Before the season you set goals. Those goals are escalating in nature, sure you would like to win the SB but did anybody at the Jets, Lions or Jags have winning the SB as a goal? Nice to have lofty goals but realistically there was no way any of those teams was going to do that.
Dallas could realistically set winning the SB as the ultimate goal, since they were fairly sure they would get Dak back after the injury, and with others like T. Smith expected to be better after surgeries, as well as Lamb entering his second year, etc.
But there are interim goals that you would like to reach - getting in the playoffs (where anything can, and has, happened), then winning your division, then getting home field advantage, then winning the NFC. So as the year developed and Washington, that many were predicting would win the division again with their defense, began to fall off. The Giants were mediocre as most thought, and with the Eagles having a pretty green (and not for sure knew to be a success) quarterback, Dallas was "in the driver's seat" for the division title. If they just played a bit better than average football, the division was there for the taking.
I think that Dallas "eased off the gas" a bit because of that, maybe tried some new things, then lost Jarwin due to injury, lost a few more players for short periods due to Covid or injury and probably didn't get the development they thought they would from C. Williams, McGovern, etc.
Now they're scrambling to get back to playing like they were early in the year. Not that easy to do during the season, not like camp and pre-season.
What I'm saying is that the Cowboys are certainly aware that they have issues, Dak included but not solely, and are working through them. Will they be successful? We don't know. Teams like KC have "righted the ship", so it can be done.
Dallas has 4 games to figure it out. I'm not predicting they will, or they won't. Nobody can, though if somebody does and it turns out like they said, you can be sure 90% of them will break an arm patting themselves on the back. Which is to be expected, we're all human, and some do have an agenda on the positive of the negative side.
As I've said many times before, we'll find out sooner or later....