The Dallas Cowboys

I am sadly a Dallas Cowboys fan.

We actually played pretty well against the Eagles, who we would’ve beaten had CeeDee Lamb caught two passes he should’ve caught. The Giants game was pure luck. Then against the Bears, we got embarrassed. The defense has no energy, no leader with Micah gone. It’s just an embarrassing unit altogether. I do think they will get better as the year goes on, though, especially as we get our best defensive players back. The offense did look good while CeeDee was in the game. Javonte Williams looked good, so did Pickens, but once CeeDee went out, all offensive schemes went out the window, and the defense didn’t show up to begin with.

Yesterday, we were without Jadeveon Clowney, DaRon Bland and DeMarvion Overshown. Overshown is the biggest loss. But still, you should be able to replace these guys, and we are not able to do that. Instead of drafting playmakers on defense, the last three drafts were spent on offensive linemen and defensive tackles—no flashy picks either—missing over a player like Nolan Smith, who turned out to be pretty good, while Mazi is a borderline bust.

Big Play

The Cowboys’ inability to play zone defense and stop the big plays is just tragic. First, they gave up a 35-yard touchdown because Trevon Diggs fell down. Classic. Then we fall for a flea flicker. Surprising? Nope.

Defense

Watching this game yesterday just made me mad. This defense had fallen from grace, and had fallen hard. From a defense that just two years ago led the league in forced turnovers, fifth in fewest points allowed per game. They couldn’t stop the run at all, but it was still fun to watch. Modern day, we still can’t stop the run, and we don’t force any turnovers. Just laughing at how bad this defense had become.

Lack of Versatility

Against the Bears, CeeDee Lamb went out, which sucks when your best player gets injured. But you can’t just throw to one player. Ferguson and Pickens seemed to be the only ones getting targets after CeeDee went out, which is easy to defend. Once Lamb was gone, the Cowboys lost all offensive power. It showed when they failed to score after his injury.

Jerry Jones

Jerry is trying to milk the Cowboys for money rather than trying to win football games, and it has cost him. Jerry has always liked having hands-on control of everything.

The Dallas Cowboys are the only team in the NFL whose owner is also the general manager. The average age of an NFL GM is 48 years old. Jerry is 82. His ways are outdated. He needs someone younger controlling the roster, contracts and football decisions, while he can worry about making profit.

This past season, Jerry dragged his feet with hiring a coach after moving on from Mike McCarthy. That decision was deserved, but Jerry lost valuable time to interview the more promising candidates, like Ben Johnson, who in my opinion would’ve been awesome. Instead, we hired a guy no one had really heard of. An outside, young coach would challenge Jerry, maybe even disagree with him. But Jerry doesn’t want that. He wants someone who will just say “yes sir” and never question his control. Selling the Dallas Cowboys would be the best thing to ever happen to this franchise.

Jerry is a genius businessman, no doubt about that. He would be fine if he could just hire someone else to be the general manager, but he can’t. He needs the power. Because of that, and his inability to adopt modern NFL ideas, he needs to sell the team to an outsider. I mean, the guy fired Jimmy Johnson. Jerry’s ego couldn’t handle the team’s success going to the coach rather than the owner. Imagine if Robert Kraft had done the same thing while the Patriots were winning Super Bowls, taking all the credit and saying any quarterback or coach could’ve won with those teams. Pretty stupid, right?

Future

I was actually OK with trading Micah Parsons. I know, it sounds crazy. But now we have four first-round draft picks over the next two years, plus Kenny Clark, a proven All-Pro defensive tackle to help stop the run. But he’s 30 years old.

This was how the original Cowboys dynasty was built, trading a superstar for draft picks. Back then, it was Herschel Walker. Now, it’s Micah Parsons. The timing of the trade, though, was awful. By saving the cap space with Micah, we could’ve traded him before free agency or the draft and gotten ourselves a great replacement with the cap we saved, or even traded for a star with the picks we acquired.

This roster has problems. With these picks, we could draft a high-rated linebacker, safety, defensive end and a good slot receiver to pair with George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb. If they use the draft right, trading Micah wouldn’t have been such a bad deal. But instead, Jerry traded him a week before the season, when it’s impossible to acquire anyone blockbuster-worthy. Great job, Jerry.

I don’t want to be that guy, but the NFL draft is looking very promising, and it’s Week 4. With CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Booker going out, this season doesn’t look like it’s going to turn out good. I hope I’m wrong, but we need good draft picks, and you get those by tanking.