The Best Unexpected Gift Possible
On the night of April 29th, 2021, the Cowboys were slotted in at the number 10 pick in the NFL Draft. Coming off of a year where their defense allowed the most points in franchise history and the second most yards, defense was the main focus in the draft. Knowing that the first couple of picks would be quarterbacks, there would be plenty of players available on the defensive side of the ball for the Cowboys to draft. Going into the 2020 season, a need on their team was their secondary and they did not address that much. They did draft CB Trevon Diggs in the second round of the 2020 draft and while he played well, it was not enough for the entire secondary to improve as a group. This time around it was clear that the secondary had to be addressed in the first round and there were two highly touted corners on the board that would be available around the 10th pick. Those two corners were CB Jaycee Horn from South Carolina and CB Patrick Surtain II from Alabama. While Horn was looked at as the lesser of the two and more of a project, Surtain was viewed as one of the most NFL-ready corners to come into the draft over the last couple of years. For one, he went to Alabama which plays in the toughest conference in college football and he would be reuniting with his old college teammate in Trevon Diggs. It seemed like the perfect fit for the Cowboys who, if they drafted him, would have hit it out of the park. However just like every year in the draft, something unexpected happens and plans change. With all offensive players off of the board after pick seven, it seemed to be lining up perfectly for the Cowboys to get Surtain or at least one of the two corners. With only the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos ahead of them, it seemed almost certain that one of the corners would fall into their laps. For Carolina, they had taken two defensive players in the last two first rounds with those players being DE Brian Burns and DT Derrick Brown. Based off of those previous selections which had turned their defense into a top 15 unit in the NFL, they seemed poised to take an offensive lineman or trade down. Instead, they select Jaycee Horn which was a surprise to many. There was always a possibility that only one of the corners would be available by the time the Cowboys pick came, but it was expected that Denver was more likely than Carolina was. Now with Horn off the board, the possibility of both corners not being there at pick ten was becoming increasingly likely. There was still a chance that Denver would pass on Surtain as their problems at quarterback ever since Peyton Manning retired have been an issue. Even though three quarterbacks were already taken, Justin Fields was still on the board and was viewed as arguably the second-best quarterback going into draft. With this in mind, Denver has a talented roster that was just missing a consistent quarterback in order for them to start competing for the playoffs. Despite the need at the most important position in sports, the Broncos decided to select Surtain leaving the Cowboys with no corners on the board. They had to quickly move to their backup plan which involved trading down two spots with the Philadelphia Eagles where they would now be selecting 12th overall. There was still one impressively graded defensive player on the board but issues in college and sitting out the previous year made teams skeptical. With the number ten pick, the Eagles took the Heisman winner from Alabama WR Devonta Smith. At number 11, the New York Giants traded down with the Chicago Bears who then selected Justin Fields to fill their need at quarterback. With both of those players being offensive players, that meant that the best defensive player left was still available for the Cowboys to draft. That player was Micah Parsons from Penn State who they selected with the 12th pick. Before opting out of the 2020 season, he put up a huge sophomore season with 109 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks at the linebacker position. Going into his pro day at Penn State, he put up incredible numbers that easily would have made him a top five pick if it was not such a heavy quarterback draft. Listed at 6’3” and 246 pounds, he ran a 4.39 40-yard dash which was better than LB Devin White from LSU who was selected 5th overall in the 2020 draft. Based on pure talent, Parsons was a steal at 12th overall, but he was a linebacker and not a corner which was their biggest need. The Cowboys and newly appointed defensive coordinator Dan Quinn now needed to find a way for Parsons to impact the game that it would cover the holes in their secondary. Not only has Parsons impacted the game, but he has dominated the defensive side of the ball. Through 16 games, he has 84 total tackles, a league-leading 20 tackles for loss, and 13 sacks which is only 1.5 sacks behind the all-time rookie record for sacks in a single season, and was announced as a pro-bowler. He has played every linebacker position, lined up all over the defensive line and has even played snaps at cornerback. His presence on defense has completely turned this defense around to where they only allow 20.8 PPG which ranks seventh in the league. They are also tied for the league lead with 33 takeaways which has been a problem over the last couple of years. The defense has now turned into the strength of the team as the offense has had its problems and the main factor in that switch is Micah Parsons. Parsons is the perfect example of what can happen when a team goes into the draft looking to fill a position of need rather than drafting based on talent and figuring it out later. Jaycee Horn got injured early in the season and has only played in three games, while Patrick Surtain has proved why he was one of the best corners in recent years with an excellent year in Denver. Even if Surtain was doing this on the Cowboys, it would not be comparable to what Parsons is doing and the impact that he has had on the defense and the entire team. The fact that he is already showing superstar ability in his first year shows how grateful the Cowboys are that those corners were taken in front of them because they would have missed out on a potentional generational player in Micah Parsons.
Huge Loss for Playoff Seeding
The Cowboys lose to the Arizona Cardinals 25-22 in what can only be described as a terrible loss even though the final score was a difference of three points. Needing this win to stay in front of the Bucs and Rams, the offense reverted back to the weeks before the last Washington game and the defense did not create a turnover. The run game was basically non-existent with most of our yards on the ground coming from Dak’s ability to escape the pocket. The downfield passing game was also not featured as heavily as I was expecting going into the game. The Cardinals were dealing with injuries and COVID issues in their secondary which left them with mainly backups going up against our pro bowl caliber receivers, but we never challenged them down the field. That is evident by just looking at the numbers for our wide receivers which include Ceedee Lamb accounting for only three catches and 51 yards and Amari Cooper totaling three catches for 18 yards and a touchdown. Not only did we lose the game, but we also lost Michael Gallup to a torn ACL on his touchdown reception which only puts more pressure on our offense to right the ship going forward towards the playoffs. With us almost guaranteed to be the four seed, we will most likely play the Cardinals again in the first round unless other teams lose in Week 18. If all three teams, Bucs, Rams, and Cardinals, lose and the Cowboys win, we are back to being the number two seed. This is the most unlikely of the three scenarios since Tampa plays Carolina, L.A. plays San Francisco, and Arizona plays Seattle, but it is possible. This would put us back to being in a three-way tie for the two seed in which we own for Tampa and L.A. The next most likely scenario which would place us as the three seed would be for Tampa to win, L.A. to lose, Arizona to lose, and for Dallas to win. This would put us in a tie with L.A. for the three seed which we would win since we have a better NFC conference record than the Rams. The last scenario, and the most likely, is that Tampa wins, and L.A. wins, and it does not matter if we beat the Eagles or not because we would still be one game behind. Even if we beat Philadelphia and L.A. loses, but Arizona wins, we would still be the four seed since Arizona would have the head-to-head tiebreaker over us. It has also already been announced that LB Micah Parsons (COVID), CB Trevon Diggs (Illness), S Jayron Kearse (Hamstring), and RB Tony Pollard (Foot) will miss the game on Saturday at Philadelphia. So, what was an already tough road divisional game in January will now be even harder without many of Dallas’s key players including two pro bowlers.
It is Called the M.V.P Award
With the 2021 NFL regular season over, besides the playoffs, the other thing to look forward to is the NFL Awards that are handed out right before the Super Bowl. This is where we find out who will take home the most prestigious awards that the NFL has to offer up after every season. The most important and talked about award is the MVP award. Most Valuable Player is what MVP stands for which usually means that it is awarded to a quarterback as that is the most valuable position not just in the NFL, but in all of sports. The evidence backs this up as starting in 2001, there have been 21 MVP’s handed out and quarterbacks have received the award 18 times. The three times that a quarterback did not win the award, a running back received the honor with those running backs being Adrian Peterson (2012), LaDainian Tomlinson (2006), and Shaun Alexander (2005). In the year that Peterson won, he rushed for 2,097 yards and Tomlinson rushed for 1,815 yards and 28 touchdowns in his MVP year. When Alexander won the award, he rushed for 1,880 yards and 27 touchdowns. The point is that it took historic, record-breaking years from a position not named quarterback to win the MVP. In the 2021 NFL season, it looks like Aaron Rodgers is going to win back-to-back MVP’s, including his fourth overall. His numbers on the year were great as he posted a 68.9% completion percentage with 4,115 yards, 37 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Those numbers were actually down compared to his other MVP years as in 2011 he threw for 45 touchdowns and 500 more yards. While in 2020, he threw for a better completion percentage and 48 touchdowns. Even though Rodgers will most likely win the award, another name is out there that should be receiving more serious consideration. That player is Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams and the absolutely historic season that he had at wide receiver. First off, the NFL has never seen a wide receiver win the MVP award as it has only ever been either a quarterback, running back, linebacker, defensive tackle, and even a kicker. Going back to Cooper Kupp, he finished the year with 145 receptions, 1,947 yards, and 16 touchdowns. Those numbers are ridiculous considering the single season reception record is 149 by Michael Thomas and the single season receiving yards record is 1,964 set by Calvin Johnson. The fact that he went into the last game of the season needing just 10 catches and 79 yards to break both records is incredible and was possible as he had five games with more than 10 receptions and 16 games with over 90 yards. Despite only getting 5 catches and 61 yards in the final game of the season, he still finished with 1,947 yards which accounted for 40% of the Rams passing yards in 2021. Without Cooper Kupp on the Rams in 2021, what is their record and how good are they? Because with him, they finished 12-5 and won the NFC West. Even though Rodgers finished 13-3 and won the NFC North, the argument can be made how easy his division was compared to the Rams. In the NFC North, no team other than Green Bay made the playoffs or even finished over .500. In the NFC West, two other teams besides L.A. made the playoffs and the Seahawks finished last place with a 7-10 record. Obviously a quarterback is more valuable to their team as I mentioned earlier, but should that automatically give them the edge over any other non-quarterback even if their numbers are not as good when compared to the other player? I still believe that Aaron Rodgers will win the 2021 MVP, but the fact that Cooper Kupp is getting barely any attention and it feels like a runaway race feels wrong. Potentially, there should be two awards that count as the MVP award with one being strictly for quarterbacks and the other including quarterbacks but they have no advantage just because they are quarterbacks. Technically this is an award already with the Offensive Player of the Year but that is an award that is not remembered when you look back at the history books. Would the NFL ever have two MVP awards, probably not, but in a perfect world having two MVP awards makes the most sense.
What to Expect From Ceedee Lamb in 2022
With the recent reports concerning WR Amari Cooper’s future with the Dallas Cowboys, it is expected that WR Ceedee Lamb will be the team’s number one option on the outside going into the 2022 season.
Lamb, who is entering his third NFL season after being the 17th pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, was named as a Pro Bowl replacement this past year. He finished the year with 79 catches, 1,102 receiving yards, and 6 touchdowns. Despite the overall numbers looking really good, there were a lot of moments of inconsistency which included drops. After having eight drops his rookie year, he matched that total again in a year where you were looking for that number to decrease. Assuming that Amari Cooper is not going to be a Cowboy in 2022 and WR Michael Gallup, who is nearing an agreement to rejoin the Cowboys, is coming off of a torn ACL it will be Lamb who will be the main focus for defenses which only puts more pressure on him to turn into a true number one option for Dallas. The sample size is very small but in one career game without Amari Cooper, Lamb only posted one catch and 14 yards on four targets. To be fair, that game was last year against the Chiefs when Lamb suffered a concussion right before halftime and could not finish the game. If you believe that Ceedee Lamb can put together a super impressive off-season and come into summer workouts looking like a different player, then expect a big season from Number 88, especially after having a full season playing with QB Dak Prescott.
If Lamb cannot improve on his weaknesses going into 2022, he could be in for a tough year production-wise, which could reflect negatively on the Cowboys as a whole as he is going to be a major factor on this offense.
With Brady Retired, Where Do The Cowboys Rank In The NFC In 2022?
With the recent news that Tampa Bay Quarterback Tom Brady is retiring after a historic 22-year career, that opens room at the top of the NFC. The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl last year and finished second in the conference this year. With Brady now out of the picture, it gives hope for the Dallas Cowboys to make a claim as the top team in the NFC. Even though the Cowboys finished the 2021 season 12-5 and won the NFC East, they were bounced out of the playoffs by the San Francisco 49ers at home. After looking like a true contender for the Super Bowl in the first half of the season, they could never regain that consistency in the second half despite finishing third in the conference. Things should be looking up for the Cowboys in 2022 in terms of the other competition in the conference. Now with Brady retired, the Bucs will not be able to replace him with someone even close to the same level of play that he was giving them. Assuming that they cannot replace him with a top quarterback, they should not be as much of a contender for the Super Bowl as the previous two years. When looking at the other contenders in the NFC, they have questions in the offseason that could hurt their chances in 2022. The Green Bay Packers, who finished 13-4 and secured the one seed in the NFC, do not know if their MVP Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be on their team going into next year. Aaron Rodgers is the difference in the Packers being a favorite in the NFC compared to them completely falling out of contention with unproven backup Quarterback Jordan Love taking over. They also have multiple key free agents, including star Wide Receiver Davante Adams. Another team that had Super Bowl aspirations last year was the Arizona Cardinals who finished the year 11-6. Even though the record looks really good, they started the year 7-0 and slumped to the finish line by going 4-6 to end the season before getting demolished in the Wild Card Round. Despite having an elite quarterback in Kyler Murray, their head coach Kliff Kingsbury does not seem able to lead his team when it counts the most. The one team that seems to have no problems is the team that is representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, which is the Los Angeles Rams. They have gone all-in for the next couple of years to win a Super Bowl by trading away all of their first-round picks and not owning their own pick until 2024. They have also made moves to acquire QB Matthew Stafford and LB Von Miller, while also picking up WR Odell Beckham Jr. No matter the outcome against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Rams will be the biggest threat to the Cowboys in 2022. So, this leaves the Cowboys in a spot where two of the top teams over the last couple of years could be in line for a down year meaning there is more of a chance for the Cowboys. The Cowboys do have some key free agents of their own including WR Michael Gallup, TE Dalton Shultz, and DE Randy Gregory. But, they were able to keep Dan Quinn as their DC and still have the number one overall offense from last year. If there was ever a time for the Cowboys to finally break through and reach the NFC Championship Game, and hopefully the Super Bowl, that window seems to be as open as it has been over the last handful of years.