What must happen to contend for the Super Bowl Championship

Flamma said:

Any decent team in today's NFL is one good off season away from a SB appearance. How many times do we see teams that don't make the playoffs, then appear in the next Super Bowl? Plenty of times. So most playoff teams should be closer. But you have to have that level up off season. Did we?

Click to expand...

sjmike said:

Tired of reading all the doom and gloom posts that this forum is inundated with. You know the usual cast of characters that are Chicken Littles and Negative Nancies and gleefully post about the futility of the Dallas Cowboys. If anyone writes anything positive about the team, they quickly move to douse any enthusiasm via sarcasm or belittlement of the OP.
Well, first of all, I would like to say that the Dallas Cowboys really could win the whole thing. This year. Not five or ten years down the road. This year. We all watched the Iggles win it in 2017 when they had no business winning it with so many starters out. We all watched numerous second tier teams eke into the playoffs by a thread, catch fire and go on to hoist the Lombardi.
So I want to talk about what has to happen for our Boys to get to the promised land and bring us home number six. And I know that the doom and gloomers will say things like' if my aunt has balls she'd be my uncle' and 'I'll have whatever he's smoking' but I am gonna lay it out anyway. And the list is short. That's the important thing. We have the ability to win the whole thing. Again, despite the knuckleheads on this board that say otherwise. So here goes:
1.) Our offensive line becomes formidable. Terence Steele continues to improve. Tyler Smith balls out and becomes the lineman we hope he will be. Badass continues to improve at center. All of Mcgovern's hard work in the off-season shows on the field. Tyron Smith stays relatively healthy. This would open up the running game and make us less reliant of the passing game, keep the defense off balance and help to kill the clock. All of this being said, this is the hardest one to come to fruition because of all the moving parts and the health of Tyron. But it could happen.
2.) The defense takes another step forward from last year. This would require Micah to be just as good or better, Lawrence to stay healthy, Jabril Cox to become a playmaking LB, at least one of our DTs; Gallimore, Osi, Bohanna, Hill or Ridgeway to become a real force in the middle. We have to stop the run. If one of these guys emerges than that will go a long way toward that goal. And, lastly, we will need someone at right defensive end to both stop the run and be able to get pressure on the QB. This could be an individual or by committee. I am hoping Sam Williams will be that guy by the end of the season but Gholston showed flashes and Armstrong has been steadily improving. Fowler is a wild card that has the ability so I will not rule him out.
3.) Dak Prescott becomes a top 5 quarterback. In my mind, he is already that if you just look at stats. He completed almost 69% of his passes last year. 37 TDs. 104 QB rating. This coming off a gruesome injury the previous season that limited his mobility and probably helped to cause the injuries to he accumulated last year. This year he has to become more of a threat to run. He has definitely slimmed down so that should help. If the defense thinks he's a threat to run, it will open up the field for his throws on the run which he is already one of the best in the game at. He also must be more clutch. In his first two years in the league, he was one of the best at winning games in the fourth quarter. Lately, not so much though the New England game comes to mind and when they won last year, they led most of the way. But he needs to show the team that, even when they are down in a game, that they can come back and win at the end. They need that confidence.
Will all of this happen? I don't know. But what I do know that it is not as bleak as the aforementioned knuckleheads would have you believe it is. I believe in Micah. I believe in Dan Quinn. I believe in Ceedee. I believe in Dak. I believe in building a team through the draft, especially when I believe we have a guy who knows how to draft. Lastly, I believe we have as much of a chance of winning the whole thing as any other team out there. And I like those odds.

Click to expand...

Jfconrow said:

They need to run the ball and play defense. Zeke and Pollard have got to have great seasons along with finding another rb prob one of the UDFAs. Also Ceedee needs to morph into a td making machine.

On defense K Joseph has got to show up opposite Diggs. Lewis has got to be on the field. Sam Williams, Lawrence and Parsons have got to annihilate QBs. The NTs have to stop the run and another lb needs to step up Vander Esch or someone.

Click to expand...

Hardline said:

That doesn't apply to this team. And no we didn't.

Click to expand...

xwalker said:

Lewis played 74% of the snaps.

Brown has been a better player than Lewis year after year.

Click to expand...

CCBoy said:

Last season, the Cowboys ran, what 60% of the time?

Dak Prescott needs to be more effective quicker. That will open routes better and improve the running game both.

Click to expand...

Aerolithe_Lion said:

Do you mean passed 60% of the time? Dallas passed the ball on 59.9% of plays in 2021.

The last time any team ran the ball on 60% of plays was 13 years ago

Click to expand...

sjmike said:

Tired of reading all the doom and gloom posts that this forum is inundated with. You know the usual cast of characters that are Chicken Littles and Negative Nancies and gleefully post about the futility of the Dallas Cowboys. If anyone writes anything positive about the team, they quickly move to douse any enthusiasm via sarcasm or belittlement of the OP.
Well, first of all, I would like to say that the Dallas Cowboys really could win the whole thing. This year. Not five or ten years down the road. This year. We all watched the Iggles win it in 2017 when they had no business winning it with so many starters out. We all watched numerous second tier teams eke into the playoffs by a thread, catch fire and go on to hoist the Lombardi.
So I want to talk about what has to happen for our Boys to get to the promised land and bring us home number six. And I know that the doom and gloomers will say things like' if my aunt has balls she'd be my uncle' and 'I'll have whatever he's smoking' but I am gonna lay it out anyway. And the list is short. That's the important thing. We have the ability to win the whole thing. Again, despite the knuckleheads on this board that say otherwise. So here goes:
1.) Our offensive line becomes formidable. Terence Steele continues to improve. Tyler Smith balls out and becomes the lineman we hope he will be. Badass continues to improve at center. All of Mcgovern's hard work in the off-season shows on the field. Tyron Smith stays relatively healthy. This would open up the running game and make us less reliant of the passing game, keep the defense off balance and help to kill the clock. All of this being said, this is the hardest one to come to fruition because of all the moving parts and the health of Tyron. But it could happen.
2.) The defense takes another step forward from last year. This would require Micah to be just as good or better, Lawrence to stay healthy, Jabril Cox to become a playmaking LB, at least one of our DTs; Gallimore, Osi, Bohanna, Hill or Ridgeway to become a real force in the middle. We have to stop the run. If one of these guys emerges than that will go a long way toward that goal. And, lastly, we will need someone at right defensive end to both stop the run and be able to get pressure on the QB. This could be an individual or by committee. I am hoping Sam Williams will be that guy by the end of the season but Gholston showed flashes and Armstrong has been steadily improving. Fowler is a wild card that has the ability so I will not rule him out.
3.) Dak Prescott becomes a top 5 quarterback. In my mind, he is already that if you just look at stats. He completed almost 69% of his passes last year. 37 TDs. 104 QB rating. This coming off a gruesome injury the previous season that limited his mobility and probably helped to cause the injuries to he accumulated last year. This year he has to become more of a threat to run. He has definitely slimmed down so that should help. If the defense thinks he's a threat to run, it will open up the field for his throws on the run which he is already one of the best in the game at. He also must be more clutch. In his first two years in the league, he was one of the best at winning games in the fourth quarter. Lately, not so much though the New England game comes to mind and when they won last year, they led most of the way. But he needs to show the team that, even when they are down in a game, that they can come back and win at the end. They need that confidence.
Will all of this happen? I don't know. But what I do know that it is not as bleak as the aforementioned knuckleheads would have you believe it is. I believe in Micah. I believe in Dan Quinn. I believe in Ceedee. I believe in Dak. I believe in building a team through the draft, especially when I believe we have a guy who knows how to draft. Lastly, I believe we have as much of a chance of winning the whole thing as any other team out there. And I like those odds.

Click to expand...

CowboyRoy said:

When the Oline is plays well Dak already plays like a top 5 QB. You need protection and a lack of dumb penalties for QB's to be able to perform at the highest level consistently.

I agree with you..............Oline will have to be up to top 5 and the defense takes the next step against the run.

But really thats going to take THIS years draft class being big contributors. Smith and Williams will have to have great rookie years.

Personally I dont see it happening. Too much has to go right. I dont think the Oline will be good enough.

Click to expand...