teams maintain success with the next man up mantra, but rarely here. This has to change.

Certainly there are some other areas of concern. I do believe this team can compete for a championship now, but they need to get better in the little things to have a chance.

Click to expand...

Cowboyny said:

-I have my doubts about the RE position since the draft concluded. There are just too many unknowns at the position. Would like to see a veteran signing to the group prior to opening day.

Click to expand...

xwalker said:

Mike Nolan will run as much 3-4 as 4-3 if not more.

Crawford's best fit is as a 3-4 type DE.

Jaylon will have role similar to Strong Side OLB in a 3-4 (i.e. Similar to Anthony Spencer back in the Wade Phillips days).
- Spencer played about 4x more coverage snaps than Ware and Spencer's other primary job was stopping the run. His 3rd priority was rushing the passer.

In 2018 the Cowboys played Crawford as the base RDE with Gregory as the pass rushing RDE. That was a decent combination.

They need 1 of either Poe or Woods to be near 100% healthy for each game. If one if gimpy, then make him inactive and play the other one. The key is to get to the end of the season with 1 or both reasonably healthy.

Joe Thomas has been the best 4th LB they had since switching back to the 4-3.

Teams rarely go to the Super Bowl in the 1st year with a new coaching staff; however, it has happened often in the 2nd year.
- Considering that and the Covid issues, they just need to get through the season while improving their foundation (schemes, core roster players, etc.).
- They need to get better as a team regardless of the 2020 win/loss record.
- Find the players that fit with the new coaches and move on from the ones that don't.
- If they win on the way to improving their longer term outlook, that's great. If they lose some close games then the new coaches will know what they need to improve for 2021.

Click to expand...

Cowboyny said:

Throughout the summer, I created several, original posts that detailed what I thought the team's weaknesses were. Last year's team was 1-6 in games decided by one score. Their point differential ranked 3rd in the NFC at +113. Point is, 6 out of the 8 losses could of come down to making 1 more play.

Any improvement in these 5 areas (in no .particular order), could determine success for this upcoming season. Win a few more close games and that record could easily go from 8-8 to 11-5 if not more:

Brief detail:

1) Improved Special Teams-how many times did the offense have to drive the length of the field and if they failed to score a TD came away with zero points as they had the most inconsistent PK in the entire league.

2) Offense's inability to start fast-the Cowboy Offense ranked #1 in yards last season, but were #18 in 1st quarter points. Playing always behind had a snowball affect for their entire team. In Dak's rookie season, the Cowboy Offense dominated the time of possession, forced opposing offenses to play catch up and become more one dimensional. With a more fresh defense and only needing to play the pass, it was far easier for them to have sustained success. Zeke is considered one of the best closers in the entire league, but rarely was given the chance as the Cowboy Offense was always playing from behind late in these close ball games.

3) Red Zone Offense Efficiency-ever since Dez Bryant was released by the team, their red zone offense left with him. This offense used to be ranked in the top 10 in red zone efficiency but now are more average then anything else, last year they were ranked 16th. It's not just his absence, but it's a combination of poor play-calling, poor execution and mental self-induced mistakes.

4) Defense Inability to create turnovers-the Cowboy Defense had an embarrassing interception total of a mere 7 interceptions, that was tied for the league worst. They ranked 20th in the league in turnover differential. No team can have success if they force their offense to drive an entire football field on a consistent basis. This has been an ongoing problem throughout Marinelli's tenture with the team. It was a combination of his coaching and not having any sort of playmakers within the defense.

5) Lack of Depth throughout the roster-we have seen it time after time with this franchise when a starter goes down, success usually goes down with him. This team under the Jones Family has always been built around stars, with questionable depth behind them. We see other teams maintain success with the next man up mantra, but rarely here. This has to change.

Certainly there are some other areas of concern. I do believe this team can compete for a championship now, but they need to get better in the little things to have a chance.

Click to expand...

plasticman said:

Actually, I think the Cowboys did rather well on depth, an extremely elusive goal.

Offensive line's backups are 2nd and 3rd draft picks. The D-line has an abundance of players that can contribute. The DB's are young but plentiful. RB, no problem, QB, taken care of. WR, please!

The greatest issue will always be maintaining that depth each season. If you have good depth then you have a team that is deep in talent. That means not being able to pay them all when when it's contract time and so they leave. Also, the more talented your starters, the more you must pay to keep them, the less you can pay the backups.

Depth is always going to be a neverending issue for every team.

Turnovers is the absolute key. When you analyze the similarities between the majority of Super Bowl champions, their ability to create turnovers stick out like a sore thumb. This has been the Cowboys achilles heal for decades.

Click to expand...