I am with you.
In Dak and Zeke's historic rookie seasons they actually gameplanned eating the clock because they knew that the best defense was to keep the opponent offense on the bench. The Cowboys best defensive weapon in 2016 was actually Ezekiel Elliott and that great offensive line.
It worked. The Cowboys were ranked #2 in time of possession, and this meant more rest for the defense so they could enter the game fresher. They needed that in a season were the sack leader was Bensen Mayowa (Who?) with 6 and the leading interceptor was Barry Church with 2 followed by a 7 way tie for 2nd place with 1.
The following season 2017, Jeff heath took the INT numbers by storm with a total of 3. Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence had begun their new tradition of season starting suspensions on a rotational basis. Tyrone Crawford was consistent.....when it came to being injured.
In 2018 there was competition for the Cowboys INT leader. It ended as a two way tie between a LB and a safety, of course, with 2 INT's each.....of course
2020 was a banner year for INT's when the team hit double digits for the first time in 6 seasons. They had 10. The new INT leader was a rookie, Trevon Diggs.
What I am saying is that Dak Prescott has never been supported by a defense with the quality of this season. We saw the improvement last season, although it was stunted by constant injuries.
Imagine an offense with Dak Prescott in which they know if they can score 24 points they will win 80% of their games. Imagine an offense in which they don't have to throw constantly in the 2nd half in order to catch up. They can let their RB's eat the clock while wearing out the opponent defense.
A healthy Dak can capitalize on the field position gifted by his defense. A cohesive defense can stifle their competition. Dak can deliver the dagger halfway through the 3rd quarter and sit back in his high octane offense fueled by the running of Zeke and Pollard.
This defense combined with a diverse offense is what we have all been waiting for these last 25 seasons.
This season Dak is afforded his finest opportunity to bring a ring back.
This is why getting Dak back is so important. I get fans being enamored with Cooper Rush, who has been saved by this defense on numerous occasions. The bar has been lowered so much in Cooper's case that we are satisfied to say that he didn't screw it all up like Cassell, Weeden, Kellen, Gilbert, Dinucci, and Jerry's gardener.
Cooper Rush can maintain offensive momentum but he cannot create any of his own.
This season as a starter, Cooper Rush has played from behind for less than 11 minutes clock time for all four combined starts. He was never behind by more than 7 points and that was for a total of 5 minutes and 14 seconds of clock time. If Cooper ever played in a game where he was 14-17 points behind, I don't think he could recover.
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