The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most popular teams in America, but one of the most under achieving in the NFL for the better part of the past two decades. They finally found a reliable starting quarterback in Tony Romo since the departure of Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, but he has only one playoff win under his belt. Many picked the Cowboys to win the Superbowl or NFC and after their annual Thanksgiving game they were sitting at 7-4 and looked to be in a good position to make it to the playoffs and make a run.
That all changed as they went 1-4 over the last 4 games to end the season, including two losses to the eventual Superbowl Champion New York Giants. In their week 14 game in Arlington they actually had a 12 point lead with 5 minutes left that almost would have assured them a division title and play off berth.
The Giants blew out the Cowboys 31-14 in the Meadowlands in what was essentially an NFC East Championship game to win a playoff berth.
2011 Record: 8-8
Key Additions:
- CB Brandon Carr
- FB Lawrence Vickers
- QB Kyle Orton
- CB Morris Claiborne
- LB Dan Connor
- G Nate Livings
- G Mackenzy Bernadeau
Key Losses:
- WR Laurent Robinson
- TE Martellus Bennett
- CB Terrence Newman
Offense: Dallas has stars on offense, QB Tony Romo is coming off a career year. RB DeMarco Murray was a pleasant surprise last year and is looking to build off of that with Felix Jones filling a change of pace role, much like Reggie Bush was used in New Orleans. And they always have TE Jason Witten performing like clock work. The question mark is the inside line there are question marks at guard and center.
Defense: The Cowboys have a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball: OLB DeMarcus Ware, ILB Sean Lee, NT Jay Ratliff, CB Brandon Carr and CB Morris Claiborne. They just need to perform in a tough division for this team to be successful.
Coaching: Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan had many excuses when his defense under performed last year. No secondary, the strike prevented him from implementing successfully his complicated defensive scheme. Well the Cowboys added 2 new corners they expect to be elite and he’s had all the OTA’s and camps to implement his defensive scheme.
Breakout Player: Brandon Carr
2012 Prediction: 10-6
Overview: Some of the biggest problems for the Dallas Cowboys were their interior offensive line, and their young line overall as well as their struggles at corner. The Cowboys shored up the their weaknesses in the secondary by signing free agent cornerback Brandon Carr and drafting the #1 overall defensive player LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne.
The Cowboys however have struggled with injury at wide receiver and the departure of solid #3 Laurent Robinson leave question marks at the position. The emergence of a potential 1,000 yard rusher in DeMarco Murray though might balance the offense more and Felix Jones might be more explosive in his new role. And of course the Dallas Cowboys are still questionable in between the tackles.
Expect the Cowboys to be a contender to win the NFC East and make the playoffs, but I don’t know they fall in the category of Superbowl contender just yet, despite what Jerry Jones says. They could be a sleeper team though.