Operating sport – on each side – has to “be higher” – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com
This was a significant situation in 2023.
Irrespective of the period of soccer, the working sport is at all times an important half to success and failure and for the Cowboys, they didn’t meet the usual this previous season, on any aspect of the ball.
The Cowboys struggled to run the ball effectively on offense and allowed too many speeding yards on protection, which was obvious within the losses all through the season.
On Thursday, head coach Mike McCarthy met with the media for the primary time within the offseason and was requested particularly to handle the run, each on offense and protection.
“I feel simply huge picture-wise, over the course of the yr, we should be higher in each areas,” McCarthy stated. “I feel it’s one thing that we have been speaking about … These are the issues with the coaching and the way you do it and how one can enhance there. We’re not the place we should be in each areas.”
The place the Cowboys have been – was just about proper in the course of the pack in each classes. On offense, they ranked 14th out of 32 groups in speeding yards per sport, averaging 112.9 yards per sport. And on protection, they have been precisely within the center, rating sixteenth by permitting 112.4 yards per sport.
Cowboys: Mike McCarthy speaks on Tyron Smith’s future – Mauricio Rodriguez, AtoZ Sports activities
Smith performed much more this season than anticipated.
Though the Cowboys have been planning to maneuver on from the longer term Corridor of Famer since they picked Tyler Smith within the 2022 NFL Draft, it’s exhausting to stop on among the best move professional tackles in your complete league.
Smith earned Second-Staff All-Professional honors in 2023 after permitting 21 pressures and three sacks in 610 move blocking snaps. It was nearly as if Smith traveled again in time to his most wholesome days within the NFL however bought to hold all of the expertise and data with him within the course of.
“I feel the largest factor for Tyron is, you recognize, we talked concerning the path of his season and the coaching plan that was in place for him,” McCarthy instructed reporters when requested about his conversations with Smith. “That is clearly his greatest season that I’ve skilled with him since 2020. So, he felt actually good about that.”
Now granted, Smith did take care of accidents all year long and missed 4 video games in whole. He was missed in every of these. The Cowboys mitigated the chance of his risky well being with a reworked contract that was loaded with playing-time incentives.
Dak Prescott’s contract ensures he’ll be with Cowboys, for a number of extra years – Mike Florio, PFT
The inevitability of a Dak Prescott extension.
There was a query, apparently, as as to whether the Cowboys would carry again coach Mike McCarthy. There’s no query that they’ll carry again quarterback Dak Prescott.
It has nothing to do along with his efficiency, which was nice through the common season however not adequate within the playoff loss to the Packers. It has all the pieces to do along with his contract.
Prescott is getting into the ultimate yr of the four-year contract signed in lieu of enjoying beneath the second franchise tag. He bought to the second tag as a result of the Cowboys refused to increase his rookie deal after three years, after which once more after he accomplished his four-year rookie contract and he was franchise-tagged a primary time.
The state of affairs gave him appreciable leverage in early 2021. He did with it precisely what group proprietor Jerry Jones has accomplished all through his whole life when he has had appreciable leverage.
He took full benefit of it.
And so, on the primary day of the 2024 league yr, Prescott’s cap quantity will skyrocket from $26.832 million in 2023 to $59.455 million. The Cowboys don’t have any actual selection however to increase his contract earlier than then, to be able to chop down the large cap cost.
Cowboys preserving Mike McCarthy appears like it’s 2010 yet again – Jess Haynie, Running a blog The Boys
This looks like a rerun.
So, Mike McCarthy’s again. That easy sentence carries lots of weight, dramatically shifting how we understand the upcoming season. And if the historical past of the Dallas Cowboys tells us something, McCarthy’s return might set him up for an additional midseason firing.
It wouldn’t be the primary time for McCarthy. He was fired by Inexperienced Bay in 2019 after beginning the yr 4-7-1. That got here on the heels of a 7-9 season wherein the Packers missed the playoffs for the primary time since 2008. It additionally concerned McCarthy’s deteriorating relationship with QB Aaron Rodgers, which was getting increasingly more consideration because the group struggled.
Now we have a distinct state of affairs right here in Dallas. McCarthy’s had three 12-win seasons in a row and seems to sing “kum ba yah” with Dak Prescott commonly. His gamers got here out in assist of him this week on social media, even celebrating the information of his return. However their response is way completely different from many followers, who wailed on the report that McCarthy can be again for the fifth and last yr of his Cowboys contract.
We’re strolling right into a season that feels so much like 2010, Wade Phillips’ last days in Dallas. For 3 years prior, the Cowboys had been typically profitable beneath Phillips. Two NFC East titles, their first playoff win since 1996, star gamers everywhere in the roster; it felt like a group with professional championship potential.
However within the 2009 playoffs, Dallas bought eradicated in a 34-3 blowout by the Minnesota Vikings within the second spherical. Using excessive after that win over the Eagles, the Cowboys had an all-time letdown sport and worn out no matter factors Phillips had scored with the entrance workplace. The query of whether or not or not he’d even return in 2010 was on the market, and naturally he did. However clearly, it left him on the shakiest of floor.
The bottom fell out from beneath Phillips simply 10 months later. With an aged offensive line and a closed championship window, Dallas went 1-7 to begin the subsequent yr. Whereas QB Tony Romo did get injured that yr, it didn’t occur till halfway via the sixth sport. Two weeks later, after a 45-7 blowout loss to the Packers, Phillips was fired and Jason Garrett was promoted from offensive coordinator to interim head coach.
2024 now feels so much like that 2010 season. McCarthy, like Phillips, has had relative success in comparison with most NFL groups. He’s received two division titles and lots of regular-season video games. However the playoff outcomes have been abysmal, and final Sunday’s embarrassment towards Inexperienced Bay rivals what Phillips’ group did in Minnesota 14 years in the past.
Running a blog The Boys Podcast Community and YouTube Channel
We provide a distinct present each single day on the Running a blog The Boys podcast community, and on weekdays we provide two completely different exhibits each single day.
Monday: 1st and 10 with Tony Catalina & Aidan Davis
Monday: Hidden Yardage with Mark Lane and Sean Martin
Tuesday: The Author’s Block with Brandon Loree, David Howman, Brandon Clements and Chris Halling
Tuesday: BTB Roundtable with varied BTB Staffers
Wednesday: NFC East Mixtape with RJ Ochoa and Brandon Lee Gowton
Wednesday: Talkin’ The Star with Connor Livesay and Joey Ickes
Thursday: The Ocho with RJ Ochoa
Thursday: Ryled Up with Roy White and Tom Ryle
Friday: Women Talkin’ Boys with Kelsey Charles and Meg Murray
Friday: The Star Seminar with Danny Phantom and Rabblerousr
Saturday: The World’s Staff with Meg Murray and Paul Stewart
We additionally supply dwell exhibits each weekday afternoon on the Running a blog The Boys YouTube Channel.
The Running a blog The Boys podcast community is obtainable on all main podcast platforms.
Subscribe right here on Apple units.
Subscribe right here in case you are a Spotify person.
