Since 2016, in the 4th Quarter: Dak has 14 GW Drives, most in NFL

[gimmesix]

The defense started strong, and played well in three early-season road losses (Carolina, Houston, Washington) and was a legit top 5 defense at that time, but dropped down to just average by the end of the season, despite flashes of late-season brilliance (holding Ryan and Brees to 2 TD on 17 drives). Offense had a horrible start, that got an actual WR1 and suddenly could move the ball again, still couldn't score in the red zone, but got some timely big plays and ended up as an average offense for the season.

Going into the season, it's hard to say which of the two units is closer to being the dominant one -- if that even ends up happening, and we aren't just balanced like the Patriots.

One of the things we have to get better at is weathering injuries. Our most dominant defender, DeMarcus Lawrence, announced his torn labrum in early October. In the playoff game against the Rams, one of the things that hurt our run defense was Antwaun Woods also played more than half the game with a torn labrum.

You need one of two things to be able to overcome injuries like those: either depth or the ability to adjust for the personnel you have.