After their third straight 12-5 season and a second playoff berth, the Dallas Cowboys are well out of contention in 2024. This started long before the loss of starting quarterback Dak Prescott to a season-ending injury. If the team is upset about these results, it's their own fault.
The problems started with inactivity. The decision not to extend Prescott or star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb earlier in the offseason than right before September was a double mistake. Not only did this leave them behind on the field with Lamb missing training camp, but these extensions would also have freed up space for Dallas to sign free agents to replace the nine players who signed elsewhere.
The only outside free agent the Cowboys signed before the start of training camp was Eric Kendricks, who was a direct replacement for a released/retired player, Leighton Vander Esch.
That doesn't negate the poor performance of head coach and game manager Mike McCarthy.
He recently made Rico Dowdle the primary running back, taking a committee approach instead of using one of the top ten running backs (success rate) of the season. Dowdle has had at least 20 touches in games, the Cowboys are 3-0, but only 2-6 in games in which he has under 20. After running 20 times for 87 yards against the Steelers' top-three rush defense, Dowdle should have been the clear leader back on the team.
McCarthy instead named Ezekiel Elliott as the defenseman with the most tries in the next game.
Additionally, McCarthy hasn't done a good job opening up the offense and has failed to get the team's playmakers the ball where they can make plays. Speedster Kavontae Turpin has never had more than four balls in a game and only scored more than five goals once all season.
Against the Houston Texans, Turpin caught all three of his targets for 86 yards and a touchdown, but only had one target on the next game. In their last competition, the The team targeted Turpin four times in a row played on the opening drive, leaving him wide open on a slot corner route that missed Cooper Rush in the end zone. Fans will have to wait and see if any lessons have been learned.
Dallas was expected to regress, but the decline need not have been so drastic if the front office and head coach had done their jobs more effectively. Now they're trying to make a push toward one unlikely playoff spot while many fans already do 2025 mock draftsbut the forecasts could have been much more positive if those responsible had done their work earlier.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or YouTube on the About the Cowboys Podcast.
