Believe it or not, Cowboys fans, but football season is here. For many, the Micah Parsons trade killed any shred of excitement or hope that may have existed, but just like Thanos, the start of the regular season is inevitable.
Most teams answer questions this time of year, settling position battles with their final roster cuts, but the Cowboys will travel to Philadelphia with even more questions than they initially had. Who will lead the team in carries? Who can even attempt to replace Parsons? And does Brian Schottenheimer even stand a chance anymore?
Our own Tom Ryle and David Howman tackle all these questions and overall thoughts on this team as we race towards kickoff.
Tom: I’m not exactly brimming with optimism. After the gut punch of the Micah Parsons trade, there are obviously questions about how you replace one of the elite pass rushers in the NFL. I know you are not happy, David. But if you remember, I saw that this was more possible than most wanted to say. Personally, I chalk this up to how Jerry Jones is probably the most inept GM in the league. It certainly appears that he poisoned things with his one-on-one “negotiation” with Parsons, which never should have happened.
Coming up with a pass rush without Parsons is a monster threat for this season, but the team has some big question marks beyond that, with the interior of the defensive line and the strength of the running back room among the biggest in my mind. No disrespect to Kenny Clark, but it is doubtful he is going to turn the run defense around. The offensive line also has to come together quickly to open some holes for the backs and to provide protection for Dak Prescott.
With the weapons at Prescott’s disposal, especially the addition of George Pickens, the passing game should be potent. That gives them a puncher’s chance in a lot of games if the defense doesn’t turn into wet toilet paper. But if he doesn’t get protection, or gets hurt, this season could get ugly fast. It already doesn’t look too great.
David: As you said, I’m livid about the Micah Parsons ordeal, simply because this outcome was so easily avoidable.
Having said that, I’m not sure this is a complete and total loss from a football perspective. Obviously Parsons is an elite talent, and losing someone like that is never a positive, but I had previously voiced concerns about Matt Eberflus being able to maximize his unique talents in the way that Dan Quinn and even Mike Zimmer did.
Besides, this defensive scheme is built around the defensive tackles anyway. It requires one freaky athletic 3-technique (Osa Odighizuwa) and one bona fide run stuffer, which they sorely lacked until Kenny Clark got here. Eberflus has a track record of producing pass rush off the edge, regardless of talent, as a byproduct of the interior success.
I’m not saying the defense will be better without Parsons, but I’m not convinced they’re going to fall apart now either.
Tom: I hope Schottenheimer and Eberflus can coach their butts off, because they are going to need to. Schottenheimer has to get the most out of his QB and receivers while finding an effective run game to complement the air attack. And if Eberflus can’t effectively dam up the defense against the run, the offense may just not be able to keep up.
This is creating a bit of pessimism for me. With the Eagles looking ready to pick up where they left off, the Commanders on the rise, and the Giants maybe finding a quarterback, the NFC East is going to be hard to come out of as a playoff team. I’m not sure they can manage eight wins this year.
The Parsons trade looks more like a play for the future than a win now move, no matter what Jerry Jones may say. With Prescott getting older, they have a limited time to win with him. I’m not sure they won’t see that window close.
Further, the trade was so badly mishandled. For whatever reason, that relationship was poisoned, and if the management was going to trade Parsons, they should have started shopping him long ago. However this season turns out, any failure is more on Jerry Jones than any of the coaches.
David: I agree with that last line, though I’ve been saying the same thing for years now.
I do feel like every year we talk ourselves into the NFC East being tougher than it ever has been, and every year (that Prescott stays healthy) the Cowboys are in the playoffs. Obviously the standard is more than just that, but people are forgetting how much Prescott does for this team’s chances.
The defense may not be as good as it was in the Quinn years, but having Prescott back under center – and with an upgraded receiving corps, no less – is huge. He’s won plenty of shootouts over the years, some of those even coming in the Quinn years, and he’s capable of doing it with Lamb, Pickens, Turpin, and Ferguson.
As for the rest of the division, it’s easy to make the case for any of those teams to either regress or take a huge step forward. I’m not convinced any of them are surefire contenders at this stage.
Tom: Yeah, the season hasn’t started and we really don’t know how any team is going to play on the field. But I have a hard time seeing the Eagles taking much of a step back. They rely so heavily on the running game, and that usually comes around quickly. That roster still looks very deep.
I’ll give you the others being less certain. Still, my concerns about Dallas are more from looking at them. They lack depth in key areas, the running back room is still a bit of a mystery, that O line has to come together in a hurry, it is a big leap to say Kenny Clark is going to fix the defensive line, and on and on. I don’t think Schottenheimer was a bad hire. I just think he has the deck stacked against him. I can’t help but think that this team would have to seriously overachieve in order to even make the playoffs. In the tumultuous world of the Dallas Cowboys, that seems unlikely.
David: The Eagles lost a handful of starters on defense and nearly half of their offensive staff, namely offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Philadelphia insiders were praising Moore for being the much-needed buffer between Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts, and now that dynamic is gone, replaced by a first time playcaller who’s been Sirianni’s right hand man for a long time.
Between those factors and the inevitable Super Bowl hangover, I can easily see the Eagles taking a step back. I don’t think it’ll happen, but I could even see them miss the postseason altogether.
Your point about Schottenheimer is well stated, though. Jerry Jones has done little to make it easy for him, but Schottenheimer knew the deal going in. He’s got the personality and experience to push through it all, and having Prescott back on the field should take care of the actual football part too.
Or I could be completely wrong, and this is the beginning of the end. But after months of talking about it, I’m excited to finally find out Thursday.
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