Dallas Cowboys: Playoff Bound in 2016?
The 2015 Dallas Cowboys were decimated by injuries, failing to make the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six years. Yet the 2016 squad appears to be the best-suited team who missed out last year to make a return trip.
The Dallas Cowboys of last season seemed poised for a playoff run, but injuries quickly derailed any hope the team had of making the playoffs for only the second time this decade. Bolstered by the return of a presumably healthy Tony Romo, and a draft class that saw the team add the best running back, and arguably the best player period, Ezekiel Elliot, fans everywhere have reason to believe the 2016 team will be the one that finally takes them back to the Promised Land.
The season started off on the wrong foot, literally, in the very first game of the season. Though the Cowboys would open the season with a victory over the division rival New York Giants, star receiver Dez Bryant would suffer a broken foot which would sideline him for the next five games.
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The following week would be just as devastating as the previous one. Week 2 saw the Dallas Cowboys defeat another division rival, this time the Philadelphia Eagles, to go to a record of 2-0 and alone atop the NFC East standings, but it would also see the team lose their starting quarterback, Tony Romo, with a broken collarbone. An injury that would spell the beginning of the end for the team.
With Brandon Weeden stepping in for the injured Romo, the Dallas Cowboys would go on to lose their next seven games in a row and finish the 2015 season with a record of 4-12, the worst record since Jerry Jones took over the team in 1989, a season which saw the team go 1-15.
Keeping Tony Romo healthy for the 2016 season will be, as always, of paramount importance if the Cowboys want to make a return to the playoffs. Drafting Ezekiel Elliot with the No. 4 pick in the 2016 draft should go a long way towards that goal.
Not only will Elliot be an upgrade in the ground game over Darren McFadden (who himself had a pretty great 2015 season), but Elliot is also a very good contributor in the passing game, both with his ability as a receiver and as a blocker.
Elliot, the former Ohio State Buckeyes running back, is many people’s early favorite for Rookie of the Year, and running behind that offensive line, I can see why. Darren McFadden finished fourth in the league last season with 1,089 yards rushing, while barely making a contribution during the team’s first six games. It’s exciting for fans to think about the kind of production that Elliot could put up behind such a great line.
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On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys were an average team at best in 2015, finishing 17th in total defense (yards allowed per game).
Just two seasons ago, the defense was the worst in the league, giving up well over 400 yards per game. The unit has been steadily improving, and was a focus for the team during the 2016 NFL Draft.
In the second round, they selected Jaylon Smith, the injured linebacker from Notre Dame. Though Smith is unlikely to make any real contribution to the team this season, if he can recover from his knee injury the way the team hopes, he could blossom into a guy we talk about as one of the steals of this draft.
After Smith, they selected two guys whom I thought should have been taken well before where they were, in Maliek Collins and Charles Tapper. Collins, a defensive tackle from Nebraska, is an explosive athlete for his size, and should give the Cowboys a disruptor on the interior line, something they have been lacking for quite some time.
In Charles Tapper, a defensive end from Oklahoma State, the Cowboys get a productive player at a position of great need for them. Thanks to injuries and suspensions, the Cowboys have seen their pass rush become decimated in the off-season. Tapper will help absorb some of that blow, but this will be an area of concern for the team throughout the 2016 season.
The Dallas Cowboys should have a reasonably easy path to the playoffs in 2016 if they are able to keep Tony Romo upright and playing at the level he’s capable of. They play in a relatively weak division in the NFC East, where their only real competition this season should be the New York Giants. The Giants still have Eli Manning and Odell Beckham, Jr., and added two of my favorite prospects from the 2016 Draft in Darian Thompson and Sterling Shepard.
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With that being said, the offensive fire-power that the Cowboys have, combined with a steadily improving defense should be enough to put the Cowboys over the hump. Of all the teams that missed the playoffs last season, the Dallas Cowboys are my top pick to qualify for the 2016 season.