Dallas Cowboys: The window of opportunity to win is now open

Despite the the Dallas Cowboys 25-year Super Bowl drought, this organization has done an outstanding job of drafting some of the best players in the league. Since 2010, the Cowboys are are only second to the Kansas City Chiefs in drafting the most Pro Bowlers.

Dez Bryant, Sean Lee, Tyron Smith, DeMarco Murray, Dwayne Harris, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, Demarcus Lawrence, Byron Jones, Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith, Dak Prescott, and Leighton Vander Esch all made the Pro Bowl over recent seasons. Some of those players are still on the Cowboys roster and competing at a high level.

In last season’s draft, the Cowboys were able to nab talented wide receiver CeeDee Lamb with their number 17 pick because he inexplicably slipped through the racks. And the Cowboys selected cornerback Trevon Diggs in the second round when he fell into their laps. The beauty of selecting Diggs is that he was graded as a first round talent.

The window is wide open for the Dallas Cowboys to win it all in the next few seasons

Basically, the Cowboys have future cornerstones at the wide receiver and cornerback position!

Reminder to all: The Cowboys build through the draft. https://t.co/cQZFGcvnZ9
— SportDFW (@TheRealSportDFW) April 22, 2021

Just like site expert Reid Hanson explained in his article about the Cowboys youth, this team is ready to bounce back and redeem itself as an elite team. They are one of the youngest teams in the league and play in one of the worst divisions in football.

Because this team is already young and has a successful track record of drafting elite talent, the window of opportunity to win big is now open for the Dallas Cowboys. Yep, the Cowboys have everything working in its favor to not only be perennial NFC East Champions, but to go much further than the second round and then some.

I’m not wearing rose-colored glasses or trying to sell you a beach front property in the Arizona desert, but the NFC East is clearly there for the taking. All Dallas has to do is seize the opportunity similarly to how they seized CeeDee Lamb in the draft last year.

Dak is a top-5 quarterback and his offense is top-2

If Dallas fans had any doubt about Dak being an elite quarterback, the highest paid quarterback in the league erased all doubts in the first five games of the 2020 season when he passed for 1,856 yards, nine touchdowns, four interceptions, and completing 68 percent of his passes.

Before Dak’s season-ending ankle injury, Dak was on pace to set an NFL passing record of 6,760 yards and destroy Peyton Manning‘s record of 5, 477 yards. Dak became the first quarterback in league history to throw for 450 plus yards in three consecutive games.

He’s on pace to a full recovery, he’s participating in OTA’s (organized team activities), and will have a complete training camp to boot. Dak will likely pick up where he left off with his arsenal of weapons at his disposal. It’s going to be hard for defenses to stop Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, Lamb, Cedrick Wilson, Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz, and Noah Brown.

If Dallas lucks up and drafts Kyle Pitts, this team will be beyond lethal!

In addition to those receiving threats, Dallas has the two-headed tandem of running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, with the latter being more of a change of pace back and receiving threat. The two of them balance out an offense that will make opposing defenses think twice about loading the box or playing dime coverage. Either way, this prolific offense will make defenses pick their poison, and Dak will make them pay dearly.

Since Dak is clearly the best quarterback in his division, this mean that….

QBs in the NFC East

The Washington Football Team, the New York Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles all have significant question marks at the quarterback position. Washington doesn’t have a competent starting quarterback, Daniel Jones of the Giants is inconsistent and a turnover machine, and the Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said there will be an open competition for the quarterback position.

More from Sports Dallas Fort-Worth

I do believe there is hope for Jones, and Jalen Hurts has potential to be good, but at the moment, they’re not a real threat like Dak is to divisional rivals.

That spells trouble for all three teams moving forward, regardless of how formidable the defense may be. Washington has one of the best pass rushing defenses in the league, and the Giants are really good, too. But a team will go only as far as its quarterback can take them.

However, not having a legitimate quarterback equates to several losses and not much success. Honestly, Washington would not have won the division if Dak had remained healthy. Washington won the division by default.

This favors Dallas to win the division on the regular because they have the best signal caller in the division locked up for the foreseeable future, and as long as Dallas can make the playoffs, anything can happen.

Besides, who knows how long it will take their rivals to find a franchise quarterback. This could be a sequel to the long-suffering AFC East, who didn’t have a franchise quarterback to fight off the Brady-led Patriots until Buffalo Bills found Josh Allen.

How Dallas stacks against the rest of the NFC

Since this is a quarterback driven league, there are four teams that would be tough competition for Dallas, and two of those teams have issues that have to be addressed in the near future. Those four teams are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Tom Brady), Green Bay Packer (Aaron Rodgers), Seattle Seahawks (Russell Wilson), and the Los Angeles Rams (Matthew Stafford).

Although the Buccs re-signed their entire team and are the favorites to return to the Super Bowl, Brady is aging and eventually will retire. Rodgers-the Grinch from Green Bay-is getting up in age, and the Packers may move on from him if they don’t at least reach the Super Bowl next season.

How many NFC Championship losses can Rodgers accrue before the front office start blaming him?

Those are the two teams with looming issues. But Wilson kind of fits that mold, too, because he has been the most sacked quarterback over the last few season and wanted out of Seattle because of it, meaning his future is uncertain, too. Plus, the Seahawks are no longer the feared defense with the legion of boom.

Stafford gives the Rams their best quarterback since Kurt Warner led them to two Super Bowls, and Stafford finally has a defense to back him up. Honestly, I see the Rams as more of a challenge than the aforementioned teams because they don’t have the “what ifs”. But Dallas can solve that problem by….

Improved defense and coaching equals wins

If newly defensive coordinator Dan Quinn can improve the defense to just mediocre or middle of the pack, then Dallas can compete with the Buccs, Packers, Rams, and Seahawks. As long as Dallas’ offense scores points (which it will), then all the defense has to do is at least bend but not break.

Dallas’ defense led the league in turnovers in the latter part of last season. If the defense can continue that upward trend, then Dak and the offense will capitalize off of those turnovers and score more points. That’s where head coach Mike McCarthy and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore come into play.

light. Trending. Stephen Jones lays out the Cowboys philosophy and plan in the NFL Draft

With fifth youngest roster, the future is bright. dark. Next

Those two have to be on the same page and must be as creative as possible, utilizing their entire roster of offensive weapons to its best capabilities. Period. The more pressure on a Buccs defense, the better for Dallas’ offense. A defense can’t defend all of those weapons!

With youth and talent on its side, the Dallas Cowboys window of opportunity to win now is open, but its up to Dallas to do the right things to keep it wide open. BOOM!

Published on 04/22/2021 at 16:01 PM
Last updated at 04/22/2021 at 14:45 PM

Home/Dallas Cowboys